Month: March 2024

Solidarity on Land Day

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

Yesterday (March 30) was the 48th anniversary of Land Day. Per BDS Movement: “On this day in 1976, Israel’s apartheid forces murdered six Palestinians (all “citizens”) as they took part in non-violent protests against the relentless settler-colonial theft of their land. Every March 30th, Indigenous Palestinians everywhere commemorate Land Day in honor of the struggle against Israeli settler-colonial oppression and for liberation.”

Colorado Palestine Coalition organized a rally and march yesterday which Zippy and I attended. We hadn’t been able to attend any rallies/marches for a bit so it felt good to be back with like-minded folks who refuse to remain silent as our government ignores our calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, and continues to send billions of dollars and bombs so that Israel may continue its campaign of death, disability, and destruction in Gaza. It’s cathartic to march through the streets, (loudly) chanting in unison on behalf of Palestinians and to call out our so-called representatives for their complicity in the genocide.

People were also there on bicycles in solidarity with Gaza Sunbirds (The Gaza Sunbirds are a para-cycling team, consisting of 20 athletes, based in the Gaza Strip. The team was founded in 2018 when Alaa al-Dali, an Olympic hopeful cyclist, was shot in the leg by an Israeli sniper. They are currently distributing aid.). Donations can be made HERE.

One of the speakers said that while the turnout in Denver wasn’t the largest they’d seen, it was still incredibly gratifying to have that many people show up for Palestine on a spring Saturday. Another speaker asked people to raise their hand if they’d just learned about Palestine last year and LOTS of people raised hands which felt incredible on two levels: incredible in that so many people had now joined the movement(!) but also incredible in that they were ignorant of the situation due to the pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian filter through which we in the U.S. receive our information.

The tide is changing. Israel’s brutal assault, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians (70% of them women and children), the forced starvation, the destruction of hospitals, universities, neighborhoods, the assassination of journalists, academics, poets, healthcare workers, and aid workers, along with the dropping of white phosphorous with the intent of destroying the agricultural  land and making that land uninhabitable, all of this brutality (and more) is on display for the entire world to see. We see this gleeful brutality and there will be no returning to the status quo.

Please, if you haven’t yet spoken up on behalf of Gaza and all Palestinians, it’s not too late. And if you don’t feel as if you understand the situation enough, I highly recommend “They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girl’s Fight for Freedom” by Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri. (A Palestinian activist jailed at sixteen after a confrontation with Israeli soldiers illuminates the daily struggles of life under occupation in this moving, deeply personal memoir.) I just started reading it (after seeing this blog post) and find the memoir highly accessible and engrossing.

The Palestinian people have been resisting for decades and millions of us around the world are also resisting on their behalf. Palestine will be free.

Palestinian poetry and artwork

/ Tracy Abell / 4 Comments

The following poem by Palestinian-American Fady Joudah and artwork by children’s book illustrator Sohila Khaled come from the recently published Poems for Palestine which was created by Publishers for Palestine. They’ve provided a PDF of the chapbook and we are encouraged to share the work widely. (click to enlarge images)

 

I also wanted to share this TIME article (by Armani Syed)  from early January: How Poetry Became a Tool of Resistance for Palestinians which ends with this from  George Abraham, a Palestinian-American poet: “. . . it’s imperative that poetry is just one tool in the process for Palestinian liberation and resistance against ethnic cleansing. 

“Poetry can’t stop a bullet. Poetry won’t free a prisoner. And that’s why we need to do the political organizing work as well,” they say. “But if we can’t imagine a free liberated world in language, how can we build one?”

Free Palestine!

Climate Movement Monday: climate resiliency and insurance companies

/ Tracy Abell / 8 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and then take a quick action on behalf of people and planet. This week’s info comes from a Stop the Money Pipeline email on behalf of the Connecticut Citizen Action Group which “for the last 4 years, has been working hard to hold insurance companies accountable for propping up fossil fuel projects and fueling the climate crisis.” You might be reading this, wondering why anyone living outside Connecticut should care what’s happening there. My take is that we should care because when one state takes the lead on an issue, it makes it easier for other states to adopt those tested policies. Climate leadership emboldens other states to follow suit!

You might also be wondering about the connection between insurance companies and climate change. Go HERE for a quick primer on how insurance companies, the companies we pay to protect us from catastrophic damages, are the very companies fueling the climate crisis.

The following is from Jackie of Stop the Money Pipeline:

We have some exciting climate news. This month, the Connecticut General Assembly’s Environment Committee just voted a groundbreaking policy out of committee. But we need your help to get it over the finish line: We need to keep the most important amendments in the bill. (Tracy here again: I found the letter template to be a bit confusing so am linking my letter as a sample on how you might personalize AND to emphasize that the ask is to keep the amendment!)

The committee voted to approve the Governor’s Climate Resiliency bill (SB11) with an amendment that advances a climate resiliency fund to support communities in Connecticut harmed by extreme weather disasters fueled by climate chaos.

The measure instructs the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection to propose by the end of the year how a fund would be financed with a surcharge on insurers’ policies offered to fossil fuel projects. This could be replicated in other states if it passes.

Thank the Governor for the Climate Resiliency bill and urge him to make CT a leader by keeping the insurance study amendment!

Thanks to CCAG, the bill is headed to the Senate floor, and we have a real chance at holding insurers accountable.

This piece of legislation would take a crucial step in highlighting insurers’ role in the climate crisis, and hold them accountable for the devastation their underwriting policies have caused as they pull coverage from the most disaster-prone areas of the country.

Send an email to the CT Governor now! We need to continue to hold insurance companies accountable.

If we get a win in Connecticut, this law could be replicated in other states. Let’s make it happen.

Tracy again. Thank you for reading and taking action! We’re all in this together and every climate win is a win for people and planet. Solidarity! ✊🏽

For Dillon

/ Tracy Abell / 7 Comments

You never got to see a Northern Harrier, so here are two slightly blurred but fully authentic photos of the harrier I told you about exactly one week ago when we were shoveling that heavy snow together, when you were being your typical generous self and helping clear the enormous snowplow-created snow berm so that Zippy and I would be able to get out of our driveway if needed.

Both images by Zippy. March 11, 2024

You delighted in the fact I’d just learned from Zippy: Northern Harriers have owl-like faces that help them hear prey as they fly low above the ground. I wish you’d had the chance to see and identify one when working with your surveying crew so that you would’ve won the “Raptor ID Pie” for that week.

Even more, I wish you were still here with your easy smile and enormous heart. I wish we could have more conversation about birds and nature and dogs and streams, just a sampling of the many things that brought you joy, but I’m grateful for the time we did share and I hold those memories close.

My heart is shattered. I hope you knew how much you meant to me.

Rest in peace, Dillon.

Wordful Wednesday: Geese & Gaza

/ Tracy Abell

Isn’t this a serene image? Five geese winging their way through blue, blue skies? Aren’t you glad you can view this in the safety and comfort of your home?

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. March 11, 2024

On February 1, I wrote about the Biden administration callously suspending funding for UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) because of unfounded allegations against some of the workers. In the time since, Israel has offered zero evidence of those lies and one million people are facing starvation and the spread of preventable diseases. Per Jewish Voice for Peace: Today, one-third of children under the age of two in Gaza’s north are suffering from acute malnutrition, more than double the number from a month ago. 

PLEASE take two minutes to email your Representative and two Senators, asking them to pressure the Biden administration to resume funding of UNRWA. That link contains a letter template you can personalize. I know we’ve already emailed them with this same demand, but we cannot stop pressuring them to do the right thing until they actually do the right thing.

As way of thanks, here’s another gooseful photo:

Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge. March 12, 2024

Solidarity!

Climate Movement Monday: Juliana v United States (AGAIN)

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

Hello, it’s another Monday which means a Movement Monday post! Thank you for being here for discussions about climate and the frontline communities facing the worst of the climate crisis. This giant blue ball is home to ALL of us and we need to keep showing up in order to ensure the planet remains livable.

The Juliana 21 (image from Our Children’s Trust)

Today is a time-sensitive ask (a quick personal letter) as we revisit the children’s climate case: Juliana v United States. Here’s the background info from my January 30, 2023, post:

In 2015, 21 young Americans filed a landmark constitutional climate lawsuit, Juliana v. United States, against the U.S. government. Their complaint asserts that the government’s affirmative actions, like fossil fuel energy policies, knowingly cause and worsen the climate crisis. The youth claim that this violates the youngest generation’s constitutional rights to life, liberty, property, and equal protection of the law, as well as fails to protect essential public trust resources.

These 21 young people are seeking a judicial declaration that the U.S. fossil fuel energy system is unconstitutional and violates their fundamental right to a safe climate. A victory in their case would mean that all current and future U.S. climate and energy policy – whether executive or legislative in nature, and regardless of political majority or party – would need to adhere to the court’s declaratory judgment, protecting the rights of our nation’s children to a safe climate.

Despite President Biden’s promises to listen to youth and address the climate crisis, his Department of Justice is still actively opposing the Juliana case, denying their rights and seeking to prevent the young plaintiffs from presenting evidence to a judge in open court of how their own government is causing them harm.
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You may recall that exactly three weeks ago, I asked you to take action on this very case. The good news is that 35,000+ letters were sent demanding that the Department of Justice (DOJ) stop their stalling tactics and allow the case to go to trial AND that 75 organizations joined the efforts to #SaveJuliana. The bad news is that the DOJ asked for a stay (their 22nd attempt to shut down this case!) Good news? The U.S. Court of appeals denied the stay! BUT on February 29, the DOJ said we have 21 days to make the case for why Juliana should go to trial. That’s where we come in.

PLEASE, take two minutes to personalize the letter template to send a message to the Biden administration and the DOJ demanding that the young people are heard in court! 

Maybe you have children or grandchildren or are a teacher or librarian who works with young people, and maybe you want to include concern for them in your letter. Maybe you want to mention that if Biden wants to be known as the “climate president,” he should allow this case to go to trial. Maybe you want to mention droughts, floods, hurricanes, or winter tornadoes you’ve suffered due to the climate crisis. Whatever your approach, let’s stand up for the young who did not create this climate catastrophe but who are already facing the consequences of their elders’ inaction. Let’s give them a brighter future!

Also? If you could forward the info to two friends or family members and ask them to send letters today, we will grow our impact. For those on Facebook, Twitter/X, or Instagram, here’s a toolkit with graphics and messaging to help spread the word.

Thank you for reading and engaging on this issue. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Sunday Confessional: crane overwhelm

/ Tracy Abell / 16 Comments

As I posted last Wednesday, we recently had the privilege of witnessing a layover during the migration of Sandhill Cranes. This trip was fifteen years in the making as we’d planned to go to Monte Vista in March of 2009, but had to cancel for health-related reasons. And somehow, we never got our acts together until this year. All this to say, last week’s experience was a very big deal for a variety of reasons, and it didn’t disappoint. In fact, I literally have hundreds of high quality images from the two days we spent watching the cranes. For the last couple days I’ve been trying to rally my decision-making skills so that I can share photos (although not all that time was spent agonizing over photo selection as some hours were spent shoveling the 27 inches of snow we got in the storm that started Wednesday evening and finally ended Friday morning).

Decisions! This is where the overwhelm comes in: how can I possibly choose from all my wonderful photos? How can I convey the whole experience with just a sampling of pics?

Should I begin with the very first photo I took on Monday evening? (click all to enlarge)

Do I include the yoga-pose photo?

Do I share the majesty of cranes flying against the backdrop of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains?

Should I include an image showing how the camera sometimes struggled to focus on the closest crane when SO MANY OTHER CRANES were headed our way?

Or the very first crane dance I had the honor of witnessing? (According to BirdNote, Sandhill Cranes mate for life and they do this dance each spring to reaffirm their bond.)

And I should probably include an image that shows how close all of us were to these magnificent birds, right?

Maybe include an image showing another field we visited right as the sun went down (even though the photo doesn’t convey the sound of THOUSANDS of cranes), where many stood facing west?

Along with a photo showing how the cranes just kept coming?

And what about the next day’s photos–should I begin with this crane running before lift-off?

No doubt I should include this crane ‘s dance that began with a leap, right?

But then which of the other dance moves should I include . . .maybe this?

And which of the many photos I took at the other field when approximately three thousand cranes lifted off as one (leaving behind just three cranes who remained in the field for another hour) should I share?

Unfortunately (or not), I don’t have a photo of me overcome with emotion in this moment, tears running down my face. I can only say that being in the presence of all those cranes in motion/in community was one of the most profound experiences of my life. Minutes later, I stood in the silence they’d left behind, incredibly grateful for the gift of their presence and the peace of that moment, wishing that same kind of peace for everyone around the world.

I have an entire afternoon and evening worth of photos that I haven’t delved into here, but I’ll stop so as to not overwhelm anyone else. No worries, though! I’m absolutely positive I’ll be posting more in the near future. 🙂

Sandhill Cranes

/ Tracy Abell / 11 Comments

We had a glorious time at Monte Vista National Wildlife Refuge with the thousands of Sandhill Cranes. This is just a tiny taste of what we experienced and one of the final photos I took yesterday evening. These four cranes were coming in for a landing at a popular feeding spot in the barley field.

March 12, 2024

I don’t know what it was about that corner but during each of the three feeding times we witnessed, cranes showed up at that spot which is within 50 feet of where people are allowed to stand. There’d be just a few to start and then others, like the four above, would drop in to join them. Zippy joked about the cranes having an agreement to take turns posing for the humans. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful for their presence. More photos to come!

Climate Movement Monday: lies from Big Meat via HEATED

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we focus on climate-related topics. I typically try to highlight an issue directly affecting a frontline community and then offer an action you can take on their behalf. Today I’m taking a different approach and using this opportunity to shine a light on a wonderful climate newsletter called HEATED.

Emily Atkin

Per their About page, HEATED is “Accountability journalism for the climate crisis,” from climate journalists Emily Atkin and Arielle Samuelson. I started out as a subscriber and am now a paid subscriber because I want to support their in-depth reporting, and I hope you’ll check them out.

Arielle Samuelson

 

 

 

I’ve chosen today’s story because it involves meat and  I haven’t yet addressed the climate impact of eating industrially-raised animals in Movement Mondays.  To be honest, I haven’t thought about it much as I’m a lifelong vegetarian but am guessing at least some of my readers are meat-eaters and will welcome this info as it identifies certain brands making false sustainability claims. At the heart of this story is JBS USA, an arm of the world’s largest meatpacking company, and its fraudulent promise to reach “net zero emissions by 2040,” and the New York Attorney General going after them for this claim. I’ve linked the newsletter below.

Big Meat is lying about sustainability. These media outlets are helping.
Can newsrooms really expect people to trust their reporting if they fund it by spreading misinformation?  by Emily Atkins and Arielle Samuelson. March 6, 2024

Thank you for reading and please share any thoughts or questions in the comments. Note: I scheduled this post before leaving for a national wildlife refuge to see thousands of Sandhill Cranes, so my replies will come later this week. Solidarity! ✊🏽

Day 155 of the genocidal war on Palestinians

/ Tracy Abell / 9 Comments

Today is Day 155 of the brutal assault on Gaza. Over 30,000 have been killed, 70% of them women and children.  Sunset tomorrow marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Currently, 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded into Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, the region they fled to because the Israelis kept telling them to move south to “safe zones.” Every so-called safe zone has been bombed and destroyed and now those traumatized, starving, desperate people are facing the imminent Israeli ground invasion of Rafah, an invasion fully sponsored by the United States. (Genocide Joe is an ardent Zionist and in 1982 revealed to then-Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, Biden’s willingness to slaughter Palestinian women and children, a statement so callous it stunned the militant Zionist PM.)

The situation is horrifying on every single level. PLEASE continue to contact your reps (to make them uncomfortable, if nothing else), demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire + an end to aid to Israel. Food and supplies must be allowed in!  The performative airdrops are literally killing Palestinians, as they are either targeted by Israel while trying to retrieve the food or are crushed by a pallet.

The following artwork and poem come from POEMS FOR PALESTINE. I shared another poem and illustration from this collection here and you may go here for a free download of the entire chapbook. Publishers for Palestine encourages us to read and share widely!

Artwork: Hassan Manasrah
@hassan.manasrah.illustrations

NOTE: The poem is a screenshot because I wanted to preserve the poet’s spacing. Click on it for an easier read.

Climate action needed!

/ Tracy Abell

Typically I make one climate-related ask per week, but this info from Stop the Money Pipeline landed in my email box after I put up yesterday’s post, and it’s a time-sensitive request. Comments needed today! I’m going to paste that email below but, spoiler alert, the ask is that you personalize a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  Thank you in advance for reading and taking action! Solidarity! ✊🏽

Edited to add: Just sent my letter which requires more steps (the SEC making things harder for we-the-people to be heard) and wanted to say that while it’s more complicated than usual, it’s doable! 🙂 Follow the instructions and holler here in the comments if you need help.

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

From Stop the Money Pipeline:

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)–a major Wall Street and corporate regulator–is asleep at the wheel. This Wednesday, March 6th, it will vote on a crucial climate financial risk disclosure rule, an earlier draft of which required big corporations like banks and fossil fuel companies to report their scope 1, 2, AND 3 emissions. According to media reports, the current draft has them reporting only their scope 1 and 2 emissions, if they want to(1), which would miss most fossil fuel industry emissions and all financed emissions from banks.

Industry lobbyists are gutting this rule because they do not want people saving for retirement to know just how much their investments are at risk from these corporations’ decisions.

Take action with us and send an email to the SEC: They must protect investors and require companies to disclose all greenhouse gas emissions!  

Think of this–insurance companies are raising premiums at ridiculous rates while pulling out of areas they deem “uninsurable,” which typically lines up with historically redlined districts. Under the current draft of the rule, Scope 3 emissions, which include emissions from financing to burning fossil fuels, will not be disclosed.

If the industry lobbyists get their way, companies will get to choose whether or not they report Scopes 1 and 2 emissions (emissions from the energy the company buys, and emissions from the production process, including company vehicle emissions). Is it right that companies get to decide how transparent they should be?

Tell the SEC: Your disclosure rule needs some major work. Urge them to require companies to disclose their climate emissions.

The fossil fuel industry is toxic. This rule fails to respond to real-time hidden risks with financial implications for our entire economy. In the context of a ‘dying’ fossil fuel industry, we need to be able to foresee how prices will change as flows of money shift from fossil fuels to a clean future.

If this final rule is weaker than what the SEC proposed two years ago, it will fail the agency’s mission to protect investors and provide transparency about corporate climate risks. They should know we’re angry. Please take this action ASAP to make sure they hear our voices before the vote on Wednesday.

Together, we can make our voices heard and pressure these decision-makers to do the right thing at every opportunity.

In solidarity,
– the Stop the Money Pipeline team

1. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/the-long-game/2024/02/27/down-to-the-wire-at-the-sec-00143511

Climate Movement Monday: train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

/ Tracy Abell / 18 Comments

Welcome back to Movement Mondays in which we discuss all things climate and focus on acting in solidarity with frontline communities. Today’s post isn’t directly climate-related as in drought or flooding, but is connected to public health and the environment. On February 3, 2023, a Norfolk Southern** train carrying liquid vinyl chloride derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Twenty cars, […], toppled off the tracks and burst into flames. Three days later, railroad officials decided to burn off the remnants in the derailed cars, sending a giant black cloud plume over the village and region.

A black plume rises over East Palestine, Ohio, as a result of a controlled detonation of a portion of the derailed Norfolk Southern trains, Feb. 6, 2023.  // Gene J. Puskar/AP, FILE

Something that I lost track of in following this story is that the black particulate cloud from the burn not only affected people in Ohio, but also communities in Pennsylvania. As a result of last year’s catastrophe, the inhabitants of East Palestine (and beyond) have faced a myriad of mysterious health ailments. Biden didn’t show up there until last month, more than a year since the train derailment. The people of East Palestine hoped he’d finally make a Presidential Disaster Declaration so, among other things, there’d finally be testing of all homes, the soil, and creeks. As resident-turned-activist Jamie Wallace points out in this video interview, the creeks might look okay on the surface but the chemicals have soaked into the sediment. When that sediment is disturbed, there is a “chemical tornado.”

She and the rest of Unity Council for EP Train Derailment, the group formed in the aftermath of the disaster, are calling  for long-term health monitoring for East Palestine residents and access to a toxicologist. At this time, they do not have access to a toxicologist which is SO wrong when considering they’ve been exposed to a known human carcinogen. (An aside: if you’re considering new flooring for your home, PLEASE don’t buy vinyl flooring –that stuff that looks like hardwood–because it’s highly toxic for all from workers, to transport, to home. A good alternative–and one we’ve used in multiple applications–is Marmoleum flooring. We’ve found some good deals online.)

In advance of Biden’s long-overdue visit to East Palestine, a letter outlining recommendations for federal help on this catastrophe was sent to Biden and Michael Regan of the EPA. The following includes their recommendations (full letter HERE):

“. . . we strongly recommend that the federal government issue a “major disaster declaration” and work with Senators J.D. Vance, Sherrod Brown, Bob Casey, John Fetterman, and members of Congress to do the following:
1. Provide immediate and long-term healthcare for the community of East Palestine, in nearby Ohio and Pennsylvania, and other states and communities that have been exposed to the toxic chemical mixture resulting from the derailment, chemical spill, and intentional burn;
2. Set up a long-term medical monitoring program to follow these communities and any
individuals who were in the area over time for a minimum of 20 years;
3. Provide all financial resources for relocation that make it possible for anyone living or who lived in the area who feels they were impacted by hazardous exposure from the train derailment and burn who want to leave the area to do so and move into equivalent housing, and develop a program to replace all household items that may have been contaminated;
4. Conduct comprehensive indoor air testing for anyone in the area who feels they have been exposed or have endured latent exposure due to contaminated waterways, especially homes, businesses, and other buildings near Sulphur Run where vapor intrusion may be occurring;
5. Conduct long-term, robust assessments for hazardous chemicals that may have contaminated the drinking water, both for municipalities and especially for people who rely on well water in East Palestine and nearby communities and anyone who feels their drinking water may have been impacted by the derailment and subsequent release and burn of chemicals; and
6. Significantly expand sampling for dioxins and furans in residential soil, indoor dust, fish, farm animals, wildlife, and other relevant environmental media in East Palestine and nearby communities that may have been impacted.

In addition, we were pleased to see that EPA recently announced that it was beginning a process under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to evaluate vinyl chloride. Such a process should end with a ban on vinyl chloride.

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My ask today is to WRITE ONE EMAIL on behalf of the people of East Palestine and nearby communities: You can use the above recommendations, you can demand Biden issue a Disaster Declaration, you can plead for a ban on vinyl chloride, and/or you can just share your outrage that citizens of this country have been left on their own as another corporation gets away with destroying public health and the environment.  What’s important is letting our government know that we are not okay with fellow citizens being poisoned and then left to deal with the devastating aftermath.

President Biden : comments@whitehouse.gov
EPA Administrator, Michael Regan: Regan.Michael@epa.gov

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**You may or may not be surprised to learn that Norfolk Southern’s CEO received a 37% raise last year. This past weekend, Norfolk Southern trains had a collision involving three trains (!)  and derailment of two of those trains in Pennsylvania, spilling plastic pellets and diesel into the waterways.

3.7.24 UPDATE: People wondered in the comments here why Norfolk Southern would burn the vinyl chloride. Watch this eye-opening testimony from a National Transportation Safety Board rep who says NS was told by the vinyl chloride manufacturer it was NOT necessary to burn. It appears NS chose to poison East Palestine chose and surrounding communities in order to immediately resume moving trains through that area.

Thank you for reading and taking action on behalf of East Palestine and the surrounding communities. Solidarity! ✊🏽