TOMORROW: Amid Crackdown on Free Speech and Rising Inequality, Tens of Thousands to March to “Make Billionaires Pay” in NYC and Across U.S.

Press Contacts:
Email [email protected] with all press inquiries
Lead contacts: Mel Smith, 350.org, 917.408.3145
Rebecca Stoner, Oil Change International, 917.561.2607

As the Trump administration and its billionaire backers step up their attacks on free speech, immigrants’ rights, and working families’ ability to make a living, a major march through New York City will demonstrate opposition to the billionaire agenda of tax cuts for the wealthy, handouts to Big Oil, and rampant inequality and injustice. The “Make Billionaires Pay” march, which will take place as Trump and other world leaders gather for the United Nations General Assembly and New York Climate Week, is a historic convening of movements united for climate action, migrant justice, gender and economic equality.

160+ other Make Billionaires Pay distributed actions will take place in communities across the U.S., including one in Amarillo, Texas, at the site of a proposed data center that would be the largest in the nation and would raise energy prices, threaten residents’ health with pollution, and wreak havoc on their quality of life. 

The marches are focused on three key demands:  

1. Tax extreme wealth, end fossil fuel subsidies, make big oil pay for the damages they’ve caused.
2. Reunite Families: Return abducted migrants, end collaboration with ICE, stop deportations. 
3. Fund our People and Our Future: A just transition to 100% renewable energy, and justice for frontline communities. 

Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), Women’s March, Climate Defenders, and 350.org are organizing the march in New York City, which has been endorsed by over 200 other labor, climate, health, and migrant justice organizations. The march is part of a global week of action for climate justice, called “Draw the Line” (convened by 350.org, Demand Climate Justice, Climate Action Network and War on Want). 

Notes to the editor: 

NYC Anchor March Program Details (Saturday, Sept 20th): 

• • 11:30 AM: Press conference at 51st St and Park Ave. 

• • 12:30 PM: March kick-off. March will travel up Park Avenue past Blackstone, across Billionaire Row, and up to the Trump Hotel for a banner drop.

Press conference speakers and other spokespeople available for interview in English and Spanish. Speakers include: 

• Tamika Middleton, Managing Director, Women’s March
• Consuelo Ramirez: Founder/director of Domestic Workers Without Borders
• Jonathan Juarez, Youth United for Climate Crisis Action (YUCCA)
• Hasan Bachu, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM)

Visuals will include large-scale puppets of recognizable billionaires and large, diverse crowds holding colorful banners depicting the march demands, in front of some of the most famous symbols of the billionaire class: Billionaire Row, Park Avenue, financial headquarters like Blackrock, and the Trump Hotel.