Like you, I want to live in a world where everyone has access to health care, food and water, and a healthy climate. A world where democracy works to allocate resources equitably. A world where corporations do not dictate all aspects of our lives.
That’s why I give to Corporate Accountability. Every day, the organization works to hold corporations accountable that otherwise would have no reason to be held accountable. Without the corporate accountability movement, corporations would only be accountable to their shareholders.
That’s not the kind of world I want to live in, and I’m guessing if you opened this email, that’s not the kind of world you want to live in, either.
Will you join me in supporting the powerful, creative, and exciting organizing of Corporate Accountability? Thanks to a generous group of donors, if they raise $100,000, every gift will be matched dollar for dollar — doubling your impact.
This spring, I had a chance to go into the belly of the beast. I attended Philip Morris International’s shareholders’ meeting with Corporate Accountability.
Let me tell you, it was mind-boggling.
Even though PMI is widely regarded as a corporate villain, its shareholders’ meeting is still a place where executives can go and brag about their accomplishments. And people sit there and clap, because it’s going straight to their pocket books.
When the time came for Q&A, I lined up behind our partners who came with us to the meeting, high school students whose lives were upended when they lost parents to tobacco addiction. These young organizers spoke truth directly to power, letting the PMI executives know that they profited off of their parents’ addiction. I was thinking about their stories as I stepped to the microphone to name PMI’s abuses. The chairman was dismissive toward the young organizers, but by the time I made my statement he was getting frustrated and refused my question. Our collective action made him confront the reality of PMI’s business model: Their products kill their customers. When we plainly stated the facts, they had nothing to say.
Clearly, what we are doing works — keeping a steady pressure on these corporations.
When you donate today, you’ll help them meet the $100,000 goal, and ensure your donation is matched, dollar for dollar. Please join me and give now.
Sam Jacobs is an educator and funder of anti-racist movements and movements challenging corporate power.
