Recent Actions Blog:

Our friends at UC Berkeley show the awesome power of digital projection! With digital projection we can show color, detailed images and even video. There are so many creative ways to show a message!  Continue reading

The L.A. squad deployed the inflatable globe and banner to support an action by STAND L.A. Continue reading

Deployed light projections onto the Newseum in D.C. of ahead of day of action by XR D.C. chapter. Continue reading

The local brigade displayed messages in solidarity ahead of the court date of a local projectionist who was arrested for projecting onto the Rayburn house office building on U.S. Capitol grounds, a location frequently used by projectionists.   Continue reading

Backbone sent light projection tools across the Atlantic to our friends in Scotland to use in their Extension Rebellion actions in Edinburgh. Their arrests and actions are sparking media attention and energy on to the climate crisis as a climate bill moves through Scottish Parliament. For the Earth!  Continue reading

The San Diego team was out shining in solidarity with projectionists who were arrested and ticketed for shining on the Congressional Building in Washington, D.C.  Our folks in San Diego projected messages in support of the dreamers, migrants and Earl McNeil. When asked to leave by building security, they explained that this was 1st amendment right and were allowed to stay!   Continue reading

Backbone provided inflatable props to the Spokane Earth Day celebration and created its 9th Human Orca Mural, amidst the intense rain and wind! Continue reading

Light projectionists in Seattle show support for Robin Bell, a projectionist who was arrested after projecting on to U.S Capitol grounds. Their messages remind us that light projecting is not illegal and is a form of free speech.  Continue reading

D.C./Baltimore solidarity brigades partnered with local activists to project messages on well known Baltimore trash incinerator pointing out its' toxic emissions to oppose its' inclusion in renewable energy subsidies. Continue reading

Volunteers on Vashon created an LED banner to deploy as part of a national action calling for the Release of the Mueller Report. The action was co-sponsored by Indivisible Vashon and Backbone and passers by were encouraged to call their Congressional Representatives to Release the Report. Backbone supports setting a standard for leadership and accountability, as well as checks and balances on presidential power.

The D.C./Baltimore projected images in solidarity as backdrop to action demanding police accountability and against establishing a private police force at Johns Hopkins University.   Continue reading

Alessandra, Backbone CSO in Miami, borrowed the LED light panels and projection equipment to shine a message on Homestead, the nation's for profit private detention facility for migrant children. Her actions received significant press coverage and solidarity, including from Sen Jeff Merkley. For more info, see: "One in Six Migrant Children in the U.S. are Staying at a Shelter Operated by a Private Equity Tycoon." To support Alessandra's creative activism, make a donation HERE. Continue reading

Activists showed up at the National Restaurant Association's gala to highlight their efforts to suppress worker wages at the Grand Hyatt in D.C. Continue reading

The D.C./Baltimore area solidarity brigade projected messages that highlight the city's current foremost issues amidst the many problems faced. Continue reading

D.C. solidarity brigade projected pro-Palestinian messages and images onto AIPAC headquarters and the D.C. convention center where AIPAC annual convention was being held. Continue reading

Folks in Seattle display support for the Green New Deal to Seattle commuters over I5 interstate. The Backbone Campaign is now able to create illuminated LED banners like this one, which can deliver electrifying messages!  Continue reading

More than sixteen years of creative protest continually affirm that freedom has territorial boundaries. Those boundaries are human constructs, but they require proactive defense. Any retreat only emboldens tyrants and bullies who will never be satisfied. This lesson was embedded in me during the very first action with my artist friends from Vashon Island who later co-founded Backbone Campaign.  Like projectionist Robin Bell, people in Backbone's Solidarity Brigade network have recently experienced intimidation during both overpass bannering actions and light projections. Normal people cannot compete for space in the social dialogue if the ticket is at a price point affordable only to those who already have way too much power.    Money is not speech. Speech is speech. Backbone Campaign's work is about teaching people ways to harness their speech. We will fight to defend the territory of free speech, and we will win. Continue reading

Laura and Bill of Backbone HQ deployed a giant aerial banner outside Starbucks' shareholder meeting today in Seattle for the UFW (United Farm Workers). Even Rev. Jesse Jackson showed up in solidarity with dairy workers urging Starbucks use its purchasing power to demand Darigold #StopAbuse of workers. #DarigoldDozenThank you Laura, Jennifer and Amy for all your work on the banner. It looked awesome. Teamwork! Continue reading

Backbone couldn't show up for the Solidarity Brigades and many allies across the country without people like these the other dedicated members of Backbone's Builders Guild.  These folks are the behind the scenes inspiration and perspiration of our Artful Activism. They are an essential part of every action. We are all deeply grateful for their generous contributions that make the magic in the streets possible.    

Seattle based projectionist sent messages of democracy on to the side of the Museum of Pop Culture in March.  Under the iconic Seattle Space Needle tourist and locals alike saw their calls to end sanctions in Venezuela and hold Amazon accountable for paying their fair share.   After the police showed up they moved their set up to projecting on to a local Chase branch.  Continue reading