"First They Ignore You, Then They Laugh at You,
Then They Fight You, Then You Win."
~ Mahatma Gandhi

Thank you for locking arms with the Backbone Campaign, your community-supported partner in the journey toward a sustainable and humane world. Because of you, Backbone is able to contribute inspiring action support, training and strategies to the movements challenging systemic racism, corporate power, and climate catastrophe. Together we have exposed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, helped build a movement for real democracy, and confronted Shell’s deeply offensive Arctic drilling plans and won!

Winning is more fun! Yes, there will be struggle, but when victory is said to be impossible, we join together to make it inevitable and even fun. No foe is too big when our weapons are beauty, truth and community. Imagine any of the causes we work on together without the strategic joyousness, creative influence and generosity of Backbone.

• What might the outcome have been in the fight against Shell without our kayaktivists?
• Imagine the fight against Money in Politics without Backbone’s We the People and other creative tactics?
• What would the fight against oil trains be without creative interventions like light projections; all we’ve done together celebrating the Salish Sea; and our positive vision and growing alliance for Solutionary Rail?
• Even in our home community of Vashon, imagine if we hadn’t joined the fight that turned a proposed mine into a thriving park; organized for a credit union that has moved $34 million dollars out of Wall St. Banks; and campaigned to make sure the abandoned K2 factory got the right kind of environmental evaluation and now the cleanup our community deserves to protect our precious drinking water.

Our “Love Wins!” battle cry is not to be taken lightly. Today there is a nearly apocalyptic urgency to scale up our activism. In a world gone awry, where the populism of fear appeals to the worst in people, Backbone presents a countervailing populism that appeals to the very best in people.

Backbone’s cutting edge, strategic work is difficult to fund through traditional means. Yet to seize the opportunities of this pivotal time Backbone must grow beyond our current 2 ½ person staff. We need the capacity to reach the impassioned change agents - young and old - who are waiting on the sidelines, eager to take action in their communities. Imagine the impact YOU can make if you help Backbone double the size of our tiny team!

Today, we urge you to stand with Backbone Campaign ALL year long by joining the Lumbar Club. Lumbar Club Angels give $5-200+ a month to keep Backbone standing tall and working hard. Please, take this opportunity to consider what a meaningful monthly commitment would be for you…

Now please become a Lumbar Angel by going HERE.

Backbone is resolved and honored to continue to lock arms with you to deliver even greater victories. In order to remain nimble and generous, able to take initiative when opportunity presents itself and show up for the causes you care about, we need you and your friends to deepen your investment in our work.

Leverage this moment of opportunity so together we can make sure that Love Wins!

In Gratitude and Collaboration, 

Bill Moyer & Team Backbone

PS: I welcome you to give me a call in the next few weeks. Let me know what inspires you and how Backbone can better support your work. I’ll share your ideas with the rest of Team Backbone.

Backbone Campaign P.O. Box 278 Vashon, WA 98070 - (206) 408-8058 [email protected]

March Forth with Bold Action, from Kayaktivism to the TP - Click HERE 

You gave us the capacity to:

• Train 400+ people to take direct action on the water to stop Shell

• Organize 14+ powerful Kayaktivist actions that earned international headlines.

• Confront one of the world's most powerful oil corporations and WIN

• Inspire Kayaktivism across country and the planet, from Alaska to Santa Barbara, Vermont, Michigan, Denmark, Finland and beyond.

• Design and deploy imagery for the DC World Rising Week of Action against the TPP

Invest in Visionary and Solution-Oriented Organizing Like Solutionary Rail - Click HERE

You shared in our vision to:

• Give our movement a "YES!" in a world of “NOs”

• Expand Alliances among workers (RWU), environmentalists, and Rural Power Cooperatives

• Publish the Solutionary Rail Book (Coming Soon)

Deliver Crucial Skills and Creative Tactics to Our Social Movements - Click HERE

You believed in People Power and worked with us to:

• Host the 7th Annual Localize This! Direct Action Camp with over 65 Change Agents from across the U.S.

• Build the foundation for Action Brigades, with 20 projection lights across the country!

• Create the “Elephant in Room is Racism” Touring Action

Support Local Organizing and Garner Victories that Provide a Model for Others - Click HERE

Together we were able to:

• Deliver victory protecting Maury Island from a transnational corporation that wanted to site an industrial gravel mine and export facility, now a thriving park.

• Move $34 million into a community credit union and out of giant corporate and Wall Street Banks.

• Protect Vashon's public health through a successful corporate accountability campaign by putting the former K2 Ski factory on a path toward identification and cleanup of the toxic contaminants.

When the People Lead, the Leaders Follow

 If you'd like to download or print a copy of this letter you can do so HERE