Block Friday: A Call to Action in Solidarity with Anti-Extraction Struggles Everywhere

The following submission is a call from participants at the ongoing Olympia Blockade for actions of solidarity and support.

This November 24th, celebrate Block Friday with us by taking action against extractive industries.

On November 16th, 2017, the Keystone XL pipeline spilled 210,000 gallons of crude oil in South Dakota. The next day, a group of friends in Olympia, Washington set up a blockade on the train tracks to prevent the shipment of fracking sands to be used in natural gas extraction.

We were here last year occupying the tracks in solidarity with Standing Rock, and now we’re continuing to struggle against extractive industries and colonialism. This Thursday, we’re supposed to celebrate white supremacy and eat turkey, but instead we’ll be at the barricades in the rain, burning an effigy of a pilgrim and sharing food.

On Friday we’re asking you to show solidarity by taking action. The Olympia Stand commune has been piling pallets high and eating cake around barrel fires, and we’d love for you to respond by showing your support. On Block Friday, please drop banners, paint walls, have a march, stop something in its tracks, soapbox at the mall, go to a Black Lives Matter demonstration, or come to Olympia and hang out on the tracks with us. In order to continue, we need the struggle to expand beyond the confines of our camp as we learn to live and fight together. Long live the commune! Fire to the pipelines!