WALK IT OFF

Illustration by Robert A. Di Ieso, Jr. for the Baffler

STOP, LOOK, LISTEN! by Kathy Sherretts

Walk it off
Every list of actions to support climate recovery recommends walking when possible – it’s good for your health, your wallet, and the planet. Walking slows you down and connects you with your neighbors, your environment, and your own thoughts. 
But being a pedestrian is a challenge. If you actually want to get somewhere, you will have to negotiate routes and spaces with other traffic. A lot of the time it's you against the cars—and lawmakers, city planners, and automobile designers have ensured that the cars will always win. 
In this article from The Baffler, Jordan Fraade examines how car vs. pedestrian conflicts played out in the early history of the automobile, and how blaming the pedestrian is really about maintaining the privileges of car culture. 
David Levinson at The Transportist has compiled a Pedestrian Bill of Rightswith the input, via Twitter, of a community of weary foot travelers. Until it is adopted, the onus is on us as pedestrians to keep our wits about us. Be careful out there!
--Kathy Sherretts

Article:
New Yorker: The “Star-Spangled Banner” Hysteria of 1917 by Alex Ross
Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem at 49ers football games. Black US medalists responded to the anthem with the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics. During the Vietnam War, Jimi Hendrix twisted the tune into a dissonant wail. Long before these incidents, a 1917 anthem controversy involving the Boston Symphony led to the arrest of one of the world’s leading conductors.

Article:
Popular Information: These rainbow flag-waving corporations donated millions to anti-gay members of Congress by Judd Legum
Major corporations like Verizon, Pfizer, FedEx, GE, and others have supported Pride Month as a way of courting the LGBTQ community. But do they really support the LGBTQ movement? Here are nine rainbow-flag-waving corporations that gave $1 million or more to anti-gay politicians in the last election cycle.

Article:
Sierra Club: Who Wants to Kill the Electric Car This Time? by Ben Jervey
Senator John Barrasso is the third-highest recipient of campaign donations from Koch Industries. As chairman the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senator Barrasso introduced a bill to end the federal tax credit for plug-in electric vehicles and establish an annual "highway user fee" for all "alternative fuel vehicles"—just one example of how the Koch brothers are working to decelerate the country's transition to electric cars.

Podcast:
New Hampshire Public Radio/Civics 101: Checks and Balances (15 min)
Our system of government is designed to counterweight itself, so each branch has the power to stop the others from going too far—the only catch being, they have to actually exercise that power. This episode explains what those checks actually are, and how the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches (ostensibly) keep things democratic.

Ready to do more?

Learn about the Green New Deal. If you missed our roundtable discussion, you can read the presenters' notes here. 
Read the Indivisible Guide 2.0, a new strategy for a new congress. 
Check out the weekly action plan from Progressive Action, Global Exchange (PAGE) which mobilizes progressives living overseas. 
Sign up for the Americans of Conscience Checklist, a weekly action list that also provides encouragement and good news. 
Learn more about solutions and actions at ClimateRecovery.org, a new group organized by members of American Resistance Sevilla and other community activists. 
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