August 24, 2015 Dena Jensen
Hey, today is the one-year anniversary of the Coal Stop blog. I had no idea when I started it, whether it would still be alive 365 days (or 7 days, for that matter) down the road.
Sandy and I just wanted to have a way to get the word out to our Whatcom County community about facts and impacts that we (mostly Sandy) were uncovering about the Gateway Pacific Terminal (GPT); important information that sure wasn’t showing up in The Bellingham Herald, and different perspectives and details that added to the body of GPT and fossil fuel related information that other publications were getting out.
I had already started the Coal Stop Facebook page in early June 2014, had been sharing fossil fuel related posts for a couple months, and I hoped to also share posts about new articles on the Coal Stop blog to help bring people there. I mean, if we got new word out about GPT to maybe 100 more people than none, it would be good, right?
One year later, the Coal Stop blog has been able to reach 4,239 unique visitors.
The reason I am taking a moment to remark on all of this is to tell you (and myself) to keep going and keep sharing! If two people can think of things to do from the comfort of their little beach-neighborhood house, with the help of their internet devices and a truly inspirational and generous activist community surrounding them, that can reach thousands of people, then so can anyone! And really the only thing needed from you (and from us) is to do whatever you can think of and share. And also? Don’t be afraid to remind people to share. We are busy. We get sidetracked. We forget.
So when you see those compelling posts run by you on your newsfeed on Facebook, and those pivotal announcements and events in emails; when you get that latest published weekly or monthly paper; when someone tweets a critical alert, or texts a detail you know others would be waiting to hear: don’t forget to SHARE!
And just in case you missed one of my recent Coal Stop Facebook posts, here is Jewell James sharing, as he does so well. From the August 22, 2015 Totem Pole Journey Blessing ceremony at the Lummi Administration Building:
“Today is not like yesterday. Each and every one of you has access to Facebook, YouTube. You can reach out through emails. There’s nothing in the world you can’t look up. You can look around. You can find something about everybody, every place. And it’s important that you put your word out there, that you email 10 people, that you Facebook 10 people. You text them.
“That’s what we’re asking, because you have the power to mobilize a lot of people. Last year on the journey we asked for some letters of support: 20,000 letters went to the Senate, just like that!…So we’re hoping to continue to encourage the churches to come together and figure out, how are they going to make a change. How will they make a change? You know in 1987, they issued an apology in my name. Then in ’97 they signed it again, and brought it up again, and in 2007 they did it again. It’s not the promise, it’s the action! Where’s the action?! That’s what we want.” – Jewell James, Lummi Elder, and House of Tears Master Carver
Oh yeah, and share this post. On Facebook, on WordPress, Twitter, Google, email, whatever, however you can. Only because it may help more and more vital information and action items get shared. And the more we share, the more we have, the more we can do!
Here’s a link to this article: https://noisywatersnw.com/2015/08/24/keep-getting-the-word-out-noisy-waters-northwest-dena-jensen/
Looking forward to sharing something you do too!
Dena Jensen is the administrator for the Coal Stop blog, the Coal Stop Facebook page, and for Noisy Waters Northwest. Sandy Robson is a citizen journalist and author of many of the articles on the Coal Stop blog.
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