Organizing Yesterday and Today

In November 1999, The Seattle WTO Protests captured international attention and introduced millions to the collective concerns of the labor movement, environmentalists, and Indigenous activists, among many others, as the World Trade Organization sought to deregulate worker and environmental protections in favor of corporate profits. While the mass demonstrations appeared spontaneous, they were actually the result of tireless months of organizing and coalition building, ultimately leading to a movement that halted the activities of the WTO that week in 1999. Now we ask, what was learned and how are we carrying this knowledge into organizing around similar issues today?

Join us for an intergenerational conversation between organizers and activists from the WTO protest, and from justice movements happening now. What new hurdles and possibilities exist today when attempting to build coalitions? Are there organizing methods from 1999 that may inform how we approach the next decade, and how can momentum be sustained after a mass mobilization?

This program is organized in partnership with The Labor Archives of Washington State.

ASL Interpretation and CART captioning are available during the program. In addition, a limited number of Assistive Listening Devices are available upon request. For more accessibility support, email [email protected] two weeks before the program.