GOT Post 1- Oil hearing with a side of politics

My bad for never updating- i feel like I'm working i'm so worn out every day >.<
So. WEEK 3!! I must say- loves the Greenpeace. The staffers are really nice and so are the other students in my program. These past 3 weeks we have focused on our leadership tendencies, how to relate with others on your team, what makes a team strong and efficient, as well as petitioning, campaign planning, phone banking, etc. All very useful and don't worry, i'm taking notes! : )

I think what i'm going to start doing is a feature for every GOT related post. so for this update, i'm going to feature the Oil hearing that happened this past Tuesday. That day we joined forces with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) and went to the house building (i don't know the technical term) for the hearing. It was so intense and we ran into a lot of red tape- it's amazing how much injustice happens in our capital. I once blogged about the fact that sometimes i get so frustrated with our government that i just want to scream. I started considering the idea of bringing up my signs from home and screaming here but i'm pretty sure they'd tell me i'm not allowed to protest in front of the capitol- it's really sad that I can safely make that assumption.

i woke up at 3am that morning to wait in line at 5am. we were seemingly the first ppl there. then we got into the building at 7:30 and were the first ppl in line by 9:30. It was a public hearing with 50 seats. When we get inside, we find around 6 people already in line before us (they must had slipped in earlier on). As we are waiting in line the security guard tells us that there are actually only 15 open seats for the public...at a public hearing.

ok. bummer.
but we still have hope- we figure we can squeeze the rest in later. a few minutes before the doors open, 4 business men with expensive suits and greased back hair replace 3 of the the 6 people who slipped in before the doors opened. They apparently paid them off to stand there for them.

ridiculous.
at 9:30, we find out that there were only around 5 open spots when only 5 people were allowed into the hearing. unfortunate for our 4 businessmen, two of them were not part of that 5. Now apparently there is an agreement where when someone leaves the hearing their seat is up for grabs. however- that's not exactly the case like the 'reserved' seats were for the press and whoever the big oil companies had come with them (i.e. lawyers). So even though we were told that it might be impossible to get in like all the seats are reserved and there are only 5 open seats for the public, these two businessmen were able to work something out with the girl managing the line.

not ok.
I personally had to wait 3.5hrs more in an ever dwindling line of folks who lost hope in their chances of getting in WHILE standing, before i could get in. And i was close to the front of the line!!! (as in definitely in the top 15 ppl)

unacceptable.
I am a voter. I am a citizen.
It shouldn't be that hard for me to personally sit in a public hearing.

what really gets me is the idea that you can reserve public hearing seats. What's even worse was that the majority of the people who filled those reserved seats did not have to wait in my line or get up at 3am or stay standing for hours. they just walked on in. I was up from 3am that morning and stayed in that building until 2 all for a seat.
That's not right. and it makes me so MAD.

But It's that frustration that leads us to action. It is that and my faith that drives me to fight every day. It's also what leads ppl to do this:



the RAN kids attempted to give the CEO of Chevron a bottle of oil from Ecuador. She was arrested- as well as the girl with the sign behind her. just for standing up to injustice.






More on what Chevron is doing and how to take action Here.

That's all from me. Time for Church

Tabby <3

Ode to Virginia

so much!!

Tabby
(p.s. i have no idea what's up with the spacing...)

pre- Greenpeace Organizing Term DC

As I said before, This summer i am doing a training/internship with Greenpeace in DC and I know there are a few people who want an update on my 'journey' we'll call it. I did think about creating another blog just for my summer internship but honestly, it's such a waste of time. First i would have to add a 3rd blog to my list of blogs (and three's a crowd) and then i'd have to arrange the colors and the layout- time i don't feel like giving up. Plus, quite honestly, no one reads the vacation/trip blogs b/c they're kind of lame. At least if i keep my own blog, not every post will be about how awsm my time is here and what you're missing out on.

With that, i Start with the pre- GOT DC blog post!

I've been here for about a week- exploring and wandering. It's been pretty exciting. I've decided that I'm not that big on the city though- things close early and there's nothing to do after that. That probably means that i just need to find more things to do- i know there's a lot of free art shows and performances that happen (usually earlier but they happen). Plus, i think when my program starts I'll have more things to keep busy with.

Tomorrow is my first official day. I'm excited but at the same time nervous! I have no idea what to expect except for the vague promise of working on campaigns and training to become a better grassroots leader. I'm hoping that I'll be able to take away with me not only new tools but a changed mindset. my biggest hope is for this experience to help me think in a way that sees every occasion as an opportunity to campaign for environmental justice. I also want to work on my photography while i'm here **fingers crossed for plenty of new amazing photos!!!** I always tend to forget my camera. (so bulky!)

To get me all pumped i've definitely been listening to some protest music. It gets you pumped to change the world! here's what's on the playlist (obviously you got a sample with the flobots and the mutabaruka):

Fight the Power- Public Enemy
Burn Hollywood Burn- Public Enemy
Wolves- Dead Prez
Police State- Dead Prez
War- Bob Marley
Fight with Tools- Flobots
White Flag Warrior- Flobots
Airplane Mode- Flobots
Mayday- Flobots
Them Belly Full (but we hungry)- Bob Marley
Redemption Song- Bob Marley
Any Means Necessary- Mutabaruka
Letter from a Friend- Mutabaruka
I Don Ave A Color Problem- Mutabaruka

side note- I may not fully agree with ever line from every one of these songs, but they all have a purpose and there's a nugget of truth with each song.

<3

Letter from a Friend

From where I stand
I can clearly see your tormented faces
How you must hate me
I wonder how many think of killin' me
Of assassinating their country's leader
But again lookin at you all
I see fear- passive fear, fear of death
No martyrs are among you

So I am safe within the confines of the law
To overtax you, underpay you
Overwork you, police force you
Bury you, black people, my people
Victims of society, victims of western democracy
No martyrs are among you
Even though our country achieved independence
European rule still prevails
Neo-colonialism has its roots deep in our soil
I care not, as long as I am well paid
No martyrs are among you

So I am safe within the confines of your passivity
To stand on this rostrum and address you..
And fill your oppressed ears with mockin' promises
As I speak, I speak for all who are here with me
Brown and nearly white, for colour, class and creed
Has no meanin' where the Almighty dollar is concerned
And on behalf of the government here and abroad
I would like to thank you voters
For dippin' your finger in the blood thus markin' an X
Givin' us the wrong to do wrong
You don't have to hear my thoughts, you know them
No martyrs are among you

Mutabaruka

listen to it.
Deep stuff. No doubt it still applies today.

Survival Story- Flobots

Completely neglected my Flobots news and missed their new album release date. But I listened and, as always, was really exited to have my ears be blessed with the rare social commentary that the members have dedicated their band to- not impressed. at all. well just a little but I'll tell you why in a second.

I know i say I'm really picky with my music and that I'm almost never impressed with new albums, but I gave the flobots a lot of wiggle room. The fact that they do dedicate their albums to protest instead of numbing us with songs about petty love and narcissism, is heroic and scarce as it is. If the music wasn't the best, as long as they had a good message, i would have still liked it. PLUS I saw them at my local powershift and they definitely said they were joining the environmental movement- brownie points!!!






Their new album cover reflects that decision and I do appreciate the song Defend Atlantis, but most of the tracks just aren't structured properly. I don't know what happened, maybe they switched songwriters or someone was really off their game, but I cannot look past the sloppiness. lyrics didn't flow, the chorus' did not mesh, the music was off...i can't even put my finger on it. In short- it was an amateur album. Can this really be the same band that recorded Fight with Tools 3 years ago? because they were AMAZING!! I LOOOOOVED that Flobots- i with it was them that made my environmental anthem.

I'm crossing my fingers for an album 3 and that it will be better. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt (again) and say that the second album is always the weakest- just because you have to figure out how to follow up a good first. I know that this band has the potential because I highly doubt that someone can make 12 flukes in a row on one album.

**sidenote: did also enjoy the song White Flag Warrior. This was very well done. I'll give them that : )

WhiteFlagWarrior from Flobotics on Vimeo.

More Flobots: Handlebars, Fight with Tools, Rise



<3

A worthless thought

There's been a lot of talk about a lot of things recently and a lot of new ideas forming in my head that i have yet to make sense of. There's been a lot of events that have pressed against me and are in the process of forming me. Yet not everything is done working so i can breath.

Despite the transforming and the changing and whatever else it is, One of those things that have been bubbling in my mind is this idea of identity. Who we see ourselves as, who we feel others think we are, and who we want ourselves to be. I have come to the conclusion that I am not just a word. I am several different words but at the same time wordless. There is nothing that can describe who I am or what I am or who i will become. I guess that is why we all have names- not just for labeling but to create one word that can truly define us.

I am Tabitha.
yea, that makes sense.

Schools Out but the Work is Never Over

I Am finally back home from another year at school. It's crazy how fast this part of my life is moving. Only 2.5 years to go (too much credits to take for a clean 4 year graduation >.<). However there is soooo much going on this summer i barely have time for the traditional break.

Like i mentioned a few entries ago i am doing a training program with Greenpeace this summer from June to August. I'm am exited and nervous and maybe a little scared. I think it might be the fact that I'm semi living life on my own- though not really because I'm still living in a dorm, with 2 other roommates, and i'm still doing a program so it's just like moving out to college all over again. I think sometimes we trick ourselves into thinking situations are more different than they really are.

I also have decided to be come much more read by the end of this summer (how that will happen with a 40hr work week i do not know) so i have a pile of books to read plus a list of books to check out from the library. And just to make sure I read everything, I am only going to post books after I read them :P. I kind of need to trick myself to be motivated enough to finish a book- it's been much too long.

I don't have much to entertain you with. But i did go through my old music the other day in the car and i remembered that I love The Futureheads. a lot. Check them out.
Radio Heart, Hounds of Love, Struck Dumb

Their new album, Chaos, is up to par i think- and that's saying a lot b/c i usually am not impressed with new albums. However, my favorites are still the first and 3rd.

That's all from me-
Peace and Blessin's

<3