Lisa Marcus has been a core leader of 350 Seattle since our first meeting almost 12 years ago. She continues to develop and lead our Artful Activism Team. If you’ve held a brush at an art build, marched with one of our beautiful banners, or attended any 350 Seattle action, chances are you have met Lisa. This spring, Lisa is transitioning out of the Staff Collective (although remaining very involved!). In honor of our affection and appreciation, we wanted to share an interview with Lisa.
How did you get involved in 350 Seattle?
LISA:
“I was concerned about climate chaos and was looking for a place to make a big impact. I had various organizing, conflict resolution, and community art making skills, and a developing anti-racism and anti-oppression lens. I’d been looking for a way to put them to good use. I’d been attending meetings and taking part at other organizations like Sierra Club and offering my skills, but there wasn’t much I could do there to have the kind of involvement and impact I was looking for. I knew of 350.org and was in a little 350 affiliated singing group that rewrote lyrics to be about the climate emergency and sang them at public events. I had found Backbone and was learning from them about Artful Activism and effective organizing strategies. I already worked with artists I had met at the Fremont Arts Council taking action against NAFTA and other trade agreements, and was at the time building a giant coal train prop to bring to hearings and actions and various other things to oppose proposals to increase coal trains through Seattle.
I went to the very first 350 Seattle public meeting, hoping to recruit people for the first Seattle iMatter youth march against the coal trains, while also checking out the new 350 Chapter. There were close to 100 people there. We split into workgroups, and I joined the coal workgroup since I thought that was a great issue to get lots of people rising up in Seattle, and I already had an art project in the works to do just that. At that meeting, I was unanimously voted to represent our work group on the hub (the central decision-making body – like the staff collective now) because of my enthusiasm and willingness to take on responsibility (laughs). I thought to myself, I’m so busy already with this project and being a mom, but these people seem friendly, motivated, and skilled, and this may be just what I’ve been looking for. I said yes, and what a great decision that was!”
What was your most memorable action? The most inspiring campaign?
LISA:
“What comes right to mind is Shellno for its beauty, its hugeness; so many people coming together, the David vs. Goliath story. The fact that even though the Polar Pioneer left the port in Seattle and got to the Arctic, Shell abandoned Arctic drilling very shortly afterward. It was power through art and mass action with many groups working together, and so many other things, despite mistakes made. The most memorable moment for me was being out on the kayaks, on the water with so many people out in front of the polar pioneer as it was moving toward us. Everyone was slowly backing up, thinking it’s not slowing down, just an enormous wall coming at us. I realized how huge the opposition was, how big the machine we are up against really is. That’s what the money driven corporate system is–it’s a huge machine. We are so small and even with so many of us it’s just going to plow through us, but nonetheless, here we are in its way. Sweetwater, an Indigenous leader, had advised many of us there to stay positive and to send love to the humanity of the people behind the corporate greed, to the people on the drilling rig and those in charge so they would realize they didn’t want this either. I kept reminding myself as we were out there to let go of fear and keep sending that love. I remember being out there after getting out of its way, just crying on my kayak as I watched it depart, feeling defeated… but then the photos and the story of our beautiful massive kayaktivism protests went viral around the world and, with the damage to Shell’s public image and all that beautiful human love, we shut the whole freaking operation down! So, even when you think you’ve lost, eventually, or sooner sometimes, with enough wonderful people and good strategy, you are going to win. Big money and corporations don’t have the heart; they don’t have the things that people actually want and need in the end.”
What advice do you have for new organizers? To people who are new to social movements?
LISA:
“When I first got involved, I thought it would be a quick fight, it just was so obvious that change needed to happen and people would rise up and stop the big money interests driving climate chaos if they understood and had a way to join in. If people just had the information, if they woke up from the corporate propaganda outsourcing shame onto us all as if our individual choices are causing the issues, if more people would say something it would tip the scales … I worked as hard as I could because I felt better pouring all my time and energy into it, and I thought it would be a shorter battle. In retrospect, I hadn’t read enough history (laughs). That’s not how it works. My biggest takeaway is that it’s every little thing that each of us does. It is carrying your one right-sized grain of sand, while other people carry their grain. You live your life fully while carrying your grain and that inspires others to carry their grain. We each need to do whatever you are passionate about to make positive change in the world. There is no ‘one‘ way to make it happen. Every way has to happen at once. We have to make the work as inviting and accessible, and our communities as intersectional, as possible. A huge movement made up of many people and groups doing our parts, but joining together and supporting each other is what it’s going to take to have the livable world we need and want for everyone to thrive. And meanwhile it’s so important, as an organizer, to live a full life with good self care, to be an inviting example for others to find the motivation to carry their own grain of sand, because then they can imagine that they can do it too and that it matters. (pause) It feels way better to be in the work than to just be on the sidelines, watching it unfold, and that needs to be balanced with lots of self, family, and community care, and infused with plenty of love, humor, and joy.
What is the relationship between art & activism?
LISA:
“Art of all kinds touches our hearts, that includes visual art, music, theater, writing, poetry, spoken word; all forms of art. There is an intellectual way to perceive things, and then there is a way that goes straight to the heart. Our art combines the two. It connects to the intellect through a clear message, and to the heart through images, melodies, stories, participation. It moves people to feel inspired, a part of something beautiful, powerful, and hopeful.”
What’s next for you?
LISA:
“I want people to know that I am transitioning off the staff collective because I love where the organization is heading, because everything is being held well so I can step back. I learned in a workshop once that someone is a good community organizer when people don’t realize that you were involved in what’s going on. For now, I will keep being on the art leads team. We are building a horizontal team, dividing responsibilities and roles and welcoming new people–I am loving learning how to organize this way, and how to support organizing potential and leadership development. I want to focus on making space for myself so I can be more creative with art for our organization and our movement.
I want to share the thing that I’m most grateful for about 350 Seattle; this organization has learned and grown through years of small determined steps, mistakes, and tough lessons; as well as our big wins and successes. We’ve come such a long way, and continue to learn with and from each other and our broader communities. We work smarter more and more of the time, prioritizing a human pace, caring for ourselves and our community, following anti-racism and anti-oppression frameworks, connecting with more groups in the community including labor and social justice groups of many kinds, and focusing on inviting, involving, and empowering our broader volunteer community. We are making the deep connections that we need both to thrive and to succeed as a movement; connections built on curiosity, vulnerability, trust and mutual respect, as well as joy and heart. Thank you to all the people who have made, and to all those who are continuing to make, this an ever improving awesome organization!”
