August
1996
What
it Means to be an Activist: What it Means to be a Radical
By Lawrence Carter-Long
|
|
|
The following is an excerpt of a speech
made by Lawrence Carter-Long on June 23rd at the March for the
Animals, the centerpiece of World Animal Awareness Week, in Washington,
DC.
Twenty-four years ago at the age of five, I was used as a prop to raise
money which, in part, went to pay for vivisection. As a person with cerebral
palsy, as a poster child for the United Way, I learned the importance
of looking past the surface of what we are led to believe. Of what they
want us to know.
When Im asked if I would take a cure for cerebral palsy, my response
has always been: what would I have to give up? If I would lose the insight
that having CP has afforded me, if I would lose the empathy that has
compelled me to speak out for the oppressed, then their fabled cure is
not worth it.
Is it so important to walk like everyone else? Is it, indeed, important
to walk at all if we are willing to kill innocents to do so? No. The
PR machine that churns for continued animal abuse tells us that: if you
the animal activist had a disability or illness you would feel differently.
To those who seek to use my voice to justify animal abuse, listen closely:
I am not your tool. Dont use me, or my condition, as your excuse. As
animal activists we seek to go beyond our cultures disturbing fixation
with self-interest. Even if vivisection could cure my condition or others,
it is not worth what we would lose in the process.
At its core, the fight for animal liberation is about education and responsibility.
Whether we realize it or not, these factors are at the core of all we
do. I have spent my adult life dispelling myths, about both cerebral
palsy and animal liberation. Its time to dispel a few more:
The animal rights movement I belong to does not have the time, or the
inclination, to criticize the work of others. The animal rights movement
that I belong to understands that working toward our abolitionist goals
in incremental steps is the only way well move ahead. The animal rights
movement that I belong to has no use for labels, it is too busy taking
action. The animal rights movement that I belong to is united in support
of our common goals, rather than squabbling over attention or money.
The animal rights movement that I belong to has no room for ego or ivory
tower activists with personal agendas. It understands the value of working
together.
Some would call us radical. So be it. To be radical means to be rooted
in an almost spiritual sense to bringing about core changes in society.
Last year, the live export trade in Britain was almost shut down by protesters
blocking ports, barricading villages through which the trucks carrying
live animals for the continent had to pass, and invading airports. A
profile of these protesters? A middle-aged conservative-voting woman
in her mid-50s. People who had never protested anything, let alone animal
cruelty, felt compelled to go to the streets. Now that's radical! What
these people experienced was a meta-political urge to change the quality
of their lives to include animals. Many of them didnt want to call themselves
animal rightists, most werent vegetarians. But what is important for
all of us to know is that there was a core of common decency that mobilized
even the most conservative. We should think of this when we talk to others
about factory farming, animals in entertainment, fur or vivisection.
There is much we can do individually to create a climate whereby people
will naturally take to the streets, as they did in Britain. It will not
be our debates over tactics or ideology which compel people to act upon
common decency it will be a result of educating people about our issues
and facilitating a sense of responsibility to speak out. Just as pro-vivisectionists
need to realize that animal liberation is not about what animal experiments
can do for humans, animal activists must work to expand our activism
beyond ourselves. We must allow the uninitiated the room to act out of
common decency. None of the progressive thinking about animals that has
occurred in recent years would have happened if it wasnt for years of
slow persuasion as well as high publicity direct actions from the Animal
Liberation Front and anti-fur protesters. Everyone is needed. We must
not lose sight of this.
Whether you use e-mail, pay an outrageous phone bill or send buckets
of postcards, if you havent already, I suggest you take the time necessary
to get involved with the people standing next to you. You never know
where such connections will lead. You the activists in the trenches are
the backbone of the modern animal rights movement. Together with national
organizations and people with common decency that have yet to be tapped,
we must make decisions which will move us forward into the next stage
of our animal rights movement. Let us be brave enough to ask tough questions
of ourselves and make what may not always be the easiest decisions, but
which are, in the end, the correct ones.
Ten years ago, who wouldve thought that a posterbrat with cerebral palsy
would be a vegan decrying vivisection? There are simply no excuses for
exploitation. We can ill-afford to be shy about who we are and what we
seek.
It is still a good thing to oppose violence.
Dont be deterred by what those who abuse animals say about our mission.
The animal rights movement that we belong to knows better, and isnt afraid
to act on it. We cant force people to become compassionate, but as the
demonstrations in Britain and the outrage against the Make-A-Wish Foundations
decision to allow a teenager to kill a Kodiak bear illustrate, our quest
for common decency is gaining momentum.
Put on your seatbelts folks. I have a feeling that the best is yet to
come....
Lawrence Carter-Long is currently working with
The Coalition for Research Ethics and Accountability , a project
of Sangre de Christo Animal Protection Inc. (CREA) in Albuquerque,
New Mexico. He can be contacted via CREA, at P.O. Box 11395,
Albuquerque, NM 87192 or e-mailed at sdecap@arc.unm.edu
 |
|
|
 |
|
© STEALTH TECHNOLOGIES INC. |
|
|
