Last Friday ended the week long Earth First! Action Camp. It was my first Action Camp and the experience was amazing. People sharing skills, people teaching each other how to protect forests, people sharing food, people singing together, people hiking together, and people bringing their minds together to share ideas on how to protect what’s most valuable to us: Nature. The week was a success.
I was honored to be a part of such a motivated, loving, and determined group of people. I come from a place where it’s rare to encounter direct action activists, so seeing people getting directly involved invigorates my spirit to keep on pushing forward.
Who will? “Who will?” is the question I continue to ask myself when I think of the endangered forests and threatened animals. Who will stand up for them when these companies fell the land? Who will step up to the front lines when the land is being raped and the environment destroyed? Who will make sacrifices to preserve life? It’s a question that I honestly feel that most of our society doesn’t even bother to consider.
Busy with their daily lives of work, family, friends, material attainment, what have you, this question is eclipsed under the norms of society. The status quo of “who cares about that fucking tree, go get a job!” The general prescription of “Make money by any means necessary and establish yourself. Don’t worry about anything else.” The deeply rooted modality of “look out for yourself and nobody else.”
Sad.
Being here in Humboldt County I’ve witnessed a new paradigm. People who really care about Nature. It’s amazing to see just one person who is willing to take a stand, let alone a dozen at the Action Camp.
I really hope to see more people getting involved and doing whatever they can — in a peaceful, non-violent manner — to preserve that which provides life. To protect Nature is to protect yourself. You’d think such a simple statement would be more readily accepted and understood. But it’s not. We must continue to lead by example and show the world that what’s happened to the forest is not right.
We need more minds. More hearts. More action in the movement. Anyone can help in myriad ways. This movement isn’t solely about tree sitting, but so much more. Any passion or talent you have can be directed towards the aim of protecting Nature.
Help us stop this…
Peace and Love.