#DivestDAPL

When we announced #DayWithoutAWoman, we asked the three questions below. These are the principles that guide our actions starting today through March 8th, and onward.

1. Do businesses support our communities, or do they drain our communities?

2. Do they strive for gender equity or do they support the policies and leaders that perpetuate oppression?

3. Do they align with a sustainable environment or do they profit off destruction and steal the futures of our children?

We already know the answers to these questions when it comes to the 37 major banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. We know these banks would rather drain Indigenous communities than support them. We know these banks perpetuate oppression. We know these banks profit off of destruction.

And we know that we cannot continue to invest our money in institutions that perpetuate oppression and destruction of Indigenous people, First Nations, and the environment. Today, the Women’s March launches a 17-day environmental justice campaign to divest from the 37 major banks funding the Dakota Access Pipeline.

According to DefundDAPL.org, over $66 million dollars have been divested from DAPL - and counting. The Women’s March is inspired by the incredible Water Protectors at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s Sacred Stone Camp, and the powerful divestment movement supporting their work. We are committed to the rights, liberation, and sovereignty of Indigenous people and First Nations, as well as the cause of environmental justice. We call on our supporters to join us as we participate in the movement to #DefundDAPL.  

Resistance requires sacrifice. We are asking more of you this time, because you have demonstrated our collective power, because you have pledged your commitment to this movement. We believe that we can do this together.

We must put our money where our mouths are. We marched. Now we divest.

DAPL Banks:

Sources: Food and Water Watch conducted an investigation into the banks invested in and funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. See the investigation here, and a helpful data visualization here.

HOW TO DIVEST?

We ask you to divest from the banks (above) funding the DAPL and instead to move your money to regional banks. Defund DAPL provides an excellent blueprint for personal divestment. We have laid out some of that information below, but encourage you to use the Defund DAPL website as well - especially to track our collective progress!

Nationally: Community Development Bankers Association

• Links to many regional banks can be found at http://www.cdbanks.org/ourmembers, including:
  • Native American Bank
  • Beneficial State Bank

Online:

• Aspiration

• OneUnited (Black-owned)

• You can also use Bank Local as a resource, but note that this resource will show you all banks in your area - including those funding DAPL.

• Credit Cards: Changing bank accounts means changing credit and/or debit cards. This site will show you green credit card options - ones that do not fund DAPL.
   

SHARE YOUR WORK!

• Take and share a photo of yourself outside your bank holding a sign declaring that you’ve divested from DAPL, using the hashtags #DefundDAPL and #DivestDAPL!

• Share a video or boomerang of you cutting up your credit cards affiliated with these banks, using the hashtags #DefundDAPL and #DivestDAPL!

If Individual Divestment is NOT Financially or Physically Possible:

We understand that not everyone will be able to partake in this action. Here are alternative ways to participate in #DivestDAPL:

• Divest your City: Seattle just ended its $3 billion relationship with Wells Fargo and became the first City in the United States to divest itself from the Dakota Access Pipeline. Push your city to do the same. The Defund DAPL Seattle Action Coalition has created a how-to guide for city divestment. Get started here!

• Contact your bank: Consumer satisfaction matters. Call your bank and the CEOs of the financial institutions your money is tied to. Call every day. Tweet every day. Send letters every day. Make sure your bank knows how you feel about their investment in DAPL.

  • Defund DAPL has provided a list with contact information for the executives of the 37 banks.

  • Use the hashtags #DivestDAPL, #DefundDAPL, and  #NoDAPL.

• Educate yourself on Indigenous people’s movements and on the intersection of environmental and racial justice. Here are some great places to start:

  • #StandingRockSyllabus: A thorough collection of resources that explains the contemporary struggle at Standing Rock and its broader historical, political and social context.

  • A message from the Water Protectors on the front lines at Standing Rock.

  • Indian Country Today: A national platform for Native voices and issues. Indian Country Today also offers free reports in addition to news and culture updates.

  • Why Greenpeace Speaks Out on Racial Justice: A statement from Greenpeace USA Executive Director Annie Leonard.

  • 3 Ways Racial and Environmental Justice Are Connected: Greenpeace’s response to and endorsement of M4BL’s Vision for Black Lives.

  • It’s Not Mother Nature Who’s Racist: A podcast episode from Intersection about Hurricane Katrina and environmental racism.