Category: Culture of Resistance

Visit the global archives for posts from all DGR sites.

Gorilla Radio interviews: Will Falk and Vanessa Gray on the Unis’tot’en Camp

Liz McArthur of Victoria BC is creating a radio documentary on the Unis’tot’en Camp pipeline blockade. She interviewed two fellow volunteers who participated in the summer caravan to the Camp, and a third activist involved with defense of the Sacred Headwaters. The interviews aired on the August 4, 2014 episode of Gorilla Radio.

McArthur interviews:

  • Will Falk of Deep Green Resistance and Victoria Forest Action Network, on his environmental activism with the Camp and other efforts. He discusses the importance of supporting indigenous struggles, and what members of settler culture need to understand and how they should approach such solidarity work.
  • Vanessa Gray, a member of the Amjiwnaang nation in the Chemical Valley of Southern Ontario, describing the horrific conditions of living in close proximity to 63 oil and gas facilities, including pipelines, refineries, and loading docks. Gray describes the incredibly high rates of health problems brought on by this policy of environmental racism towards the indigenous. Gray brought youth to the Camp to show them that places still exist with clean water and air, and to inspire them to fight against the dominant culture of monetary profit at the sacrifice of people and land.
  • John Mowat Stephen briefly talks about activism with the Tahltan First Nation around the Sacred Headwaters in northern BC.

Listen to the interview to learn more about the front line struggles in BC against the fossil fuel industry, and how you can help:

Download mp3

Browse all DGR member appearances.

“Concrete” by the filthy politicians

A call to dig underneath the distractions and lies imposed on us by civilization, “Concrete” urges us to decolonize and join the side of the living. As always, the filthy politicians, joined on this Modern Man track by Drew Wadden, blend engaging rythm and melody with meaningful lyrics to draw listeners into a culture of resistance.

Listen to this track and read the lyrics below, and hear more songs at the filthy politicians on bandcamp and at the filthy politicians on soundcloud.

won’t tell you to put your hands up in the air

won’t tell you to put em anywhere

cuz you can put em up or down

all that really matters is you listen to the sound

and let it sink in get to thinkin

look reality in the eye without blinkin

don’t think that i don’t realize

that today if you want to reach the hearts and the minds

of these people that you need a beat to sweep them right off their feet

to reach deep underneath these sheets of concrete

that they been layin since you were playin in plastic sheets

and runnin through creeks now filled with chemical leaks

now tears are runnin down our chemical cheeks

cuz we don’t wanna go outside without makeup on

we can’t have fun without jager bombs

and this ain’t the way it’s supposed to be

ain’t supposed to lose somebody so close to me

in a car accident we shouldn’t have cars

but we’re all so used to all these scars

we build our own prison but we don’t see the bars

it shouldn’t be so hard at night to see the stars

won’t tell you to put your hands up in the air

won’t tell you to put em anywhere

cuz you can put em up or down

all that really matters is you listen to the sound

and let it sink in get to thinkin

look reality in the eye without blinkin

these days we’re taught conscious thought ain’t hot

your brain might be sayin tpain i am not

so i’m already workin against the fence

you might be sittin on but if you’re not then just pretend

we can take a thought and follow it to its end

just take a look around, what the fuck is happenin?

we shop til we drop for things that got made

half way around the motherfuckin world by slaves

if you got eyes to see take a look around

if you got ears to hear listen to the sound

of isolation, domestication

to the natural world we’re an alienation

and we sold the soul for the sweet sedation

of lonely sex robots on tv stations

it shouldn’t take flobots to show these bourgeois

the new boss is just like the old boss

won’t tell you to put your hands up in the air

won’t tell you to put em anywhere

cuz you can put em up or down

all that really matters is you listen to the sound

and let it sink in get to thinkin

look reality in the eye without blinkin

so if you got a breath of life left

and somethin inside you that’s more human than machine to guide you

then you just gotta dig it up listen to it an we’ll do it

you just gotta set it free then we can get to it

cuz the real enemy is all around

everyday they’re the ones that are holdin us down

cuz they know as long as we don’t know anything else

that we won’t know what it’s like to think for ourselves

and that’s half the problem is every debate

is framed to accept the existence of the state

with this history they write, the lies they tell

so we identify and we don’t rebel

we just eat the food and we watch the shows and

we consume exactly what they want us to know

but before we were consumin we were human at birth

gotta find our way back cuz we’re killin this earth

won’t tell you to put your hands up in the air

won’t tell you to put em anywhere

cuz you can put em up or down

all that really matters is you listen to the sound

and let it sink in get to thinkin

look reality in the eye without blinkin

Standing on Sacred Ground film series

Deep Green Resistance stands with indigenous peoples in defense of their land, for both ethical and practical reasons. It’s simply the right thing to do when people are threatened with theft of their traditional land base. It’s also a highly effective way to preserve what’s left of biodiversity and a living planet. Like any long-term member of a community, humans who know they depend on their land for sustenance and life foster its health to the benefit of everyone there.

The World Bank calculates that although indigenous people comprise just 4% of the global human population and live on just 12% of the land surface, their territory encompasses 80% of planetary biodiversity. Clearly they’re doing a better job of fostering life than has any civilized culture. We can be most strategic in supporting these people in protection of this remaining biodiversity on their traditional lands.

The film series Standing on Sacred Ground explores these dynamics and looks at specific cultures and places in 4 DVDs. You can see multiple excerpts on Youtube, including “Sacred Sites and Biodiversity” featuring clips from Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Ethiopia.

Burnaby Mountain fight against tar sands pipeline heats up

From Zoe Blunt at the Vancouver Island Community Forest Action Network

Right now across North America, groups of land defenders are doing their damnedest to block tarsands oil from coming to the coasts. Big oil and the Conservative government are insisting on pipelines from Alberta to the Pacific to feed the Asian export market. But thousands of locals are pledging to put their freedom on the line to stop them.

In Burnaby BC, the front has shifted from street rallies to blocking pipeline workers from drilling through Burnaby Mountain. Hundreds of native and non-native environmentalists have joined forces to occupy a conservation area in a last-ditch effort to stop Kinder Morgan and protect the Salish Sea and the traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, which has launched a court challenge against the tarsands pipeline.

But now Kinder Morgan has filed its own lawsuit naming the land defenders. And on Friday Nov 14, the judge granted the pipeline company’s request for an injunction and ordered resisters to leave or face arrest.

Many are not leaving. Those who feel called to defend the coast, please join these brave people. Come to bear witness and follow your conscience. I know I can’t stand aside and allow these machines to override the will of the people and open up a wilderness park and the whole south coast to toxic oil spills.

How to join:

  • Come for a day or two or a week. Bring a friend if you can.
  • Be prepared to camp. Bring a tent and a sleeping bag, rain gear, food and a water bottle.
  • Call Zoe to get connected to a team, and to check your gear: 250-813-3569
  • Directions: 300 Centennial Way, at the east end of Hastings St in Burnaby. Take the #135 bus from Waterfront Skytrain station.

There are several groups on the mountain, from tight affinity groups to community coalitions, and they are making different plans. There may be people going in different directions, so please follow your heart, or call Zoe to connect to a network.

This is where the game gets interesting. We’re playing for high stakes, and we could see a quick reversal if our side’s challenges to Kinder Morgan are heard and upheld in court.

The Tseil-Waututh Nation is joined by 150 other First Nations, dozens of community groups, and Burnaby’s mayor and council. Support these community groups on Indiegogo.

A spill of any kind – like the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill in Alaska in 1987 – would devastate the wild coast of British Columbia, including the Great Bear Rainforest, Haida Gwaii, salmon runs, wildlife habitat, and the livelihoods and culture of thousands of native people who depend on the sea. A pipeline blowout or a tanker collision would demolish coastal tourism. We can’t even estimate the cost.

Those who love this coast are pledged to defend it.

Come to the Solidarity House in Sooke and get skilled up

I’m happy to announce that the Solidarity House is now open for land defense training. On Sundays, starting on Nov 23, we’re offering the opportunity to support the frontlines and observe first-hand as BC moves to a new phase of land defense.

Join us to talk about strategy, solidarity, and specific skills like backcountry work, mapping, and fundraising. Lend your good energy to an inspiring grassroots movement led by incredibly resilient activists.

Call 250-813-3569 or email zoe@wildcoast.ca for the address and details.

Derrick Jensen’s Resistance Radio on youtube and archive page

Almost every Sunday, Derrick Jensen interviews an activist, biophile scientist, land restorationist, or other person similarly engaged in building a culture of resistance. The interviews are always worth listening to, packed with interesting information and insights drawn out by Jensen’s experienced questions.

The interviews are available as mp3 downloads or audio streams from our Resistance Radio archive page, and we’ve now made them available on Youtube as audio with a still image of the interviewee, accessible to those who prefer to browse Youtube or want to add the episodes into playlists. We’ll keep adding new interviews as they’re released. See them all at the Deep Green Resistance Youtube channel, and please share these important conversations widely!

Will Falk’s DIY Resistance series

Will Falk of Deep Green Resistance San Diego has been writing prolifically this year on various resistance topics, notably about his time at the Unis’tot’en Camp. More recently, he has published an ongoing series of essays on the theme of “Do-It-Yourself Resistance.” We’ll keep this post updated with new additions, and here are all his excellent pieces so far:

River’s Song: A Poem

Calliope Braintree is the protagonist of two novels by Anne Pyterek, whose work explores rape culture from both the personal and planetary perspective. The poem River’s Song was “written” by Calliope as a tribute to the Chicago River, poisoned and channeled by industrial humans but still living a life of her own.

I am the Atoms and the Space in between,
the Unmanifested heard, felt, smelt, tasted and seen
I am Anger
and Forgiveness
all in one stream.
For I am the Source,

I am the Dream…
I am the scent of holy things,
the sound of shadowy, unseen wings…
ominous…
foretelling black endarkenings.
I flow slowly, ever to the Sea.

I am Wildness,
Authenticity.

Download the whole 40-page narrative poem for free: River’s Song: A Poem.

the filthy politicians: I Don’t Think We’re Smart

This track from the Modern Man album by the filthy politicians echoes much of the wisdom expressed in the recently featured video Earth: Land Is Life. The song argues that our modern notions of “progress” have led us far off track from relationships with the human and non-human animals around us. It ends in a call to fight on the side of life and resist civilization and its destruction. Truly music for a culture of resistance.

Listen to this track and read the lyrics below, and hear more songs at the filthy politicians on bandcamp and at the filthy politicians on soundcloud.

we think we’re so smart it’s funny

not much wisdom but damn we got money

we’re just animals like everybody else

but we’ve learned to like to destroy ourselves

so if i could i would trade it all

fuck science let the chips fall

where they may – control is an illusion

toaster ovens and nuclear fusion

don’t get us anywhere but further away

from livin life in a natural way

we’re relatively new to the forest

gotta learn from the ones here before us

we’re the younger brother of all the other species

but we quit listenin and now it’s easy

to see how far off the track we are

gotta get back there’s a map in the stars

so we’ll start by tearin down the street lights

let bright days turn into bright nights

take old wrongs make new rights

as we dance on the grave of the ways of our old life

cuz right now we take and we don’t give back

if you want to survive then you can’t do that

you can’t pollute, poison an plunder

cuz if you bring lightning you’re gonna get thunder

and right now we’re flailing, about to go under

alarms are wailing and it makes you wonder

how we don’t hear it?

maybe it’s cuz now it’s too loud

and the waves are crashing down all around

so we can’t decipher the sounds anymore

i don’t think we’re smart

because we found new ways now to tear the earth apart

it’s gettin bigger but it ain’t gettin better

the writing’s on the wall in bright red letters

big dump trucks, sky scrapers

chemical factories, all earth rapers

agriculture means fightin nature

imposin our will like a legislature

we’ve wiped out the ones who were content

to live with the earth the way that we were meant to

so we gotta look back if we wanna learn new

ways to relate to the earth that we’ve burned through

it’s time for restoration

of the earth and our human relations

cuz we ain’t happy here in hierarchy

we’re better as equals i ain’t lyin b

but we’ve been chasin a ghost

ignoring the things that we need the most

like clean air, water, and community

civilization has enjoyed immunity

while all these kings and queens

get off scott free as we eat the memes

that you better not resist this just go along

they got armies and guns they’re too strong

but fuck that i’m learning

can’t sit back, won’t be a good german

and watch this holocaust any longer

choose life and we’ll all be stronger

cuz right now we’re slaves diggin our own graves

the earth we need’s the earth we pave

so we gotta wake up, wake up, wake up

then we gotta take up, take up, take up

the war of our ancestors and end it

so we can save our descendants

Con Slobodchikoff on prarie dogs & animal language

In a thematic follow-up to the interview with Culum Brown, Derrick Jensen’s August 17 Resistance Radio episode features Con Slobodchikoff. Slobodchikoff studies Gunnison’s Prairie Dogs as a model for understanding animal language, and shares some delightful and amazing observations on the complexity of their relationships and communication. For example, the prairie dogs can tell each other the equivalent of “Here is a tall thin human walking slowly wearing a blue shirt coming towards us.”

Jensen and Slobodchikoff discuss the reasons for mass die-offs, habitat destruction, and ongoing intentional eradication of prairie dogs, a topic especially heartbreaking (but important) in light of their intelligence and highly developed social structure. They also examine their role improving pastures and prairies as a keystone species in their landbases, a great bonus to their being just plain cute.

The conversation touches on many other subjects, including language in other species, what actually constitutes language, the assumptions and inherent values of science (Slobodchikoff was pressured to deafen young prairie dogs to see how it affected their language development; he refused), and the many ways science and other institutions of civilization reinforce the arrogant myths of human supremacism.

Listen to this important and enjoyable interview below, play the interview at the Deep Green Resistance Youtube Channel, or visit the website for Con Slobodchikoff’s book Chasing Dr. Doolittle: Learning the Language of Animals.

Download mp3

Browse all of Derrick Jensen’s Resistance Radio episodes.