10 THINGS PCM DID CREATIVELY

The  People’s  Climate  March  was  an  hugely  impactful  day:  the  result  of  many  months  of  hard  work,  many  kinds  of  efforts  coming  together  beautifully.  One  element  of  this  success  was  a  massive  effort  on  the  part  of  artists:  to  make  the  march  beautiful,  resonant,  clear,  and  impactful.   Here  are  10  Things  Artists  did  to  make  the  PCM  A  Successful  March!  

1) CREATE REPLICATED VISUALS You  don’t  need  to  make  something  big  to  have  huge  impact.  Making  something  simple  –  but  replicated  multiple  times  –  can  have  even  more  impact.  Pick  an  iconic,  recognizable  symbol  that  tells  a  story,  make  as  many  as  you  can,  and  then  imbue  it  with  consistent  messaging.  Make  sure  the  group  sticks  together,  as  the  many  people  carrying  it  become  just  as  an  important  piece  of  the  art  as  the  symbol  itself.      

2) CREATE MASS PUBLIC RITUALS

A  march  can  be  much  more  than  having  people  just  walk  from  point  A  to  point  B.    Huge  gatherings  can  be  an  opportunity  to  create  transformative,  emotional  experiences  through  collective  rituals    that  deepen  people’s  connection  to  the  fight  for  climate  justice,  and  to  one  another.   There  were  many  rituals  at  the  People’s  Climate  March,  including  both  indigenous  and  interfaith  ceremonies  before  the  march  began.  Artists  also  designed  two  creative  rituals  for  the  occasion:  During  the  march,  all  400,000  people  participated  in  a  moment  of  silence  and  a  moment  of  noise.    Check  out  this  short  video  of  the  crowds,  or  this  longer  one  from  the  front  of  the  march.  They’ll  give  you  goose  bumps.   For  smaller  actions  you  have  the  opportunity  to  go  deeper  and  design  a  ritual  that  really  helps  people  reflect  on  what’s  at  stake.    The  Climate  Ribbon  was  a  ritual  initiated  at  the  end  of  the  PCM,  and  since  then  has  been  enacted  in  communities  around  the  world,  and  will  soon  be  in  Paris  during  the  COP  21  talks.  To  enact  one  yourself,  here  is  a  DIY  toolkit.  

3) USE THE MARCH TO TELL A STORY We  often  focus  most  of  our  energy  on  getting  the  biggest  number  of  people  to  show  up  to  a  march,  and  less  so  on  making  sure  all  the  voices  are  clearly  heard.  As  a  result,  what  is  a  chorus  of  beautiful  voices  can  turn  into  an  indistinguishable  mess.  Instead,  imagine  your  action  as  a  clear  story  with  distinct  themes  and  chapters,  and  in  which  each  community  can  write  its  own  page.   For  the  PCM,  artists  worked  with  organizers  to  outline  the  major  themes  that  tell  the  story  of  the  Climate  Justice  Movement.  Communities  were  then  able  to  choose  which  theme  they  wanted  to  march  with,  and  created  their  own  way  of  telling  that  part  of  the  story.   Here  are  some  advantages  of  creating  a  march  narrative:  

● A  narrative  allows  people  to  be  wildly  creative  while  still  creating  a  coherent,  legible  story  that  the  public  and  media  can  understand.    

● A  narrative  ensures  that  every  part  of  the  march  is  important,  and  not  just  the  very  front.    ● The  narrative  structure  is  a  way  to  create  equity.  By  creating  space  for  small  groups  to  tell  as  large  a  part  

of  the  story,  you  ensure  that  groups  with  large  budgets  don’t  overshadow  everyone  else.  ● Sharing  the  narrative  with  the  media  and  public  in  advance,  makes  it  more  likely  that  they  will  tell  your  

story  the  way  you  want  it  told.       Even  if  your  action  is  smaller  and  simpler  than  last  year’s  PCM,  creating  a  narrative  structure  for  the  event    

helps  you  tell  a  clear  story,  while  ensuring  greater  diversity  and  equity  in  how  the  movement  is  represented.  

4) BUILD COMMUNITY THROUGH AN ART SPACE Creating  a  space  to  make  art  together  isn’t  just  about  making  art,  it  can  be  a  massive  movement  relationship  generator!    During  the  PCM,  artists  partnered  with  a  local  community  center  to  create  a  temporary  arts  workshop  that  was  open  to  the  public.  The  space  served  as  an  open    door  that  anyone  could  walk  through  to  join  the  movement.  Those  who  did  immediately  got  to  work  painting,  cutting,  sewing,  and  meeting  new  friends.  In  addition  to  creating  great  art,  people  quickly  forged  new  relationships  with  others  by  working  shoulder-­‐to-­‐shoulder  (definitely  a  more  effective  method  than  sitting  through  long  meetings!).  Relationships  grew  across  communities  and  issue  groups,    with  organizers  and  activists  who  had  never  met  previously,  collaborating  and  learning  from  each  other.  The  workshop  also  served  many  practical  functions,  like  a  central  march  information  portal  and  poster-­‐pick-­‐up  point. The  build  space  was  bristling  with  excitement  and  energy  and  in  the  days  before  the  march  became  the  media’s  primary  center  of  attraction,  allowing  artists,  and  art  projects,  to  become  a  key  storytelling  platform  for  the  event.

5) CREATE A BUZZ Creative  lead-­‐up  actions  before  the  march  helped  generate  buzz  and  excitement,  inviting  more  people  to  jump  in  and  get  involved.    Here’s  a  few  ways  to  do  it.   Photo  Shoots:  In  the  days  before  the  PCM,  the  NYC  Light  Brigade  did  a  photo  shoot  at  iconic  locations  in  the  city  and  made  a  short  video  that  helped  showcase  the  breadth  of  communities  participating.    These  were  widely  

shared  on  social  media.       Posters:  Another  strategy  was  a  wheat-­‐pasting  poster  campaign  where  we  enlisted  5  poster  artists  to  make  original  images,  printed  out  hundreds  of  copies,  and  then  sent  them  to  teams  across  the  country  to  paste  up  everywhere  they  could.  Once  people  started  seeing  the  posters  everywhere,  they  knew  that  the  day  was  going  to  be  big  and  they  wanted  to  be  a  part  of  it.  Here  are  some  new  posters.  

6) FRAME THE CROWD

It  was  important  to  ensure  that  the  key  themes  of  the  climate  movement  were  communicated  clearly,  so  we  painted  giant  banners  that  labelled  each  section  of  the  march.  These  banners  framed  the  crowds,  so  that  who  they  were  and  what  their  messages  were  would  not  get  lost.  Having  these  as  high  up  as  possible  creates  opportunities  for  images  that  communicate  the  scale  of  your  action.    We  used  extra-­‐long  cardboard  tubes  (try  

your  local  carpet  shop)  and  for  the  really  big  ones,  ordered  22  ft.  bamboo  poles.

7) MAKE IT INTERACTIVE

Art  can  also  be  much  more  than  just  labels.  When  done  right  it  can  set  the  tone  for  the  day,  and  electrify  a  crowd  with  energy.    One  tactic  is  creating  art  that  makes  the  situation  interactive  and  dynamic.  

Parachutes:  We  painted  banners  on  parachutes  that  doubled  as  games  that  anyone  could  join  as  they  marched.    Marshalls  lead  activities  with  the  parachutes  (“This  time,  run  underneath  if  this  is  the  first  march  you’ve  ever  come  to!”),  and  one  group  even  made  beachball  carbon  molecules  to  bounce  around  on  top.  Here  you  can  find  

parachutes  that  you  can  paint. Giant  Banners:  

There  was  also  a  300  foot  long  banner  which  was  used  as  a  creative  tool  for  direct  action  that  kept  huge  blocks  of  people  together  when  marching  through  Wall  Street,  and  took  up  a  lot  of  space.  Making  things  playful  helps  maintain  enthusiasm,  and  also  creates  a  sense  of  the  unexpected.  

Inflatables:  Several  groups  made  giant  inflatable  symbols,  including  a  “carbon  bubble”  that  was  tossed  high  into  the  air  like  a  massive  beachball  (creating  a  lot  of  surprises  for  both  the  crowds  and  the  authorities).    For  more  

inspiration  about  inflatables,  check  out  Tools  For  Action.  

8) CHOOSE A COLOR SCHEME

Unity  is  power.  A  unified  color  scheme  makes  that  power  more  evident.  During  PCM  the  largest  banners  were  intentionally  done  in  the  same  colors  to  make  visible  the  unity  we  had  across  the  entire  action.  In  this  case,  they  were  yellow  and  black,  reflecting  the  colors  of  the  Climate  Justice  Movement  (think  sunflowers).  Other  marches  

have  also  used  colors  strategically,  designating  different  sections  of  the  march  by  color.    

9) MAKE LOTS OF MUSIC

No  popular  movement  has  succeeded  without  music  at  it’s  core,  and  musicians  played  a  significant  role  in  making  the  PCM  vibrant  and  alive.  Importantly,  we  did  not  invite  musicians  (or  any  artists)  at  the  last  moment,  but  engaged  them  early  on  and  had  many  of  them  as  part  of  the  planning  and  strategy.  For  example,  the  music  working  group  of  the  PCM  did  incredible  outreach  and  by  the  time  of  the  march  had  dozens  of  musical  acts  involved,  including  musicians  of  all  genres  and  marching  bands  from  all  over  the  world. One  important  way  to  connect  with  musicians    was  by  reaching  out  to  organizers  who  work  within  migrant  communities  in  your  city,  communities  that  frequently  have  active  music  groups  with  their  own  strong  followings.   We  also  reached  out  to  our  local  activist  marching  band,  the  Rude  Mechanical  Orchestra.    They,  in  turn,  invited  activist  marching  bands  from  around  the  country  to  join  them!    There  is  a  network  of  bands  like  this,  who  are  skilled  at  playing  music  to  accompany  chants  and  keep  the  energy  up.    They  have  an  annual  conference  called  HONK  in  boston  each  year-­‐-­‐check  their  attendee  list  to  see  if  there’s  an  group  in  your  town  to  reach  out  to! Song  leaders  and  folk  musicians  also  banded  together  to  create  ‘song  circles’  and  produce  a  song  sheet  for  PCM  of  thematic,  easy  to  sing  songs-­‐-­‐including  classic  tunes  from  other  movements,  and  re-­‐writing  of  popular  jingles.  They  showed  up  hours  early  at  PCM  to  pass  out  song  sheets  and  lead  song  circles,  keeping  the  crowd  excited!

10) INTEGRATE ART AS AN ORGANIZING STRATEGY

Perhaps  the  most  important  thing  to  remember  is  that  art  is  not  merely  a  form  of  decoration,  but  an  effective  organizing  strategy  that  can  help  forge  new  relationships,  deepen  connection  across  movements,  generate  new  game-­‐changing  narratives,  amplify  underrepresented  voices,  and  energize  the  base.  In  short,  art  -­‐  both  its  process  and  its  product  -­‐  is  a  potent  force  that  helps  build  popular  movements  for  power.   However,  this  process  doesn’t  just  happen  on  its  own.  It  requires  commitment  from  organizations  and  partners  to  help  build  the  infrastructure  that  allow  art  within  our  movements  to  flourish.     For  more  information,  see  our  powerpoint  presentation.   And  just  for  fun,  here  is  a  behind-­‐the-­‐scenes  video  of  PCM  artwork  being  made.  

Bonus Round! 3 things we intentionally chose not to do:

1. Brand the march: The  front  of  the  march  had  no  logos.  No  organizations.  No  campaigns.  Movements  

are  bigger  than  our  brands,  and  we  wanted  to  unify  around  what  we  were  fighting  for,  and  create  an  inviting  space  for  everyone,  regardless  of  their  affiliation.    

2. Feature Celebrities or politicians:  Sure  they  were  there,  but  they  were  not  at  the  front  of  the  march,  nor  a  major  focus  of  our  efforts.  They  can  just  as  often  detract  from  the  message  as  add  to  it,  and  we  put  our  message,  and  front-­‐line  communities,  first.    

3. Arrange a Stage and Speeches:  We  wanted  the  PCM  to  be  a  day  where  we  all  felt  our  own  power  and  connected  with  each  other,  not  have  our  voices  drowned  out  while  we  stood  listening  to  someone  yelling  from  a  stage.  The  end  of  the  march  was  a  giant  gathering  of  people  hanging  out,  spending  time  with  each  other,  learning  stories  through  experiencing  the  art,  with  a  number  of  smaller,  low-­‐fi  stages.