Author Archives: Ed Fallon

Week with Water Protectors at Standing Rock

December 8, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, For me, the week that Lyssa Wade and I spent at Standing Rock was a life-changing experience. If you missed any of my daily blog posts, you can read them here: Day 1: Our Arrival Day 2: Surviving the Blizzard Day 3: Building Standing Rock Day 4: Dakota Access’ Smiling Faces Day 5: Building Solar Barns Day 6: Water is Life (Lyssa wrote a daily blog as well, and you can read those here.) The other life-changing experience for me during this pipeline Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 6: Water Is Life

December 2, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Friday, December 2, 2016. Every morning, my wake-up call comes not from the alarm on my phone but from the voices of water protectors 200 yards away, across the Cannonball River chanting, “Mni Wiconi! Water is Life!” The words drift across the frozen river, where over 100 people gather at sunrise each day for a water ceremony. Campers on our side of the river stand in silent reverence, watching the ceremony, participating in their own quiet way. This prayerful start to the day is a Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 5: Building Tiny Solar Barns

December 1, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Thursday, December 1, 2016. We spend an hour today visiting with Manape LaMere, one of the seven tribal leaders at Oceti Sakowin. We discuss what is likely to happen when the veterans arrive on Sunday, and I give him an update on the pipeline fight in Iowa. I share the sad news that Dakota Access today dragged pipe under the Des Moines River. There is also the positive news that pipeline fighters in Iowa continue to push back on every possible front. Manape is a Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 4: Dakota Access’ Smiling Faces

November 30, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Wednesday, November 30, 2016. With the unexpected availability of a hotel room last night, Lyssa and I catch a much-needed break — both from the blizzard and from each other. Lyssa and I are good friends, and fellow travelers when it comes to our shared passion for sustainable food, clean water and climate justice. But sure, after living and working together 24-7 for four days straight, some space is needed. I plug away on my computer, working late and catching up on a chunk of Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 3: Building Standing Rock

November 29, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Tuesday, November 29, 2016. On any given day, an estimated 10,000 people live at the Oceti Sakowin camps at Standing Rock. To put the enormity of this community into perspective, if this were a city in Iowa, Oceti Sakowin would rank 39th out of 950 — bigger than Fairfield, Grinnell or Mount Pleasant. The fact that so many passionate people have come together so quickly under such adverse conditions is almost hard to imagine. Even more impressive is that the infrastructure essential to a functioning Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 2: Surviving the Blizzard

November 28, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Monday, November 28, 2016. I have a knack for timing: our first night in a tent at Standing Rock coincides with the first snowstorm of the season. It’s a soft, wet, gentle snow. Yet it clings to the walls of our tent, threatening to collapse the fragile structure. Repeatedly during the night, we pound on the tent walls to free them of snow. There’s little wind, so the sounds of camp nightlife are audible and drift towards us from all directions. The sounds are abundant Continue reading →

Week at Standing Rock Day 1: Our Arrival

November 27, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Sunday, November 27, 2016. Nothing about Standing Rock is normal or predictable. As Lyssa and I approach the Oceti Sakowin camps just north of Cannon Ball, North Dakota, our GPS navigator announces, “In six miles, park your car and walk to your destination.” We ignore these instructions, as well as the sign telling us that the road ahead is closed. “Is this right,” asks Lyssa. “Shouldn’t we have taken that turn back there?” I confidently mutter a few words that belie my uncertainty. But we Continue reading →

Vote for Bold to Get a Funding Boost From CREDO

October 6, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Bold Alliance has been selected as one of three nonprofits to receive a grant from our friends at CREDO Mobile this month. CREDO Donations is giving away more than $150,000, but the amount that Bold receives depends on YOU. They divide up the money depending on the number of votes that Bold receives from our supporters like you. Click here to Vote for Bold! The money raised from CREDO will help fund Bold Alliance’s current organizing to stop the Dakota Access “Bakken” pipeline that is abusing Continue reading →

Iowa Landowners Document Construction Violations by Dakota Access Pipeline

October 5, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Bold Iowa director Ed Fallon has been meeting with, working with and advocating for landowners living along the Dakota Access pipeline route in Iowa for the past 18 months. Below is some documentation of their stories of construction violations and eminent domain abuse. Join our nonviolent direct actions to stop construction on the pipeline: Sign the Dakota Access “Bakken” Pipeline Pledge of Resistance Cyndy Coppola | Calhoun County, IA Cyndy’s farm has been in her family for generations. (Her grandfather was four-time national cornhusking champion!) Continue reading →

Climate Emergency Caucus

January 11, 2016 by Ed Fallon
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Climate change and the Dakota Access Pipeline have been second-tier conversations in the 2016 presidential campaign. We’ve got three weeks to change that, and with your help, it can happen. Spread the word. And mark your calendars for the: Climate Emergency Caucus Friday, January 29, 2016 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Auditorium of DMPS Central Campus 1800 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa theclimatemobilization.org/caucus Facebook: Climate Emergency Caucus Meet and Greet with The Climate Mobilization Founders Friday, January 29, 2016 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Ritual Cafe 1301 Continue reading →