About This Site
#N30History Organizers' History Project
We are a small group of co-founders and core organizers of the Direct Action Network, the organization that called for the shutdown of the WTO conference twenty years ago. At the time, we were organizers based in Olympia, Washington; Portland, Oregon; and the San Francisco Bay Area. We worked with hundreds of activists and organizers for over nine months and organized a coordinated action that prevented the Ministerial from meeting on November 30, 1999. We continued to organize actions throughout the week until the collapse of the conference.
We put this site together to share our reflections from a critical moment in movement history. We compiled historical narratives from people who organized locally and regionally. We gathered articles and resources developed since Seattle. And we generated new analysis to support our collective efforts to look forward to and plan for our futures.
We offer this archival site as a humble contribution to remember the work of thousands and thousands of people who made it happen.
Chris Borte, Chris Dixon, Stephanie Guilloud, Nancy Haque, and David Solnit
Other 25th Anniversary Events & Projects
WTO+25 Events in Seattle
Community Alliance for Global Justice (CAGJ's) Events page
CANCELLED: SAT NOV 23, 10:30AM: WTO Protest Walking Tour hosted by MOHAI with CAGJ’s Heather Day. Please register here. <- cancelled
FRI NOV 29: MOHAI exhibit opens, runs until April 27: Teamsters, Turtles, and Beyond: The Legacy of the Seattle WTO Protests
SAT NOV 30, 12-3PM: MOHAI Opening Day: speaking event & button-making; Free with registration.
TUES DEC 3, 5:30PM: WA Fair Trade Coalition virtual event: “Seattle’s Trade Legacy: A Journey Through Protest & Power”. Get your tickets.
WED DEC 11, 6-9PM: MOHAI Curator James Gregory: Join guest curator, Professor James Gregory, filmmaker Jill Freidberg, and Washington Fair Trade Coalition Director Julie Bouanna for a discussion and analysis of the protests and its impacts, 25 years later. Sliding scale tickets.
TUES MARCH 11, 6-9PM: Whose Stories? Our Stories! WTO Collective Memory Sharing, Co-hosted by MOHAI & CAGJ.
Film and Panel in Portland, Oregon
SAT NOV 30, 2:45: "This is What Democracy Looks Like" film followed by panel "Seattle's Legacy: Movement Lessons for 2025" FREE More Info
CityLights event in San Francisco
SEPT 19, 2024: CITY LIGHTS LIVE! GLOBALIZE LIBERATION, NOT CORPORATE POWER! (link to recording of event)
New oral history book and organizer response
One Week to Change the World: An Oral History of the 1999 WTO Protests by D.W. Gibson, 2024
Whose Story of Seattle? A Protest History Misses the Point review and response to "One Week to Change the World" by Gabriel Sayegh
(Archive) Other 20th Anniversary Events & Projects
WTO+20 Events in Seattle
TUES NOV 19, 6:30 pm: Crosscut Talks Live – WTO: Did Everyone Lose the Battle of Seattle? $25 More info
WED NOV 20, 6:30 – 8 pm: MOHAI History Café: Remembering the WTO 20 Years Later – FREE More info
SAT NOV 30, 9am – 5pm: CAGJ, UFCW 21 & Town Hall Seattle present Another World is Possible! WTO+20: How a People’s Uprising Shut-Down the World Trade Organization in ‘99 & Why it Matters for Today’s Movements for Justice – FREE Register, Share on Facebook, More info
SAT NOV 30 - DEC 1, 10am - 4pm: Seattle Anarchist Bookfair - FREE Share on Facebook, More info
SAT DEC 7: WA Fair Trade Coalition presents 10AM Rally, 3:30PM Workshops, 7PM Keynote: Joseph Stieglitz – Sliding scale More info
After Seattle - Amory Starr
Were you part of the N30 protests against the WTO in Seattle?
After Seattle is to be a collection of biographical notes about how that experience shaped us.
If you were there, you are invited to contribute a text from 20 to 2000 words.
#MySeattleWTOStory social media project - Citizens’ Trade Campaign
Record a short video or write a short post with your reflection from the Seattle WTO protests and why they’re still relevant today.
Post your reflection on social media with the hashtag #MySeattleWTOStory any time between November 20th thru November 30th.
Share the link to your creation with us at MySeattleWTOStory@citizenstrade.org.
Accessibility Statement
We are striving for accessibility in this project, if you experience any issues with the content or functionality of our website, please contact us at shutdownwto20@gmail.com - Thank you!
Photo Credits
Thank you to the photographers and publications that shared their photos with this site:
(C) 1999 Dang Ngo/ZUMA Press
Seattle Municipal Archives
Dana Schuerholz
Steve Kaiser – photos licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license
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