Update On The October 15th Divest for Darfur National Grassroots Day of Action

 

On Monday, October 15 local activists around the country held events targeting Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase, Capital Group/American Funds, Fidelity Investments and Vanguard.


Events ranged from rallies to petition drives to leafleting outside firms’ offices. The events were greatly successful in getting the word out on divestment not only to passersby but to mutual fund headquarters themselves!

Highlights:

  • In Chicago, Rep. Harris and Sen. Collins spoke outside JP Morgan Headquarters. They were joined by Mohamed Abdelrhman Kauda, President of the Darfur Association of Illinois, and Reverend Michael Pfleger, a well known Chicago Pastor, in presenting the petition to Dan Sprehe, head of Government Relations for JP Morgan Chase, who came outside to accept them. 
  • In Washington DC, volunteers passed out information to passers-by engaging them in signing colored dollars that event coordinator Dan Asher passed on to the Fidelity manager.
  • In New York City, nearly seventy-five volunteers turned out to pass out materials and make their voices heard in front of JP Morgan Headquarters, holding up posters and delivering the nationwide petition with 26,000 signatures!
  • In Seattle, volunteers braved the rain, handed out postcards and divestment materials and engaged their local Fidelity office face-to-face.
  • In Philadelphia, volunteers gathered outside the Philadelphia Stock Exchange downtown to draw attention to Vanguard investing in genocide. For two hours, volunteers handed out information and gathered more than 200 petition signatures while experts spoke on divestment to the crowd.
  • In Los Angeles, volunteers targeted Capital Group/American Funds headquarters in a rally at noon, leafleting, petitioning and raising awareness downtown.
  • In San Francisco, two events targeted Franklin Templeton – one at noon at headquarters in San Mateo and one in the evening in downtown San Francisco. The events were full of energy, involving new activists in an inter-generational, diverse and lively crowd. Volunteers leafleted, petitioning and chanted slogans to get Franklin Templeton’s attention. Petitions were delivered in person to Franklin Templeton headquarters, where they were promised to be passed on to upper management. 

To get involved in the next event, email divest@savedarfur.org for information.


Event Media Resources

Background:

As of the most recently available filings, five prominent investment firms—FranklinTempleton, J.P. Morgan Chase, Capital Group/American Funds, Fidelity Investments and Vanguard—are the largest U.S. mutual fund companies invested in PetroChina. PetroChina, through its parent company CNPC, is the worst of the “highest offending” companies helping to fund the genocide in Darfur, according to the targeted divestment model developed by the Sudan Divestment Task Force (SDTF).

On October 15, activists from communities across the country will gather to call on the largest U.S. mutual funds to drop their holdings in these companies such as PetroChina. Events will range from rallies to petition drives to picketing at firms’ headquarters.

Goals:

Goals of the October 15 Day of Action are to:

  • increase pressure on target companies and through them China (and other countries whose companies are helping fund the genocide) and Sudan
  • educate people about the connection between their investments and the genocide in Darfur
  • help build local efforts by bringing new people into the movement and further educating those involved about divestment
  • gather new names and contact info for people to engage in future Darfur advocacy, locally and nationally
  • generate local media coverage for Darfur, divestment, and local activism

Targets:

If you are in any of these companies' headquarters city, you should focus on that company. If you are in another city, your event can have a general target or be focused on one strategic location such as a well placed storefront of one of the target companies. Our pre-packaged materials will mention all companies; you can adapt our posters to mention your target company by name.

Following is a list of target companies and the cities where they are headquartered.

Target Company Headquarters
Franklin Templeton Investments San Francisco Bay Area
JPMorgan Chase New York and Chicago
Capital Group/American Funds Greater Los Angeles
Fidelity Investments Boston
Vanguard Philadelphia

When:

October 15th.

If you think you have a good chance of getting media coverage, and if it fits your local activists' schedules, we recommend scheduling events at noon.

If you think you'll get better attendance in the evening, schedule events after 5 p.m.

If you are hosting your event at a storefront, try to schedule the event before the store closes.

If October 15th does not work in your community host your event a day or two before or after the 15th. As long as we get the word out!

Where:

Most cities will have at least one storefront for one of the five targets. If any of the targets are located in a well trafficked area, hold your event there for maximum exposure. Look them up here:

If there is no storefront:

  • Find another highly visible and trafficked area
  • If headquarters are in industrial park, its okay to hold your event at another site
  • If you can't host the event near company headquarters or a storefrint, choose another symbolic location (such as a stock exchange) or one of the companies that has divested (to spread the good news). If you're feeling ambitious, pick another firm invested in one of the highest offenders. We recommend using the list of problem companies compiled by Investors Against Genocide. If you can't decide who to target, please contact us and we will help you to find a location.

What:

Divest for Darfur suggests the following elements for your event:

Petition Collection

The Save Darfur Coalition will send blank petitions for you to gather new supporters to the cause. We can send as many copies as you need to your local Kinko's. Mail the petitions to us after the event. We'll enter all data into our system and send you a list of people who asked to be added to the local event list.

“Dollars” Interaction

The Save Darfur Coalition will have fake dollar bills and poster board delivered to your local Kinko’s.

After people sign the petition ask them to take a dollar bill, write a message to your target on it, and tape on to the poster board.

If appropriate, deliver the poster board along with petitions (listed below) to your target at the end of the event.

Petition Delivery

When requested, the Save Darfur Coalition will send completed petitions to a local Kinko’s. These petitions will contain names of people in your state who have signed the petition. This printed petition will not include the people who sign that day (see petition collection). If you are delivering petitions from the event, it is best to do it at the end of your event. As you deliver the petitions ask the office manager to deliver them to the company's headquarters.

High Visibility Elements

We will send you:

  • Poster board with professionally designed posters that can be customized with your local information.
  • T-shirts that mention your local Darfur group. If requested, we will send you Divest for Darfur T-shirts as well.
  • Informational flyers.

Who Will We Send Materials To?

We will need your email, address, phone, and information for your nearest Kinko’s

For more information:
www.savedarfur.org/divest
www.sudandivestment.org
Email: divest@savedarfur.org