Global Divestment Day in Madison: Love, Resist Divest… Party!

This post was co-written with Kaja Rebane.

This is Our Climate (to the tune of: You Are My Sunshine)

Lyrics by: Elizabeth Shirah

This is our climate, our friendly climate… 
It keeps us healthy from day to day!
 Don’t build that pipeline, that dirty pipeline… Please don’t take our climate away!

This is our planet, our precious planet…
 All of us live here, and want to stay!
 Don’t build that pipeline, that dirty pipeline… Please don’t take our planet away!

The other night, dear, when I was sleeping… I dreamed the pipeline had gone away!
 But when I woke up, I was mistaken…
 Oh please don’t take our future away!

This was just one of the many songs about tar sands and fossil fuel divestment being belted out at Madison’s Brocach Irish Pub this past Friday. The songsters were attending a party in honor of Global Divestment Day, though the event also prominently featured themes of tar sands resistance and Valentine’s Day.

Right before the party, a group of warmly bundled figures gathered nearby on an iconic stretch of State Street, in order to celebrate Global Divestment Day with an Overpass Light Brigade action. The Holders of the Light had to brave freezing conditions, and to repeatedly run off the street to allow city buses to pass by. However, the visual effect of the action was stunning, and attracted a small crowd of passersby who pulled out cell phones to capture the scene.

Overpass Light Brigade action on State Street in Madison, Friday night in support of Global Divestment Day (Photo credit: Michael Pecosky)
Overpass Light Brigade action on State Street in Madison, Friday night in support of Global Divestment Day (Photo credit: Michael Pecosky)

The chilly Holders of the Light were soon able to warm up at the “Love, Resist, Divest… Party!” event at Brocach. Hosted by 350 Madison, NoKXL Pledge of Resistance-Madison, 350 UW and Fossil Free UW, the party was a complex, colorful swirl of merrymaking and activism.

Cheerful members of the sponsoring organizations greeted guests at the door. Wearing broad smiles and paper hearts reading “Ask Me About Divestment,” they invited attendees to contribute to the Multi-School Divestment Fund. This newly minted fund allows people to donate money to their alma mater on the condition that the school divests from fossil fuels. The party’s organizers had succeeded in getting UW-Madison added to the fund in time for Friday’s event, and raised $1,000 for the fund from 27 donors (with the majority of the money earmarked for UW-Madison).

Moving deeper into the crowd at Brocach, guests found plates piled high with themed desserts. Among the many confections, they could sample “tar-sands covered” strawberries, nibble on tear drop-shaped “dil-bits,” and indulge in small orange “divest-mints” marked with the characteristic “fossil free X.”

Attendees created an array of divestment and tar sands themed snacks and desserts.
Attendees created an array of divestment and tar sands themed snacks and desserts.

Partygoers were invited to fill out handmade postcards to President Obama, asking him to stop the Keystone XL pipeline. Each postcard was unique, and most featured images of past Keystone XL-related actions by local photographers.

Over the course of the evening, 52 people filled out postcards to the President. The messages were often heartfelt and personal.

For many party attendees, however, the real treat of the evening was singing along to songs about fossil fuel divestment, tar sands and climate change to the upbeat music of the Learning Curve. The melodies were from familiar pop tunes and protest songs, but most lyrics were written by local activists. The songs addressed both national and local issues, ranging from carbon emissions and the Keystone XL pipeline, to Enbridge’s attempts to expand its Line 61 tar sands pipeline through Wisconsin, and the campaign to get UW-Madison to divest its endowment from fossil fuels.

At one point during the evening, people took a break from the festivities to gather for a photo urging UW-Madison to divest. The size of the group made fitting everyone into the photo challenging, as the crowd spilled into the side room and photographers pressed back against the pub’s bar to get their shots.

For years, Madison has been a hotbed of activity in the fight against tar sands and climate change, as well as the push for fossil fuel divestment. With such a strong network of smart, creative activists leading the charge, we can expect to see more great things happening in 2015.