Recent Actions Blog:

On December 2, 2024, as a Kirkland WA megachurch hosted Christians United for Israel (CUFI) founder John Hagee, a coalition of Christian faith communities gathered in song and prayer to oppose CUFI's far-right hateful theologies. Continue reading

Backbone supported a Die In for Improved Medicare for All at the Seattle Federal Building, Sept 30th, 2024. The event was part of a National Day of Action focused on reclaiming Medicare from profit-hungry corporate health insurers.  Continue reading

In solidarity with Campaign Nonviolence's Days of Action, where folks across the globe partook in over 5,000 nonviolent actions, Backbone creative action squads took to overpasses and the streets to hold banners calling for a free flowing Snake River and the breaching of the Lower 4 Snake River Dams. Continue reading

Our friends in Cleveland were back in action, this time at the local MLB stadium! Continue reading

We recently heard from our friends in Asheville, NC who have been using our banner tool kit for a few years now and for the last 6 months have been bannering in support of a Free Palestine. Continue reading

Cleveland Peace Action and Poor Peoples Campaign Ohio who are members of our Creative Action Brigade were out once again to voice their support for the people of Gaza. Continue reading

Local activists, Karen Davis and Lucy Larkin, who recently hosted the return of the Human Orca Mural at Gas Works Park in Seattle, were interviewed on Toki TV. Continue reading

Backbone East in conjunction with Palestinian Youth Movement held space with banners as part of blockade. Continue reading

Ahead of the Israeli Prime Minister visit to DC, Backbone East projected with the Capitol in the background with a captivating message.  Continue reading

Backbone HQ debuted the giant 20' long salmon it's been working on for a year at this year's Vashon Strawberry Festival parade, July 2024.     Continue reading

Local Bainbridge Island orca and salmon advocates of all ages walked in the recent Bainbridge Island parade. It was only fitting for our baby orca and chinook salmon inflatables to accompany them. Continue reading

Backbone was honored to support Edmonds Marsh Estuary Advocates by loaning our lifesize Tahlequah orca inflatable to use in the Edmonds 4th of July parade.  Continue reading

The Human Orca Mural was BACK and in full swing for this year’s Orca Action Month. Continue reading

Backbone joined multiple other local organizations in celebration of another successful end to Orca Action Month.  Continue reading

Backbone projectionist Roni traveled to DC in June and did an excellent projection onto the wall of the National Gallery for Break Free From Plastic.       Continue reading

Backbone Meaningful Movies brought the film Lyd to the Vashon Theatre, followed by a panel discussion with a trio of guests, including a Palestinian whose family is from Lyd and whose ancestors built the mosque there.  Continue reading

The Endangered Species Coalition project, Snake River Savers, borrowed one of the Backbone banners calling for Breaching of the Lower Snake River dams and deployed it at the Mukilteo Ferry.  The action kicks off a month of actions to protect the Southern Resident orca. Continue reading

Students at several colleges and schools in the Salish Sea area organized a Week of Action to protect the salmon of the Snake River and the Southern Resident orca.  The week culminated in a march through the streets of Seattle, to the Federal Building, where student organizers met with Rep Jayapal staff. Continue reading

The Backbone “elephant in the room” was out on the East Coast again thank to 350.org, Veterans for Peace, and Anne Arundel Peace Action. Continue reading

Bill and Phil, with help from Esther, projected on the Dept of Interior HQ, with the message, Protect Grizzlies! Continue reading

Backbone Campaign's Solutionary Rail project organized a press conference at the State Capitol, to tell our State DOT, Finish the Job on the Amtrak Cascades!   Continue reading

Backbone Campaign was honored to participate in the Snake River Healing Journey, a 50 mile paddle down the Lower Snake.  Canoe families from Puyallup, Kalispell, and Spokane joined the journey. Continue reading

Backbone East was in action for a light projection to compliment action in support of murdered Palestinian journalists at White House Correspondents dinner. Continue reading

Witness at the Border held a 2 week Vigil for Justice in Eagle Pass, TX. Continue reading

In honor of Earth Day, activists from cities all over Washington gathered to continue to spread the dire important measure of having a Free Snake River. Continue reading

Members of our Creative Action Brigade took advantage of the darkness during the eclipse to project!  Continue reading

Backbone Campaign ED and Solutionary Rail Lead Bill Moyer gave a presentation on the Rosalia to Pasco Shortline Rail Access Corridor on Toki TV.  Listen to this overview of SR's Proposal for shipping grain in SE Washington by short line rail.   Continue reading

In an effort to stand against those who supply weapons harming the Palestinian people, a group of projectionists were out in the cold and rain projecting on Monday night.  Continue reading

The Backbone crew, including Lucy, Jeff, Rod, Jacqui, Amy and Bill took many of the salmon and orca related props to Olympia to support the Breach Now! Rally at the Capitol Steps on Monday, March 11. Continue reading

Backbone took its Vulture Props and banners to support a Health Care Rally at the Capitol Steps on the eve of the Washignton Legislature's final day in session. Over 100 people attended to listen to testimonials and get involved. Continue reading

A fun, eventful, successful, and inspirational prop training happened at our warehouse on Sunday, March 3rd.  Continue reading

We love to see our Denver, CO Solidarity Brigade members out projecting in support of Palestine.  Continue reading

One of our Solidarity Brigade members in the Oakland, CA area has been incredibly busy these last few months. We are incredibly honored to know such a bold and skilled digital projectionist.  Continue reading

We were proud to be a part of the first indigenous and water warrior-led climate action in Tacoma for a couple of years.     Continue reading

Activists in Seattle and Portland took the overpasses to honor Jim Waddell who recently lost his battle with cancer.  Continue reading

Activists throughout our Solidarity Brigade network are banding together to across the country to say: “Not One More F’n Bomb for Israel!” Continue reading

On January 16, members of Backbone East projected on the Rayburn Congressional Office Building together in the bitter cold, while two journalists covered the action as part of a documentary on light projection as a form of protest/political speech. Continue reading

Portland PEST, our Oregon member of the Solidarity Brigade, have been busy projecting this month and we can’t get enough of their visuals! Continue reading

Our Portland Solidarity Brigade members have been busy projecting as the newly formed Healthcare Workers for Palestine. Continue reading

On the first day of 2024, our orca/salmon activists did a combined Free the Snake and Ceasefire Now projection in downtown Seattle.  Continue reading

After lighting up the Rhode Island State House dome with “Ceasefire Now,” PSL Rhode Island was back on the streets to march to the Providence New Years fireworks show with the message: no business as usual during a genocide! Continue reading

Here's something fun for our 20th Birthday (Dec. 12, 2023). It's an imperfect, LoFi low-production-value peek into Backbone Campaign's normally pretty high-production-value imagery - and one of the team's geniuses behind making the magic.  Continue reading

Backbone East was out shedding light during a recent projection. Continue reading

Our empowered salmon/orca activists were at it again this past Friday in Seattle. This time they stopped by Town Hall to project outside of the event Not Mars: Tools to Save our Home Planet hosted by Patagonia.  Continue reading

People with Party for Socialism & Liberation Rhode Island, Dare PVD, and other local organizations rallied at the Rhode Island Statehouse in Providence at 2pm to speak out against RI government for not opposing Israel's attacks on Palestine.  Photo credit: Roni M Continue reading

TODAY  - December 12th - Backbone celebrates 20 years!  Out of our scrappy beginnings of freeway bannering and constructing giant puppets, today we have evolved into an organization at the forefront of progressive change. We remain dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday people and to empowering communities to express their needs, aspirations, and demands. While a lot has shifted over these 20 years, one thing remains constant: we wouldn’t be here today without you - and the many ways you have collaborated with us, supported, taken action, and cheered us on. Thanks to you, Backbone Campaign is the go-to for progressive causes seeking creative tools and solutionary approaches to address today’s crises. If you are able to help keep this work going, we invite you to make an end of year contribution, sign up for a small monthly gift by joining our "Lumbar Club", or mail in a check to PO Box 278, Vashon WA 98070. Please read on for more from the letter we recently sent in the mail - about how this work is grounded in principles of grand strategy and how your donation makes an impact.     Continue reading

Team Backbone had the honor of collaborating with Jewish Voice for Peace in Seattle this week. Working together, we built, practice with, and then deployed a type of banner we rarely use anymore - a helium & weather balloon powered banner.  This was exactly the appropriate situation as a benner drop would have been dangerous, risky and more costly.  The banner LIFT encouraged the crowd and provided a way connect with others whose hearts are also breaking. Photo by Logan Price  Continue reading

A continuation of the projection for salmon for this projection season!  Continue reading

 Here's a map featuring the proposed corridor enhancements. Scroll down to watch Solutionary Rail Lead, Bill Moyer's presentation of our latest research and proposal for rail transportation resilience in the Lower Snake River region.   Continue reading

Backbone Campaign was recently asked to support a projection with local activists in San Francisco. Continue reading

Orca and salmon activists projected onto to the Seattle Convention Center. Continue reading

Over the course of late October through November, our Solidarity Brigade projection members across the nation took to the streets to demonstrate the need for Ceasefire in Gaza.   Continue reading

Harriet's Wildest Dreams, a Black queer femme led abolitionist organization in DC, recently projected in support of Palestine.  Continue reading

Backbone E.D. had an out of the ordinary day of action recently. He brought Backbone's inflatable orcas and some percussion instruments to Hazelwood Elementary in Edmonds WA. (Home turf of Sen. Maria Cantwell). Continue reading

Activists across 7 different PNW cities came together throughout the week in honor of Indigenous People's Day on October 9th and World Orca Recovery Day on October 14th for bannering actions. Continue reading

  Drone videography by John Carlos Frey. Backbone supported the indigenous led Flotilla on the Snake River, as part of the All Our Relations Journey.  A crew of helpers traveled to Hells Gate State Park, just south of Lewiston Idaho on the Snake River, to deploy an on water banner that read Free the Snake, as well as land based banners and props. Continue reading

Bill and Amy traveled to Spokane for the Trout Unlimited CX3 National Conference, to introduce attendees to Solutionary Rail's Trains Can Save Salmon Plan.   Continue reading

350 Wenatchee hosted a green drinks event in Cashmere, Wa. Continue reading

As part of Farm Aid 2023 in Indiana, Block Corporate Salmon and allies held a press conference to draw attention to the harms of genetically engineered salmon produced by biotech company AquaBounty; share accounts of misconduct at AquaBounty’s GE salmon facility in Indiana; sound the alarm on a new salmon “farm” the company is trying to build in Ohio; and amplify Native-led solutions to the Salmon crisis, such as dam removal and Salmon habitat restoration. Photo by Noel, Block Corporate Salmon Continue reading

Backbone collaborated with several allied organizations to bring props to the NYC Climate March on September 17th, supporting Code Pink's War is Not Green contingent and Move To Amend's Money Out of Politics messaging. Continue reading

Backbone Campaign supported the Stop Raiding Our Medicare rally on the Anniversary of Medicare, at the Federal Building in downtown Seattle.  Continue reading

On Saturday, July 15, the Backbone Campaign inflatables of Tahlequah the orca, her baby orca, and the salmon led the way as Backbone Campaign took part in Vashon's Strawberry Festival.  Continue reading

Led by Vashon artist, Linda Moore, a packed number of participants had a blast creating patches and banners with imagery inspired by salmon and orca.  Continue reading

Dear Friends, I just returned from London and Scotland where I met some incredibly bold and creative activists. I am so grateful for the hospitality and solidarity I received in both London and Glasgow. Sharing our stories and strategies reminded me that our two decades of work and struggle has delivered priceless lessons that we must continue to utilize and share with others as we journey forward. Continue reading

The LA Solidarity Brigade showed up for Black Lives Matter LA for a solidarity action to #StopCopCity Continue reading

Backbone recently partnered with Snake River Savers for a Flotilla event on Green Lake in Seattle. Continue reading

From Seattle to Portland to Whidbey Island to Bainbridge Island to Lewiston, we took to the overpasses and streets to stand up for our Southern Resident Orcas during Orca Month! We celebrated in 8 different cities across the Pacific Northwest by bannering in support of removing the Lower 4 Snake River Dams.  Continue reading

Backbone's Minneapolis Solidarity Brigade traveled to General Motors' Headquarters in Detroit, to project in solidarity with the campaign against dirty steel and dirty aluminum. Continue reading

May 19th was Endangered Species Day (and 2023 is the 50 year anniversary of the Endangered Species Act). In cities and towns across the Pacific NW, advocates for a free-flowing Snake River showed up to banner that day, to call for a halt to the extinction of wild salmon and resident orca. Continue reading

Backbone's Globe traveled to VT to deliver a critical message to Secretary Vilsack and Senators Peter Welch and Bernie Sanders  - Climate Forests are Worth More Standing! Residents of Burlington VT took the streets for a rally, march and tree theater, in support of protections for climate forests  - including Telephone Gap. Continue reading

Ever wondered where the name Backbone Campaign came from? Executive Director, Bill Moyer, shared not only the beginnings of our Backbone Campaign, he also gave insight into his personal background on Extinction Rebellion Radio.  Continue reading

Backbone Campaign's giant salmon helped activists deliver the message to NOAA: "Say No To the EO - Don't Cage Our Oceans." Indigenous activists fighting for clean federal waters, encountered a stupid amount of cops and security for a respectful and beautiful petition delivery. Continue reading

Backbone projected an image of the Lorax as addition to an action for climate justice outside the White House Correspondents Dinner. Continue reading

9 intrepid activists from Backbone Campaign and Snake River Savers met on the 50th Street overpass in Seattle, to honor Earth Day. The two banners - on both sides of the overpass - spread the message about the urgency to stop salmon extinction by breaching asap the four dams on the Lower Snake River.    Continue reading

WASHINGTON – Even hard rain could not stop a diverse group of activists and organizations who took to the streets of DC on Earth Day to demand that decision-makers end the era of fossil fuels now for the future of people and the planet. It was the largest gathering of climate activists in D.C. in over a decade. Continue reading