Idle No More SF Bay co-sponsors the Big Oil Resistance Tour and Isabella Zizi speaks on the Oakland panel

On Friday, May 13,  over 300 people gathered and Oakland, as part of the powerful big oil resistance to war that was organized by the Last Chance alliance. Idle No More SF BAY as a part of the last chance alliance, along with many other grassroots, community, and Climate Justice organizations. 

The evening was an incredibly uplifting, inspiring, and moving night of speakers starting with a beautiful opening of poetry and song by Lu Aya of the Peace Poets. 

We got to hear powerful stories from Alfredo Angulo with Communities for a Better Environment in Richmond as well as Shoshanna Wechsler of Sunflower Alliance speaking about the current attempts to revive drilling in Contra Costa County. Jennifer Esteen, RN with SEIU spoke about public health and safety, and some powerful legislative wins against the fossil fuel lobby. And Chirag Bhakt from Food and Water Watch gave a powerful overview of all of the impacts of big oil on all the things that matter in our lives. 

A highlight of the evening in addition was hearing these wonderful activists and water protectors on a wonderful panel: 

• Cemre Gonen (Youth vs. Apocalypse)
• Cesar Aguirre (Central California Environmental Justice Network) 
• Isabella Zizi (Idle No More SF-Bay) 
• Michelle Mascarenhas (Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project / Sierra Club
• And, longtime activist, author, and co-founder of organizations like 350.org and Third Act - Bill McKibben. 

We are sharing here a video of Isabella Zizi, sharing a powerful indigenous perspective, as well as a YouTube link to a video made by Peter Menchini where you can watch the entire evening or pick a particular speaker to listen to. 

Here is a short description of why this Big Oil Resistance Tour was organized, traveling to seven different cities from the south of California to the north:

“Governor Newsom is talking tough on Big Oil and trying to stop them from fleecing us at the gas pump. But, we need him to truly move California beyond fossil fuels once and for all - by ending neighborhood drilling, halting all new fossil fuel permits, and supporting a full, coordinated, and just transition off of fossil fuels to give workers and communities clear timelines to plan.”
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