Seattle, WA - Flashmob

People in Seattle organized a "flash mob" action and invited people to participate through facebook, blogs, and email. In a busy park on this sunny afternoon, a woman stood up in the middle of a large open area and opened a black umbrella over her head with "StopGulfOilDisaster.org" painted on it in white letters. This was the signal for other participants to join in. Michael Jackson's Earth Song was playing through a loud sound system. Seemingly out of nowhere, 20 other people appeared, taking off their top layer of clothing to reveal white t-shirts they'd written and painted on expressing why they decided to act on the 100th day of the oil disaster. As people stood in a circle with their t-shirts facing out, passersby stopped and others in the park came closer to watch. One person in the flash mob went around the circle and painted an oil-streaked tear on each participant's face. Everyone dispersed after the song, with some of us meeting up afterwards to talk about the oil disaster and connect people with the Emergency Committee.

One thing we learned from the variety of shirts people created, was the many deeply felt reasons people are angry and heartbroken about this catastrophe. Sentiments ranged from outrage about sea turtles being burned alive, to philosophical quotes about what it means to be alive and connected to nature, to condemnations of what the capitalist system is doing to the planet, to support for the people and ecosystems of the Gulf Coast.