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This weekend is the Building Unity conference at the Wisconsin state capital. Today’s guests are speakers, organizers, and participants in the conference. First, we’re joined by Canadian climate activist, Olivier Huard, who talks about cross-national organizing and the work of the Antigone Collective, a group of climber-activists.

As wildfires burn in LA and an Enbridge Line 6 oil spill pollutes our neighbors in Jefferson County, Huard insists on making the connection between fossil fuels and climate change. He says that Canadians are frustrated with Big Oil’s increasing influence in government. Next, Rebecca Kemble gives an update on the spill, and Greg Mikkelson says that the amount of oil transported via Enbridge’s Line 5 is equivalent to the amount of global heating caused by detonating hundreds of atomic bombs every day. 

We then check in with Tim Cordon who is organizing the Building Unity conference which will bring together people committed to defending democracy and will leave no one out. One participant, Nookomis Debra Topping talks about her opposition to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, at one point holding of Enbridge’s expansion for 8 days. Then, Debra Gilispie is the founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence. She describes her work on the responsible gun ownership bill and how she supports the victims of gun violence through the arts, like the bus shelter installations in Milwaukee. 

Olivier Huard is a climate activist who has resisted pipelines for 15 years. Based in Montreal, he has worked mostly there but also in Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Europe. Olivier co-founded a collective of climber-activists, the Antigone Collective. Their mission is to creatively escalate pressure on governments and support allied progressive groups. Olivier also founded Life Defends Itself, a citizen campaign focused on the shut down of the Enbridge Line 9B.

Rebecca Kemble is a grandmother and water protector who lives with her extended family on Ho Chunk territory in Madison, WI. As a journalist, she has covered water protection actions against mining and pipelines for over a decade for the Wisconsin Citizens Media Cooperative, Progressive Magazine, and Toward Freedom. An elected Alderperson on the Madison Common Council from 2015 – 2021, Rebecca is currently involved with many projects, including the Cross Border Organizing Work Group of the Line 5 Coalition, Madison Mutual Aid Network, Solidarity Economy Principles Project, regional food systems advocacy, worker cooperative development, and various media projects.

Greg Mikkelson was born in Madison and worked in Canada as a tenured professor of environmental studies until 2020. In that capacity, he lectured and published in ecology, philosophy, and economics, with a focus on the nature, causes, and value of biological diversity.  He also helped divest his university from fossil fuel. He now serves as an interdependent (not “independent”) scientist and activist.  In 2021, he joined a wonderful and growing bunch of people campaigning to shut down tar sands pipelines in the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence watershed.

Timothy Cordon is the Building Unity Coordinator. He is also the father of three daughters, a lover of people, and all of life. Tim has worked as a nurse, an elementary school teacher, a farmer, and an activist. He dedicates his retirement to organizing for a united movement for people, justice, sustainability, and democracy.

Nookomis Debra Topping is the co-founder of R.I.S.E. (Resilient Indigenous Sisters Engaging) Coalition. She is from Nagajiiwanong (Fond du Lac Reservation) Minnesota, and is a grandma, a land defender, and a water drinker.

Debra Gilispie is a Milwaukee native, a devoted wife, and a “childless mother.” Debra strongly believes that faith calls for action. As the founder of Mothers Against Gun Violence (MAGV), she advocates for equity in the media and strives to amplify the voices of gun violence survivors.

Featured image via Wikimedia Commons.

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