Over 100 protestors, including a grim reaper weidling a blue earth flag, lined Main Street Northampton on Tuesday, March 21. The crowd held signs painted with slogans reading “Move Your Dough” and “Put your Money Where Your Heart is.” They stopped outside TD Bank and Bank of America to recite chants supporting boycotting the banks before continuing on to their final destination: the soon to be opened Chase bank.
Situated on the corner of King and Main Street, JPMorgan Chase purchased the building from DP Holdings, a company controlled by the owner of family- owned jewelry store Silverscape in September 2022. The property first came to market in 2020 when the jewelry store went out of business. Originally listed for $2 million, JPMorgan Chase purchased the building for $1.3 million.
This acquisition is part of a larger Chase initiative to double its Massachusetts presence by 2025. They are focusing heavily on opening the Western Massachusetts market. Other branch openings, like the one in Springfield earlier this month, have also sparked protests.
Local environmental activists have organized rallies and posted articles in efforts to inform the public of the investment habits of banks like Chase.
“The action in Northampton was inspired by the worst bank in the world opening an office in the middle of a progressive city,” said Russ Vernon-Jones, one of the key organizers of the Tuesday rally.
Vernon-Jones then went on to explain that the date of the action was organized to coincide with ThirdAct!’s Day of Action. ThirdAct!, a senior national climate activism group, designated March 21 as a National Day of Action on their website. The group organized events all across the country. These actions were designed to protest and call attention to the billions of dollars banks are investing into the fossil fuel industry.
The Northampton event fell in with this greater movement, uniting local events with national actions. The Chase bank march was organized by half a dozen activist and faith-based groups.
“[Organizing this event] was amazingly easy, ” said Vernon-Jones, “I’m quite fascinated by the fact that the idea of this made sense to people and people have been generous and cooperative. It’s really been a great thing to organize.”
The event began with a rally in Pulaski Park, about a quarter of a mile away from the Chase Bank. Protestors gathered around a makeshift stage, conversing with each other and making last minute signs. While about 50 people RSVP’d online, a post-event letter estimated 250 community members attended the rally to protest the Chase Bank opening.
“I’m a long-time environmental activist and climate activist,” said Don Ogden, co-host of the Enviro Show on Valley Free Radio, “ I always had problems with Chase bank. They always seem to invest in fossil fuels and they keep on keeping on with that.”
A 2022 Fossil Fuel Finance Report released by a consortium of seven environmental organizations including the Sierra Club created a list dubbed the “Dirty Dozen,” identifying the top 12 banks that invest in fossil fuels. The top four banks listed are American banks (JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America), with JPMorgan Chase investing 34% more money into fossil fuels than Citi. The report also found that the top six banks from the list accounted for 29% of fossil fuel financing in 2021.
Speakers at Tuesday’s march included leaders from several faith-based organizations, members of ThirdAct! and members of Youth Climate Action Now, which was founded and directed by 16-year-old Ollie Perrault who also MC’d the event.
Morgan Brown-McNeil, a 15-year-old member of Youth Climate Action Now, stressed the importance of action:
“In the valley, we can pretend that nothing is wrong, we can ignore the statistics, we can turn our back on the fire, but there is no doubt that somebody’s house is burning down.”
Following the rally, the protestors took to the streets, signs in hand and chants and songs memorized. They split into two groups and lined the sidewalks on either side of Main Street. Some members walked in the street, stopping to explain JPMorgan Chase Bank’s investment in fossil fuels to drivers.
In a statement, a Chase bank representative said, “[JPMorgan is] taking pragmatic steps to meet our 2030 emission intensity reduction targets in the six sectors that account for the majority of global emissions, while helping the world meet its energy needs securely and affordably.”
Protestors, however, did not want the bank to open in Northampton at all. Chris Ulrich, a member of ThirdAct!, said, “Chase is a really, really dirty bank and we don’t want it in our town.”
The march ended at the Chase bank location where a final speech called for the boycott of Chase and the rest of the “Dirty Dozen.” This was followed by the ceremonial cutting of credit cards, an idea Vernon-Jones credited ThirdAct! with. The credit card cutting allowed crowd members to celebrate moving their money from banks that invested in fossil fuels to those that don’t. As the plastic cut the protestors cheered. After that, the Expandable Brass Band burst into song and protestors disbanded — their work for the day had been done.
“[Today we wanted] to draw attention to the fact that Chase is not a bank that you should bank at,” said Perrault, stressing the importance of local actions. “I think the overall goal is [to pressure] Chase to divest from the fossil fuel industry and invest in renewable solutions for generations to come. But for right now, we’re going to focus on this one, focus within our community.”
