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Protest and Vigil and Dow's Dallas Plant
(click here for photos; here for the press release!)

Whoo hoo! Yay Dallas! Here's our Bhopal story:

There was a group of 5 of us that prepped out for the event and arrived before sundown at 5:30. Thanks to Dallas rush hour, we ran behind but determined that we were Not to be late to our own event. I want to thank drivers Nel and Rachel for arriving safely, despite the speed and yellow-red lights. :)

We setup and people arrived around 6ish, allowing us to start our readings at 6:15pm. We had a grand crowd of about 25 activists from all around the metroplex! (fyi- metroplex=city and surrounding cities, ie: Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex) It was getting dark by this time (except for the creepy chemical plants' lights surrounding us), and we had an introduction to our campaign (with background info on the disaster), poetry about corporate injustice, survivors' testimonials, and concluded with our campaign demands. Thank you to our lovely readers- Nel, Danny, Reed, and Rachel. Then, we sat down across the street from the Dow building and watched people inside staring back at us. At one point a guy with a huge cowboy hat and boots walked into the building and I started worrying but it turned out alright. They didn't call the police or confront us at all.

We sat there with our candles lit and relaxed. People were free to do what they pleased, some were in deep thought, some freakin out about the cold, some constantly lighting others' candles (that the wind constantly blew out), but the point is, We Were There. We were there, campaigning for Bhopal, along with 16 different countries, 25 different US campuses- taking action on that very day with us. It was an amazing feeling.

So here's the coolest news: The land we had used was indeed privately owned, which could have been a problem. BUT the owner drove by to see what the heck was going on and when our group rep told him about our cause and event, he not only supported our cause but also allowed us to use his land! It was a HUGE empty lot.... and with his blessings, can you IMAGINE what we can do next year, on the 20th anniversary?!

Before we left to meet for dinner at Cafe Brazil (a local coffehouse/diner), we left a packet of background information with our campaign demands for the employees of the facility in their mailbox. During the vigil, so many of them stopped by as they were heading home and asked us about the event. Its rather disturbing how few employees actually know about the disaster.

Cafe Brazil was great, thanks to all who came. The only bummer was that media didn't show for the vigil. However, I've been sending in our press releases to all the local stations and papers, so at least our event was noted, but we're not near finished with this. There'll be plenty of other media later. Also, each of us will continue telling the story of Bhopal, so we're fine.

So that was our Bhopal action. A complete success. Thank you so much for our setup crew, our planning crew, our awesome activists at SMU, UTA, Jesuit College Prep, Highland Park HS, and thank you to everyone that sent their best wishes for us!

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Petitioning

On the 20th anniversary of the Bhopal disaster, December 3rd, 2004, students at Highland Park High School in Dallas circulated petitions and flyers informing students and faculty about the Bhopal tragedy and urging them to get involved with the national campaign to hold Dow accountable for its negligence.

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