Join us for our April Liberation Forum. Earth Day is April 22 and was initially organized by anti-war activists during the mass uprising in the 1960s and 1970s. Organizers with the PSL will reclaim Earth Day’s progressive origins and remind us that the struggle for a planet on which we can live has always been a struggle against the billionaires.
Our first speaker will review the people’s successes of the 2020 mass uprising against racism, but will also remind us that the ruling class and their police have also learned from that historic struggle. The billionaires through the Pentagon and the rest of government are openly planning to respond to climate change and continued protest of police violence with more mass repression. We will learn how the struggle against Cop City in Atlanta is a struggle that directly impacts us in Indianapolis, just as the struggle against militarized borders and anti-immigrant policy is a threat to us all. This speaker will help us realize why this or that police force is not the origin of the problem; we need a whole new system.
Our second speaker will report back from the PSL’s work to provide tornado relief to the communities hit by the recent storm systems. As climate change worsens, we will see more extreme weather, so it is critical we prepare for this. However, organizers will also reflect on how our limited efforts–volunteer and unfunded–are incapable of fully meeting peoples needs. We need immense resources, organization, and labor power. The government has all of these in abundance, but is instead funding war games and weapons research to prepare for major conflict abroad. This speaker will demonstrate that it is not just a fantasy to look for systems that prioritize the needs of our neighbors, especially after disaster. Poorer countries than the US have been able to do this, and we can do the same thing here, through a socialist system.
Our final speaker will provide us with the real history of Earth Day and climate activism and will set the record straight on climate change. The scientific consensus could not be clearer about the extremely limited time we have to move away from extraction for profit. Yet the ruling class seems interested either in deregulating or promising tiny changes over the course of decades. This speech will clarify that we need a change now away from money-driven production and towards people-and-planet focused development. We do not have to choose between the needs of the many and the health of our planet, but we do have to end capitalism. We can and must unite across regions, states, countries, and continents to combat climate change and ensure that everyone has access to a safe environment.
We hope to see you there so you can get involved in the crucial struggle for climate justice and join the struggle for a society free of all forms of oppression!
