A Great Start! “Do Not Talk” Posters Get People Talking

by Franke James

Hooray!! Wave a Canadian flag!

Celebrate the win — but not for too long! Yes, thanks to 142 Indiegogo funders from Canada, the U.S. and Europe, we got the “Do Not Talk about Climate Change” posters up in Ottawa. We’re off to a great start — see the major media below — but the BIG opportunity is to take the message to other Canadian and U.S. cities. The S-T-R-E-T-C-H goal is to raise a total of $10,000 (or more) to go to another city, like Calgary, Vancouver or even Washington. You can help by spreading the word.

Visual proof – Here I am in front of a poster at Bank and Slater. The shopkeeper came out to tell me that lots of people are posing in front of the poster — and he wanted to know more…. I told him to please go look at BANNED ON THE HILL on Indiegogo. And tell others to give their support!

MEDIA COVERAGE UPDATE

‘Banned on the Hill’ Makes Headlines

The Guardian UK: Artist finds inspiration in Canadian government’s attempt to silence her – by Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent “Visual essays by Franke James reveal how the ‘troublesome artist’ was targeted because her views on climate change clashed with the push to develop Alberta’s tar sands.”
“Canada, under the government of Stephen Harper, has exhibited little patience for dissent. The government has muzzled government scientists, insulted Nasa climate experts, and dismissed environmental protesters as dangerous radicals.

“But there is apparently one woman whom the government can’t shut up: the Toronto environmental writer, illustrator and activist Franke James, who turned the efforts to silence her into material for a new book. Banned on the Hill: A True Story about Dirty Oil and Government Censorship, released this week, shows how Canadian bureaucrats tried to silence James because her views on climate change clashed with the Harper government’s push to develop Alberta’s tar sands. The story is told through visual essays as well as official emails obtained by James, in which government bureaucrats discuss the troublesome artist and her work.” Link

Dogwood Initiative Blacklisted Activist Fights Back With Chilling Censorship Story Canadian author and artist Franke James’s first-hand account of the federal government’s successful attempt to block her international art show …

DeSmog Canada Artist Franke James Live and (Actually) Uncensored (Since, Apparently, She Refuses to Be)

CTV POWER PLAY: Don Martin interviews Franke James, Author of “Banned on the Hill’ & Climate Activist

TORONTO STAR: Climate activist gets even with new book
Print headline, A6, May 27, 2013; By Raveena Aulakh

GRIST MAGAZINE: Artful Dodger: How one anti-Keystone activist fought the blacklist – A Franke discussion: How one artist fought back when the feds tried to shut her up

RED EYE RADIO: Artist Franke James on how her work came to clash with the Harper government’s message of Tar Sands development.

VANCOUVER OBSERVER: Deep pocket PR vs. artist Franke James: the fight’s on
By Andrea Bennett

OTTAWA CITIZEN: Toronto artist Franke James says Harper government monitored her climate change artwork By Mike de Souza

GLOBE AND MAIL: Conservative attacks are nothing but bullying
By Gerald Caplan

HUFFINGTON POST CANADA The story of Franke James and the art of activism
By Kevin Grandia

DO NOT TALK CAMPAIGN: ON THE STREETS AND ONLINE

With the $5,000 from Indiegogo funders we purchased online ads and street posters:

OTTAWA May 29, 2013

The street posters are just part of the campaign to get Ottawa talking about climate change. A topic they really do not want people to talk about. They are so busy selling tarsands oil and silencing anyone who mentions the fact that bitumen is highly polluting and contributing to climate change, that it’s a challenge, a big one.

On May 20th, thanks to Indiegogo supporters, we succeeded in putting climate change at the top of a site that every Ottawa-insider knows and reads. The Hill Times is “Canada’s politics and government newsweekly” and their readers include “influential players in Parliament, Cabinet, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Privy Council,” and more.

Which makes it just the perfect place for my “Do Not Talk about Climate Change” ad campaign — because it cannot be missed. No doubt there were a few cheerios spat out when this ad played on The Hill Times…

The “Do Not Talk” ad bumped off this pipeline ad which was running the previous week.

The ad also debuted on the front page of Rabble, the voice of progressive journalists, writers, artists and activists across Canada.

Want to help take the “Do Not Talk” posters to more cities?
Join Franke’s Indiegogo campaign!

Link: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/banned-on-the-hill/

Buy Banned on the Hill at Amazon.com

Help support Franke James’ work by donating below…