Editorial: Getting Radical
By Julie Hughes


In terms of the environmental or animal advocacy movements, differing levels of commitment are often observed. For instance, individuals may feel that by recycling, being a vegetarian, or putting a 'Save the Whales' bumper sticker on their car, they are helping the health of the planet. Others may feel a commitment so deep in their souls that they risk jail, being assaulted by the authorities or even, as a last resort, taking up arms against any oppressors of the earth or its inhabitants. In this issue of Satya, we will meet some of the participants in these latter movements. Personally, I fall in the former category. While on one hand, I know I'll devote my life to environmental issues, I am not willing to stand on the frontlines, face jail, or look down the barrel of any firearm. That is not my way. But at one time, it was.

When I was younger and first learning about the atrocious injustices perpetrated on the natural world, I became unbelievably angry and saddened. I attended protests, yelled and chastised anyone whom I felt was lacking in commitment. My mother often bore the brunt of this; she even caught me sneaking up on her fur coat once with a tube of toothpaste in hand. My friends weren't safe either. I remember the day, en route to a national protest in Washington, DC, when I scalded my friend with burning coffee from a styrofoam cup she dared to drink from in front of me. Who had I become? After a long period of introspection, I realized I was using my anger destructively. But the frustration I felt was so powerful, it practically overtook me. I figured out that, for me, the underlying principles of these movements are truly non-violent and peaceful. That was my journey. Today, working for Satya, I have found a place that satisfies my need for action and inaction. I feel in no way a sell-out. On the other hand, I sleep well at night knowing there are earth warriors protesting and risking their necks to salvage the last of our remaining wilderness.

While planning this issue and having to contact members of these "radical" groups, I shuddered when I thought of my younger self, expecting them to act the way I had. After speaking with a few involved in what many would call "extremist" movements, I have drawn only one conclusion -- they are remarkably committed and passionate, even "normal"! These individuals aren't fanatical terrorists; they're people -- people with strong convictions and notions.

These days, many people are involved in direct action and civil disobedience. For example, as this issue goes to press, Jeff Watkins and Nicole Rogers are on hunger strike in jail to protest fur trapping. Employing a tactic as old as civil disobedience itself, they have said they will continue to fast until their three demands -- a ban on leghold traps, the end of U.S. opposition to the European Union wild fur ban and the striking down of the "Beaver Butchery" bill in New York -- are met. Even Hollywood has been radicalized. In November, Woody Harrelson, of Natural Born Killers and The People Vs. Larry Flint, climbed the Golden Gate Bridge to protest the clearcutting of ancient redwoods in the West. Earlier last year, Harrelson was arrested after planting hemp seeds in the state of Kentucky. Kim Basinger and her husband Alec Baldwin are vocal about their vegetarian lifestyle and their abhorrence of fur.

This month, Satya speaks to a few of the rebels on the radical front. Rod Coronado, currently a serving four and a half year sentence after being convicted of arson at a fur research facility, tells us his views on the nature of extremism and the internal pressure one meets inside civil disobedience organizations. Ben White, a former director of Friends of Animals, explores the world of direct action and offers insight into becoming a radical. Ramona Africa, the only surviving adult member of MOVE, offers some revolutionary wisdom, and Ruth Gurny fills us in on the direct action scene in southern England, where protestors erected camps in the trees and built underground tunnels to stop the building of roads through the English countryside.

Each movement has a radical side which often has the power to bring about the most major changes. Enjoy this issue of Satya and attempt to suspend any ideas you may have about radical groups, favorable or otherwise. As civil disobedience becomes mainstream and publicized, perhaps others will join the fight. Remember, what is revolutionary to some is conservative to others. After all, history has proven that today's radicals are tomorrow's heroes.

 

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