I don’t make a habit of getting arrested. In fact, as I sat at “civil disobedience training” the night before my imminent arrest, I watched as only three of the 60 people in the room raised their hands when asked if they had ever been arrested before. These people came from all across the country, an eclectic mix including actors, doctors, professors, a geologist, a poet, a mathematician, and a few college students; most were middle-aged (ouch!) like me. We took to heart the call for “elders” to stand together and take our place alongside young people who have been carrying the mantle on environmental protests for all of us on their own, for too long.
My experience was made all the more memorable by having fellow Climate Reality Project presenters at my side and cheering me on, both in D.C. and around the country. The reasons why this pipeline has become the “line in the sand” for the climate movement have been well documented and publicized these past few weeks. As James Hansen has said, if this pipeline is built “it will be essentially game over for climate.” Each of us who have and will attend the protest, either in support of the people about to get arrested, or as one of the potential arrestees, also have our own reasons for drawing our “personal line.”
The Tar Sands protests began the same week that the Martin Luther King memorial was informally opened to the public. To paraphrase Peter Joseph, who after his arrest visited the MLK memorial: “The ability in our country to put yourself on the front line, to be able to protest and stand up for your beliefs, even if it means getting arrested, is both humbling and powerful.”
Ina Warren
September 3rd
Harriet: Ditto, ditto. I share so many things with you – the clean, law-abiding lifestyle, the need to believe our elected officials are acting and voting with our best interests in mind and the longing to do something to make a difference.
Your courage as a woman, along with all those gone before us, gave me the strength of mind to follow in your steps. So a few days after your arrest, on 8/29 I too stood in the postcard zone at the White House and refused to leave. An hour later, 13 other grannies and mamas, including a woman from Alberta, were in the back of a police van headed to Anacostia station. We shared our hopes and fears of the future. It was something we all felt very deeply about. The fear of the impact of all that wicked dirty nasty filthy tar being mined from under the Canadian boreal forest and released into our atmosphere was palpable. We began to sing so we didn’t weep.
As we were passing the Washington Monument (on the right side of the road) headed to jail, and realizing the new Martin Luther King Memorial was on the left side of the road, (although we could see only a tiny view thru the paddy wagon window), many of the older women began to sing “We Shall Overcome”. After a few rounds of that, our words turned to “We are going to jail… We are going to jail… We are going to jail toooooodaaaay… ” And we broke out in a deep, cleansing, holy, sacred laughter that led to more tears.
I wouldn’t trade that moment for all the oil in the wide world.
“Speak your truth even if your voice trembles.”
John Browne
September 7th
Ina, your words- & Harriet’s- fill my heart with hope, & a yearning for “Better Days” to come… when the good sense that we all want to see displayed by our policy makers is finally visible, and cheered on by those of us who can “see” a better future for us, & for ALL this planet’s inhabitants.
Thank you both! Our entire nation is put “on notice” when courageous, principled people like you are willing to take a stand… even when it leads to arrest (which I see as a badge of honor)! Your strength and purposeful behavior buoys my spirit. We must all persevere in this challenging political climate, and be clear about where we stand… & Why. ^..^