In this episode of Resistance RadioDerrick Jensen interviews Michelle Connolly, who is an activist living in Prince George, BC, the traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh Nation. She has spent much of her life exploring and experiencing natural forests, and has an educational background in forest ecology, although she is not a researcher and does not do science for a living. Michelle is part of Conservation North.
Conservation North is a 100% volunteer-run community group based in Prince George, British Columbia (BC), traditional territory of the Lheidli T’enneh. We support and advocate for the protection of wild plants, animals and their habitats in northern BC.
Their mission is to advocate for the maintenance and protection of critical natural habitats capable of, and necessary for, maintaining long term regional biological diversity. To recognize and promote the fundamental importance of natural landscapes as living sources of adaptation to climatic and other environmental change.
Their goals include full legal protection for all remaining endangered old growth forest in the Inland and Boreal Rainforests, particularly the productive, accessible forests that are currently being targeted by industrial logging.
Resistance Radio covers ecology and feminist themes. Episodes can be found on YouTube or browse all of the interviews in our Resistance Radio archive.
See below for more videos of logging in the region:
Caste-based discrimination and violence has been prevalent in Nepalese society for a long time. Although both have been made illegal, Salonika explains why incidents occur, highlighting the harmful system that maintains the violence.
May 23, 2020 marks the nine-year anniversary of the day when the parliament passed a law against caste-based discrimination in Nepal. The day was marked by two incidents that highlight how far caste-based hierarchy is from elimination from the Nepalese society.
A young Dalit man, planning to elope with his “higher”-caste girlfriend arrived at the woman’s village with a group of seventeen friends. Some days later, the bodies of five men from the group were found floating in the Bheri river. One of them is still missing. On the day of the planned elopement, the group was met by a mob of “upper”-caste members who brutally thrashed them to death.
The body of a Dalit girl (aged 13) was found hanging from a tree near her in-law’s house. The girl had been married to her 25-year old rapist (from a “higher” caste) earlier the same day, at the behest of the local authorities. The girl was beaten by her in-laws before her death.
These incidents are not isolated. Violence against marginalized groups like Dalits have been persistent in the Nepalese society. Privileged groups have turned a blind eye to this for a long time. They refuse to see relationship to caste in such incidents, interpreting as solely criminal cases. Unfortunately, when the cases get legal attention, that is how they are labeled instead of a form of systemic oppression. I would argue that the caste of the victims, at least in these two cases, are a salient feature.
Caste system
Caste system has a strong historical root in the Indian subcontinent. It first originated as an open form of social organization. A person’s caste was determined by the work they did, i.e. their function in the society. However, over time, the system became a closed one. The caste of a person (as well as the work they did in the society) became based on the family they were born into. With changing times, a person’s work is no longer determined by their caste, but their caste is still determined by their birth. The rigid hierarchy still prevails.
Like every form of oppression, the caste system has dehumanized the oppressed group. The Dalit group, which occupies the lowest rung of that hierarchy, historically, have been barred from basic civil rights. They were not allowed to touch the water source of the so-called “higher”-castes. They were not allowed to enter temples. The dehumanization then becomes a justification for the group’s oppression, which has been perpetuated by the entire culture.
This caste based hierarchy has also translated to an economic and political hierarchy. Previously, the Dalits were not supposed to own money, relying on Brahmins and Chetris, whom they provided services to, for basic necessities. This has stripped them of considerable economic power. The same is true for political power. Even today, they are overrepresented among those living in poverty, and underrepresented in positions of authorities.
Crimes like honor killings, rapes, and domestic violence against newly married brides occur across all castes in Nepal. Caste is often a salient feature in particular crimes.
Caste-exogamy in marriage
Nepalese society still values caste-endogamy in marriage, that is, marriage among people of the same caste. In both cases described above, the marriages were exogamous. In the case of the young couple, a “higher”-caste woman was planning on eloping with a “lower”-caste man. Had the elopement been successful, it would have brought disgrace not only to the woman’s family, but to her entire community. It was perhaps to ‘protect the community’ from that disgrace that five young men were beaten to death.
Similarly, when the adolescent girl reached the home of her abuser, she was physically abused by the man’s family. The crimes of the man were not visible to his family members, neither was the suffering of a child who was forced to marry the man who exploited and raped her. Instead, they beat the girl because a low-caste girl was about to become their daughter-in-law.
Whether it is the marriage of a ‘higher’-caste woman with a ‘lower’-caste man, or of a ‘higher’-caste man with a ‘lower’-caste girl, it is the ‘lower’-caste individual who has been the victim of the violence at the hands of the family of the other.
Involvement of authorities
After the rape of an adolescent girl, instead of reporting a First Investigation Report (FIR), the society’s idea of a punishment was to ensure the rapist marry the girl. The local representative held the same view. In fact, no official complaint was registered, neither in the local representative’s office, nor with the police authority. Due to this, the representative is now denying any role in approving the marriage of the perpetrator to his victim.
The local representative had a more direct role in the case of the five dead men. The representative is among the twenty people named by the victim’s family as part of the mob that beat and killed their son. Although all twenty of them are currently under police custody, the actions of police administration in cases of ‘lower’-caste victims is inadequate.
After being brutally abused by her rapist’s family, the girl’s body was found hanging with clear marks of physical violence. The police authority failed to register the crime, stating that the girl had killed herself. Usually, even clear suicide cases are registered by the police in Nepal for investigation. It was only after four days that the case was finally registered, after pressures from activists. Even after the man has been registered as the prime accused, the police have not yet arrested him.
“Often the police refuse to even register cases – such as rape – when the victim is a Dalit.” -Meenakshi Ganguly, Human Rights Watch
This is not an isolated event either. Oftentimes, police try to settle matters without registering a case if the victim is from the Dalit community. Even when they do, the chargesheet for the case is so weak that the perpetrator gets away with a minimal sentence from the court.
The indifference of law enforcement agencies and the involvement of elected officials in crimes against people of the oppressed groups further fuel the impunity among the privileged groups. This is a common phenomenon in every oppressive system. Every time a white cop kills an unarmed person of color, White people justify the abuse against people of color. Every time a sexual predator walks free due to a lack of ‘evidence,’ men gain confidence in physically violating woman, ignoring their boundaries. It is this impunity that makes sure that the oppressed group cannot rise from the dehumanization.
Casteism is ‘Dead’ in Nepal?
All forms of caste-based discrimination have been legally abolished for years. According to the law, it is illegal for a person to discriminate against anyone based on caste. The latest constitution of Nepal (released five years ago) even makes a provision to include at least one Dalit in every local political entity. These recent developments have many members of the privileged group consider casteism as an issue of the past. But that is the nature of privilege: it is invisible to the one benefitting from it.
But the caste system still has a stronghold in the Nepalese society. In fact, an elected political representative was beaten to death by two of her neighbors. Her crime: she touched the common water source. In a society where an elected representative (who holds more power than an average person of her community) could be beaten to death, what level of violence could be inflicted upon other members of her community?
Within the nine years since the law was passed against caste-based discrimination, a total of seventeen Dalits have died within the country, who probably would have been alive had they been a member of a “higher” caste.
Systemic casteism is rampant. It is evident in the power differential that is still present. A power differential that was borne out of historical oppression of one group of people over another. It is evident in the police administration’s refusal to register cases where the victims are Dalit. This makes it easier for perpetrators to target Dalit victims. It is evident in the basic civil rights that have been denied to Dalits. It shows that despite the laws banning it, the concept of pollution associated with one group of people is still strong, at least among ‘higher’-caste individuals.
The caste system is an oppressive system that benefits a certain group of people at the expense of another. A familiar pattern, in varying contexts, across the globe. Those who benefit have a strong motivation (and also the means) to keep this system alive. Dismantling the caste system, like any other oppressive system, is not easy, neither is humanizing a group of people that have so long been dehumanized.
A just society cannot be born as long as an oppressive system is in place.
Salonika is an organizer at DGR South Asia and is based in Nepal. She believes that the needs of the natural world should trump the needs of the industrial civilization.
Rage and violence are exploding in the streets of the United States. Eleven people have been killed, hundreds injured, and thousands arrested over the last week.
Police are running wild, attacking and injuring non-violent protesters, journalists, and bystanders in their rush to protect private property. A revolt on this scale has not seen since the Holy Week Uprising of 1968 after the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.
What recourse do people have when they are locked out of the mainstream political process, victimized economically, and abused and murdered on the streets?
In this article we offer a clear outline of the equipment needed to sustain direct action of different types and highlight the importance of training, discipline, preparation, and good quality gear.
Equipment for Scouting and Action
The effectiveness of any organized direct action is dependent on leadership, planning, skills, and coordination. Equipment can also play an important role.
Many activists, organizers, and everyday people who show up to conflict zones don’t pay attention to equipment or skills. Most people dress in cotton t-shirts, jeans, impractical shoes, and so on. They are not prepared to take serious action, or to be confronted with serious police and vigilante violence, and instead treat protesting and resistance as a social activity.
In some circumstances, this is ok. Many protests and actions are most effective as family-friendly activities that do not involve direct confrontation. But even activities like this increasingly need protection from violent police and vigilantes. And increasingly, more serious action is required to dismantle the power base of the ruling class.
Serious resisters and revolutionaries cannot afford to be lax.
Police, military, and private security forces tend to be highly prepared compared to resistance movements. They wear specialized boots and equipment belts with radios, handcuffs, pepper spray, flashlights, and handguns. They wear gloves, high-performance clothing, and body armor. Most have face protection or at least sunglasses, and sometimes they may have shields as well. They are coordinated and ready to move and react in any direction.
When an individual member of the resistance, or better yet, a trained and organized team, has skills and the equipment, a whole range of new possibilities opens up. We gain freedom of action.
Don’t underestimate the importance of good quality gear. It can allow you to function effectively in a range of situations. We recommend that individuals purchase and maintain their own equipment for a variety of different scenarios. Here are a number of considerations while considering gear.
General Gear
Any mission will require a general set of basic equipment, such as appropriate footwear, clothing, backpack, food and water for the day, etc. You will also need to ensure effective communication with your fellow activists.
Mission Specific Equipment
Specific missions will require specific gear. For example, you may need materials to build a blockade such as a shovel, saw, drill and screws, etc.. To drop a banner, you may need rope, carabiners and a harness; to breach a barrier—bolt cutters, hacksaw; observe or record from afar, binoculars, camera, etc. To protect an individual or a location you may need self-defense weapons. When facing police violence, you may need helmet, goggles, etc. You need to select your gear based on the situation.
How to Select Gear
Cost: Select gear based on a priority list of critical and mission essential gear first.
Availability: You may want it but it isn’t available, for whatever reason. Determine good substitutions.
Quality: Much of the gear should be excellent quality because your life or liberty may depend on it. Some gear isn’t as crucial. It depends on the specific situation. Set standards for what you need in your gear before buying.
Durability: The gear will be used under the worst conditions so don’t expect cheap dollar store gear to hold up under field conditions.
Multi-purpose: Finding gear that can be used for more than one task increases its value.
Size and Weight Consideration (SAWC): Sometimes good gear is large, bulky, and heavy and impedes mobility. Look for gear that is as compact, light but still functional for the tasks.
Camouflage pattern: Bright shiny items attract the eye and can give you away. Determine the best camouflage pattern for the area of operation. For urban operations choose dull colors instead of camo.
Waterproof: It will rain in the field so gear needs ideally to be water proof.
Shockproof: It will be dropped, kicked, sat on, thrown across the room in frustration or at a threat. It still needs to function after its abuse.
Simplicity: High-tech gear and moving parts will break. Select gear that is simple and robust.
Best achieves the mission: The main purpose of the gear is to assist in successful completion of missions (actions).
Ergonomic: the gear should be both efficient and comfortable. This extends the time frame for use in work. An uncomfortable or inefficient piece of gear will wear down the activist earlier making work harder.
It is important to note that the best gear isn’t always the most expensive, coolest looking, widest advertised or what some other person or group is using. Do buy/access equipment that suits you. So, for instance if you are susceptible to cold or dislike being too warm, figure that in. Do seek the advice of an experienced freedom fighter/activist that has a good level of experience and knowledge in the use and procurement of gear for specific kinds of operations and missions.
The Importance of Training
Once a training plan is developed and the gear is obtained the activist needs to train to standard on the skills and with the gear obtained in order to properly fit, modify, personalize and familiarize with that gear.
When all the gear procurement and initial training is complete a series of exercises, based on all the different operations and likely missions for each, should be conducted. This provides an opportunity for testing to ‘standard’ and evaluating all the common and mission essential tasks to determine if the activists are operationally ready.
Basic Gear List
This is a rough outline of the supplies you can consider carrying for a direct action. This list should be tailored to your specific location, mission, skills, team and environment.
Backpack: comfortable, includes a waist belt for distributing loads, carries weight well, allows you to stay balanced. It should be waterproof, or include a plastic bag to hold things that need to stay dry. Different packs will be needed for different missions. Some missions are best executed with no pack at all. Others will require a day pack with capacity for 20-40L of equipment. Longer missions may require larger packs.
Footwear: sturdy, comfortable shoes suitable for off-trail walking and jogging. Waterproof depending on season. You want sturdy shoes, but the heavier your shoes the faster you will fatigue.
More skill = less gear. This is a case where the stronger your ankles are, the lighter-weight shoes you can wear. However, the rougher the terrain, the more sturdy shoe will be required.
Clothing: must be durable, enable range of movement and be suitable for the climate/weather. Recommend long pants and long sleeves.
Consider everyone at an action wearing the same color of clothing to make it difficult for police to ID individuals.
Consider wearing waterproof layers, insulation layers and whether the clothing sufficient for the evening? What if you get wet? What if it gets windy? What if a storm blows in? Always pack extra socks.
Sunglasses: for eye protection, and to prevent ID via video or pictures. Full headmask/facemask to prevent ID via video or pictures.
A watch.
Bandana: good for multiple uses.
Pocketknife / Multitool / self-defense weapon / Cutting/digging tools: depending on the situation.
Food and water: bring extra, you never know how long an action will last. Will you be ok overnight if you have to miss dinner?
Notebook, pens, map and compass: small button compass for urban.
Binoculars, still and video camera.
Cell phone: leave your personal cell phone at home when scouting, or turn it off and remove battery or place inside a faraday bag before moving to the vicinity of your target location.
Small first aid kit: match to your training.
Flashlight or headlamp: take extra batteries
Cash: don’t use credit/debit cards or mobile payments when scouting or at an action.
Lighter: always good for cold emergencies to be able to start a fire.
Sleeping bag/pad/tent/tarp/bivy for wet weather and a survival kit.
A final word:
Sleep: daily training and specific actions will feel easier with a rested mind and body. Do not underestimate the importance of good quality sleep. Lack of or poor quality sleep impacts on your physical well being. Good quality sleep helps balance your emotional well being, sharpens your reactions and enables your problem solving skills to be at their best.
“Revolution is the sound of your heart still beating. And as long as it is, you have work to do. Do it. Without apology. Do it. Bravely and nobly. Do it. Exist, insist and by all means, resist.”
— Dominique Christina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZrAYxWPN6c
Featured image: The Day Miami Burned, by Mike Shaheen. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.
The United States is built on a foundation of slavery and indigenous land theft. Racism is deep in the bones of this country. Where there is oppression, there is resistance: the ongoing Minneapolis rebellion against the white supremacist state and police murder has spilled out across the U.S. Deep Green Resistance stands in solidarity with principled resistance by any means necessary.
George Floyd’s Murder: An Act Of White Supremacy
By Jocelyn Crawley
One of the first things that came to my mind when I learned of George Floyd’s ruthless murder was a social theory, typically used to analyze the ideology that undergirds patriarchy: the thought of domination.
According to radical feminists such as Monique Wittig, the thought of domination involves the idea that the ruling class produces the ruling ideas.
These ideas come to support the ruling class’s dominance over all of the other members of society. Within this schema, the thought of domination entails assent to the ruling class (men) imposing limiting ideas on the servant class (women). One of these ideas is the notion that there are two categorically different sexes and that these distinctions entail sociological consequences.
One of the sociological consequences is the naturalization of the division of labor in the family, with this belief functioning as a catalyst for the cult of domesticity and male dominance of the public sphere.
As made plain by this brief summary, the thought of domination ensures that those in power (men) keep those who lack it (women) in a position of subservience and slavishness. Within this type of societal schema, women are vulnerable to and subjected to diverse forms of dehumanization, some of which include rape, domestic violence, pornography, and prostitution.
Dominance and dehumanization:
In addition to functioning as an accurate analysis of how patriarchy works, I believe the thought of domination is directly pertinent to the white supremacist act we witnessed when white police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd’s neck for seven minutes while he was lying face down on the road. The video footage of the incident shows Floyd groaning and repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe.” After moaning while lying motionless near the foot of the squad car and being transported into an ambulatory vehicle, Floyd died. The only sense that I can make of this inhumane behavior is that the perpetrators have adopted the dominant society’s values of venerating domination as a desirable way to exist in the world because it enables one to become the abuser rather than the victim of abuse. Within a world predicated on a thought of domination in which whites are the ruling class and can therefore impose their rules on all other racial groups, the abuse they subject black people to frequently goes unquestioned and unpunished.
Lack of consequences:
In recognition of the fact that being a member of a ruling class oftentimes precludes one from experiencing repercussions under the law, the outcomes of George Floyd’s murder should be carefully considered if we are to truly understand how white supremacy works. All four officers involved in the event were terminated. Yet the question that persists in the minds of many protestors is: “Why wasn’t Chauvin arrested?” This was the same question that I came to ask myself after I learned that Gregory McMichael, his son Travis McMichael, and William Bryan pursued Ahmaud Arbery in a truck while he was running through the neighborhood. Many are familiar with the footage displaying Ahmaud Arbery stumbling to the ground after being shot while Travis McMichael stood by with a shotgun.
Many are familiar with the horror and fear this murder generated in the black community as we realized, once again, men of color are subject to being shot by the police and arrogant white men within local communities. Many are familiar with the stories of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. What many of us are not necessarily familiar with is the logic that makes this heinous, inhumane behavior acceptable. This is why I propose that members of radical communities engage the thought of domination as the ideology that undergirds white supremacy.
It is clear that the primary system of thought that fuels and justifies the type of incomprehensible violence, we see as a product of white supremacy, is the thought of domination.
Domination is defined as the exercise of control or influence over someone or something, or the state of being so controlled. In a contemporary world whose zeitgeist is guided by white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchy, domination is and must be an integral component of the cultures in which people are immersed.
Principles of mutuality, reciprocity, and cooperation may periodically flourish or temporarily gain traction in people’s minds and actions. However, making the regimes of white supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy work requires that individuals recognize and respond to the realities created by those regimes. The reality that the regimes require is that an elite few exert extreme power over the masses, and that the masses respond to their own oppression by amassing as much agency and authority to themselves as possible while they grapple with the dehumanization and self-alienation engendered by the systems of oppression as distinct entities and a composite whole.
As one distinct component of the contemporary regime, white supremacy is predicated on the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races, especially blacks.
Based on this false notion of superiority, whites come to believe (whether consciously or unconsciously) that they have a right to dominate society. When I read about horrific stories such as those of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd, I am convinced that the thought of domination is operative. I have no other explanation that would help me understand why a man would place his knee on another living, breathing human until he was no longer living and breathing. I have no other explanation that would help me understand why one individual would continue holding his knee on another living, breathing human as he begs for his life. When I learn that one white man holds his knee on a black man’s neck and continues doing so despite the latter repeatedly saying “I can’t breathe,” I am convinced the former has unequivocally embraced the logic of domination. In a world marked by this perverse logic, the murder of a black man is acceptable because whites are superior and any threat to their own safety-whether real or imagined-is more important than black life.
In recognizing the reality of white supremacy and the logic of domination that suffuses and energizes it, individuals who find injustice intolerable must begin to revisit whether the strategies of resistance that have been conceptualized and implemented at this point are working.
If they aren’t, we need to refocus our energies. At this point, I am seeing a wide range of social media campaigns as a strategy of resistance. I have also seen footage of a street protest. Recently, I became aware that several demonstrators gained access to a police precinct in Minneapolis and set some sections of it on fire. There are also now reports of vandalism, arson, and looting. While I do not doubt the importance and efficacy of the levels and extent of resistance seen thus far, I also see that white supremacy-manifested through police brutality-remains resilient in the face of resistance. For these reasons, I have two suggestions for the resistance movements that are unfolding strategically or organically.
First, the agitation against the state must increase. I noted that a tent has been placed outside the home of the attorney handling George Floyd’s case (Mike Freeman) and several protestors claim that they aren’t going anywhere until Freeman prosecutes and charges the officers involved. I think more space needs to be occupied so that state representatives become aware that protestors are not retreating into their private worlds while the public realm remains a sphere dominated by white supremacist ideologies and praxis.
Second, individuals across the country and world who oppose this state violence should join forces and make the resistance movement a more tight-knit process. I am aware that NYC-based Black lives Matter activists are heading to Minneapolis to protest the murder. This is the type of solidarity that we need to see in order to ensure that the authority and agency that results from mass resistance engenders a profound shift in cultural consciousness and state activity.
As always, we who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.
Jocelyn Crawley is a radical feminist who resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Her intense antagonism towards all forms of social injustice-including white supremacy-grows with each passing day. Her primary goal for 2020 is to connect with other radicals for the purpose of building community and organizing against oppression.
In this excerpt from Ain’t I Woman: Black Women and Feminism, author bell hooks describes the insidious nature of racism and sexism and the links between patriarchy and white supremacy. Understanding this type of analysis is critical to understanding how oppression functions within civilization as a tool of social control. While hooks uses the term “American,” the same analysis applies across much of the world.
American women of all races are socialized to think of racism solely in the context of race hatred.
Specifically in the case of black and white people, the term racism is usually seen as synonymous with discrimination or prejudice against black people by white people.
For most women the first knowledge of racism as institutionalized oppression is engendered either by direct personal experience or through information gleaned from conversations, books, television, or movies. Consequently, the American woman’s understanding of racism as a political tool of colonialism and imperialism is severely limited.
To experience the pain of race hatred or to witness that pain is not to understand its origin, evolution, or impact on world history. The inability of American women to understand racism in the context of American politics is not due to any inherent deficiency in the woman’s psyche. It merely reflects the extent of our victimization.
No history books used in public schools informed us about racial imperialism.
Instead we were given romantic notions of the “new world“ the “American dream.” America as a great melting pot where all races come together as one. We were taught that Columbus discovered America; that “Indians“ was Scalphunters, killers of innocent women and children; that black people were enslaved because of the biblical curse of Ham, that God “himself” had decreed they would be hewers of wood, tillers of the field, and bringers of water.
No one talked of Africa as the cradle of civilization, of the African and Asian people who came to America before Columbus. No one mentioned mass murder of native Americans as genocide, or the rape of native American and African women as terrorism. No one discussed slavery as a foundation for the growth of capitalism. No one describe the forced breeding of white wives to increase the white population as sexist oppression.
I am a black woman. I attended all black public schools. I grew up in the south were all around me was the fact of racial discrimination, hatred, and for segregation. Yet my education to the politics of race in American society was not that different from that of white female students I met in integrated high schools, in college, or in various women’s groups.
The majority of us understood racism as a social evil perpetrated by prejudiced white people that could be overcome through bonding between blacks and liberal whites, through military protest, changing of laws or racial integration. Higher educational institutions did nothing to increase our limited understanding of racism as a political ideology. Instead professors systematically denied us truth, teaching us to accept racial polarity in the form of white supremacy and sexual polarity in the form of male dominance.
American women have been socialized, even brainwashed, to accept a version of American history that was created to uphold and maintain racial imperialism in the form of white supremacy and sexual imperialism in the form of patriarchy. One measure of the success of such indoctrinate indoctrination is that we perpetrate both consciously and unconsciously the very evils that oppress us.
Gloria Jean Watkins, better known by her pen name bell hooks, is an American author, professor, feminist, and social activist.
Featured image: Armenian Graffiti in the city of Yerevan. It is a translated quote of the author bell hooks which reads “To be oppressed means to be deprived of your ability to choose.” By RaffiKojian, CC BY SA 4.0.
