Category: Culture of Resistance

Visit the global archives for posts from all DGR sites.

Cathy Brennan interviewed on radical feminism and “transphobia”

Cathy Brennan is a long-time radical feminist lesbian activist working for equal rights for gay people, trans people, and women. Mark Angelo Cummings (FTM transman) and Jessica Lynn Cummings (MTF transwoman) interviewed Brennan for the July 24 episode of Transition Radio TV. Despite her work in the real world to protect trans rights and end male violence against women, children, and gender noncomforming people, Brennan has become a popular target of what the hosts term “keyboard warriors” who attack and tear down potential allies. These “transactivists” have threatened to rape and to kill Brennan and many other radical feminists expressing their analysis of gender. Brennan and the Cummings explore this radical feminist analysis that one can not simply “identify” out of this oppressive caste system, and the irony of heterosexual men who identify as women bullying and threatening actual women with whom they disagree.

Brennan speaks with clarity on the history of gay, lesbian, and queer culture; ongoing homophobia and male violence; why the interests of lesbians don’t always align with the goals of others in the GLBTQ movement, which she says has become a men’s-rights movement; and why women need women-only space to meet and organize.

The interview is an excellent antidote to the smears across the internet about Cathy Brennan and her supposed “hate speech” or “transphobia.” Brennan’s long-time experience with queer culture and human rights activism, and her resultant wisdom, is a breath of fresh air if you’ve ever wallowed through the trans hostility online.

By giving Brennan a platform to discuss these important issues, and by calling out abusive individuals and behavior within the trans community, the Cummings model what we all need to do in in our various environmental and social justice circles. We can’t build a healthy movement while being undermined by aggressive or mentally ill individuals sabotaging relationships by fostering horizontal hostility. We need to identify and expel such people from our communities, with zero tolerance for abusive behavior. Besides damaging our internal dynamics, such individuals make our movement look childish and non-serious to outside observers, potentially discrediting the goals towards which we work.

Watch the video interview below, and check out the recently featured Meghan Murphy interview for more on how horizontal hostility and labels like “transphobic” are used to silence women.

Culum Brown on fish intelligence

For the August 10th episode of Resistance Radio, Derrick Jensen interviewed Culum Brown, an Australian scientist. Brown has specialized in the behavioral ecology of fishes, with a focus on their ability to learn and remember things like environmental hazards, specific places of danger, and the social behavior and trustworthiness of other individual fishes (within the same species and across different species.)

With a combination of fascinating anecdotes and scientifically researched conclusions, Brown counters the popular notions that fish are stupid, can’t learn or remember, and can’t feel pain. (In fact, he says pain receptors in humans evolved and are nearly indistinguishable from those of fish; the only reason we can feel pain is because they can.) Jensen and Brown also explore the question of whether fish feel emotions, and if so, which ones. The interview debunks some assumed foundations of human supremicism and ethically demands that we change how industrial civilization treats fish.

Listen to this enjoyable and unique interview below, or play the interview at the Deep Green Resistance Youtube Channel.

Download mp3

Browse all of Derrick Jensen’s Resistance Radio episodes.

An Open Letter to the UK Environmental Movement

Earlier this year, Deep Green Resistance UK published an open letter to the UK environmental movement, asking folks passionate about stopping ecocide to evaluate the environmental movement to date, and to think and act strategically. The letter describes DGR’s strategy and approach, acknowledges that not everyone will agree with all aspects of DGR’s analysis, and asks each reader to make up his or her own mind as to which resistance options to support and pursue.

Our culture currently rewards behaviour that benefits the individual at the expense of the group. Acquisitive and insane behaviour such as denuding the landbase of living systems makes powerful individuals rich, and this is the behaviour we see from those in power. This will continue while there is still money to be made, in other words the destruction will continue until there are no more living systems left to exploit. A number of respected scientists are coming to similar conclusions.

Solutions which make no attempt to destroy this culture, or which postpone action until the distant future, are worryingly misguided. The current system is one of arrogance, sadism, stupidity and denial. It will not change of its own accord. The British government’s stance on fracking, despite massive public opposition, is a testament to this and an example of this culture’s insatiable appetite.

[…]

What we propose is that people in the UK environmental movement begin to consider whether their activism- be it community, political or radical- is effective and commensurate with the scale of the problems we face. Community gardens and anti-fracking protests are all part of this resistance movement, but unless they are linked to a larger political struggle, those efforts will fail. Regardless of what our differences might be, we need to start working in tandem.

Read the entire Open Letter to the UK Environmental Movement from Deep Green Resistance UK

Earth: Land is Life video

An important view into indigenous ways of thinking and living, Earth: Land is Life centers on the 7th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in 2008, with interviews of delegates from around the world. The many representatives of many cultures speak eloquently on the importance of returning to a balanced way of life, protecting the earth, and resisting destruction and disruption by the dominant culture.

Unlike many hope-based documentaries, the film conveys the widely held sense of doubt that any material change will come about from the effort and time nearly 3000 indigenous representatives put into traveling and speaking. Though corporations, governments, and their associated institutions routinely put on shows of participatory democracy, the only language they really hear is that of force.

Watch this video, and contemplate how you can get involved in effectively stopping civilization’s relentless assault on the lands and lives of indigenous peoples.

Dahr Jamail interview for Resistance Radio

For the July 20 episode of Resistance Radio, Derrick Jensen interviewed Dahr Jamail, an award winning reporter for truthout.org. He began his career driven by the obvious lies surrounding the invasion of Iraq, not understanding the apathy of Americans all around him, but compelled to spend his small savings on a laptop, camera and a plane ticket to the middle east. Since then, he has continued to write about US imperialism, including oppposition to it by veterans; and about environmental issues from the BP oil spill to fracking to his current focus on anthropogenic climate disruption (climate change.)

Jamail and Jensen discuss important facts on how quickly climate disruption is advancing, its current and predicted impacts, and how official assessments consistently underestimate the harm in general caused by industrial civilization. They address the interplay of multiple aspects of ecocide and the insane lack of appropriate response by most civilized humans. The interview is an excellent fact-based reality check on our dire situation, and also inspiring as an example of one person finding his way to an appropriate response. As Jensen says, “The big distinction is not between those who believe we need militant resistance and those who believe that militant resistance isn’t necessary. I’ve always thought that the big distinction is between those who do something and those who do nothing.”

Learn more and get inspired by listening to this interview below, playing the interview at the Deep Green Resistance Youtube Channel, or reading Dahr Jamail’s writings.

Download mp3

Browse all of Derrick Jensen’s Resistance Radio episodes.

the filthy politicians: 200 Species Every Day

The song “200 Species Every Day” by the filthy politicians is a fictional scene straight out of the Decisive Ecological Warfare strategy advocated by Deep Green Resistance: a pair of activists carrying out well-planned and strategic attacks on infrastructure, in this case combining arson of a power station with raids on corporate offices to trash their crucial data.

As the filthy politicians ask in the preamble, “Why the fuck hasn’t this happened yet?”

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.

yeah she said look at it now it’s like

everything is always spinnin around

and what’s hard to believe with your feet on the ground

is that we’re flyin through space not makin a sound

yeah, let me tell you about a ride and a journey

a small town girl on a midnight train

goin anywhere with a city boy destroyin

everything so they can breath again

cuz life don’t fit in a cubicle

lookin out the window damn that’s beautiful

fuck that we ain’t goin back said sally

take my hand we’ll take the back alley

we’ll take it all back from the peak to the valley

i wanna burn it all down, shall we

but i don’t wanna knock off gas stations

no we’re goin for the corporations

there’a power station we could blow

nobody’s out there, no one’s gonna know

until we’re in the next town down the road

where i know a safe place that we can lay low

she said just two people could cut the power

to the whole city for 38 hours

then dress up like police officers

then we got access to every office

her smile was so bright and life was such a mess

that he couldn’t think of anything else

and the word that he heard himself say was yes

yeah, she knew him long enough to trust him

but didn’t wanna risk it if they got busted

so she kept the network to herself

cuz what he didn’t know, yo he couldn’t tell

so they planned it out, got it all together

to the decimal everything down to the weather

no cell phones, no booze, shaved heads

no DNA, no trace for the feds

wasn’t hard to cop a cop uniform

the gangs were on that one long before

they got timed charges for the transformers

with a little dynamite for the corners

all sourced out yo paid in cash

it’s not that hard to build a stash

in a land where everyone has a gun

america manufactured his own crash

so they stole a car from a rich family

that was on vacation

on a beach at a resort in some starving

so called third world nation

then they drove out to the hills

satellites the cloudy night killed

they rehearsed enough, didn’t have to think

they cut the fence, just plain chain link

it only took them half an hour

then they were on their way

back to the city where she put on a wig

and they slipped on the costumes of the pig

they strolled out of that parking garage

left one last charge in the trunk of the dodge

they watched the fire as it rose up in the hills

then came the darkness and they both got chills

she waited for the look in his eyes when

he saw another fire on the other horizon

he knew she hadn’t told him for the right reasons

about the others, but he couldn’t believe it

so he asked her how many?

she said just enough to stand a chance, if any

but lets get in there, get what we came for

hard drives smashed all over the floor

then back out, on to the next one

darkness had never been this fun

they came to call it the great resetting

in an effort to address the great forgetting

life was under attack for so long

they had to fight back before it was gone

status quo had to go

everybody knew it deep down in their bones

so you better get ready for shit to go down

they’re on their way they’re in the next town

ya you better get ready for shit to go down

they’re on their way, they’re in the next town

Stephanie McMillan poster: Affirmations for Revolutionary Proletarian Militants

Support Stephanie McMillan’s work, and stay motivated to fight to change the world, with her new poster with 20 inspirational messages!

$19 — FREE shipping in US (international shipping is an ADDITIONAL amount; please add it from Stephanie McMillan’s shop)





Captions:

1. Contentment is for people in denial. I do not accept social injustice, exploitation, or ecocide.
2. My purpose is not for petty gains, but for radical social transformation.
3. I’m committed to the struggle for the long haul. It isn’t a game or hobby; it’s my life.
4. When I face a choice, I decide what to do based on the interests of the revolution.
5. I take every opportunity to help people understand the nature of the system and to join the struggle.
6. I don’t engage in self-destructive habits. I remain strong and alert for the struggle.
7. I am willing to listen to constructive criticism, so I can rectify my errors.
8. I avoid distractions and focus on my fundamental goal.
9. The problem is not me; it is the global capitalist/imperialist system.
10. I don’t blame individuals for social problems. Yet it is our responsibility for ending the system that causes them.
11. Everyone has a skill, talent, experience or insight that can contribute to the struggle.
12. I surround myself with sincere people who share common goals of ending exploitation and domination.
13. We will never be satisfied with reforms to the existing system. Our goal is nothing less than a classless and sustainable society.
14. Even when I’m alone, I stand up for what I understand to be true.
15. I do not avoid struggle; it is how people and history advance.
16. I don’t argue for argument’s sake. Instead I engage in political struggle so as to better understand reality.
17. Our nature is cooperative. If we work collectively, we can overcome the system that is crushing us.
18. I don’t jump to premature conclusions. Before making a judgment I investigate a matter fully.
19. I realize my loved ones are ideologically dominated, and have compassion for them as I struggle with them.
20. As I face each day, I determine my priorities, based on my long-term goal of proletarian revolution.

Videos recommended by Deep Green Resistance

We’ve compiled lists of videos we recommend to those learning about radical history and resistance, from presentations by DGR members to fictional films. We have two sets of lists. Enjoy!

Deep Green Resistance Youtube Channel features resistance videos with Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, Aric McBay, and other DGR members. You’ll also find non-DGR films and music videos with anti-civ analysis and themes of resistance.

  • Trailers for upcoming DGR films
  • DGR Workshop Presentations
  • DGR Presentations at PIELC (Public Interest Environmental Law Conference in Eugene, OR)
  • DGR Authors (Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Aric McBay) giving various presentations
  • Other DGR members on various speaking tours
  • Radical Feminism
  • Resistance & Anti-civilization Films
    • Resistance – Contemporary
    • Fictional Resistance & Anti-Civ
    • Resistance – Historical
    • Indigeneity
    • Civilization: The Problem
  • Resistance Radio: audio interviews by Derrick Jensen
  • Music videos

We also have a set of Deep Green Resistance IMDB lists. These don’t include any actual video clips, but do provide more information on the films, including reviews by other people.

  • The Problem of Civilization – Big Picture
  • The Problem of Civilization – Specific Issues
  • Resistance – Contemporary
  • Resistance – Historical
  • Resistance – World War II
  • Resistance – Fictional
  • Indigeneity
  • Feminism
  • Historical & Political Documentaries
  • Restoration & Nature Documentaries
  • Animal Rights
  • Fictional anti-civilization films

Zack de la Rouda: environmental/conscious hip-hop

Zack de la Rouda, a “Poet, singer, songwriter, rhapsodist, activist, rewilder, homesteader-in-training”, has released several albums plus miscellaneous tracks, full of rewilding and anti-civ sentiments with hip-hop beats. Explore his music, most downloadable for free, at Zack de la Rouda at Bandcamp.

To get you started, here’s “(Live Like) We’re Dying”, with a chorus advising:

we gotta start looking at the hands on the time we been given

if this is all we got then we gotta start thinking that

every second counts on a clock that’s ticking

we need to live like we’re dying

we only got 86,400 seconds in the day

to turn it all around or to throw it all away

gotta tell ’em that we love ’em while we got the chance to say

we need to live like we’re dying

Stephanie McMillan: Art Is a Weapon in the Battle of Ideas

Grassroots organizer Stephanie McMillan does important anti-capitalism work with One Struggle, and uses political cartoons as one vehicle towards social and environmental justice. You can watch a video of her from a recent event, in which she presents a very general overview and polemic about political art, the relationship of culture and politics, and the need for explicitly revolutionary art as a vital component of a revolutionary movement.

How does culture advance political aims? How do we use our art to challenge capitalism/imperialism? Why does the bourgeoisie love abstract expressionism?

These were some of the questions I addressed a couple weeks ago at a One Struggle event in Fort Lauderdale, in a slideshow presentation called “Art is a Weapon in the Battle of Ideas.”

Also see Stephanie McMillan’s upcoming events, including a presentation in Florida, conference calls, and this year’s Earth At Risk in San Francisco.