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Ashanti, 49, former member of the Black Panther Party, and a Black Liberation Army political prisoner for over 12 years, is a New York-city based activist, organizer, writer and storyteller. He is the North-east regional coordinator of Critical Resistance, an abolition movement in opposition to the prison industrial complex. He is a member of Estacion Libre, a people-of-colour US-based organization that organizes solidarity visits to Zapatista-controlled Chiapas for other people-of-colour. He is also a member of Blacks Against the War. Ashanti has been an anarchist for over a decade, and self-publishes an occasional zine called "Anarchist Panther". According to the files, Michael Becker was born in Alton, Illinois in 1964. He spent the best part of his time growing up in the woods on the bluffs of the Mississippi river and on his maternal grandfather's farm in Missouri. He graduated from Aurora College with a B.A. in Political Science. He completed his M.A. and Ph. D. in Political Science at Purdue University. His dissertation addressed critical interpretations of technology and freedom in the later works of Michel Foucault and Martin Heidegger. He has been a full time lecturer in Political Science at California State University, Fresno since 1992. In addition to articles related to his dissertation research, he has written on Nietzsche's last man as it relates to the nihilism of self-narcotizing/necrotizing television culture. His current research concerns philosophical and tactical parallels between the Zapatistas and the Earth Liberation Front, drawing on Deleuze's conception of the rhizome. Becker is active in ecstatic, liberatory direct action from Critical Mass to Earth First! to guerilla gardening. He, Liza, Ayanna and Jack the dog live with several other families on three shared acres near the geographic center of one of America's most polluted and otherwise gnarly cities, Fresno, California. Best earned his B.A. in philosophy at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana; his M.A. at the University of Chicago; and his Ph.D. at the University of Texas, Austin. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso, where he teaches courses such as modern humanities, critical thinking, ethics, social philosophy, nineteenth and twentieth century philosophy, animal rights, environmental theory, postmodern theory, and philosophy of science and technology. Best has written and edited 7 books and published over 100 articles and reviews. Two of his books, The Postmodern Turn and The Postmodern Adventure (co-authored with Douglas Kellner), won numerous awards for best Philosophy/Social Theory books of the year. With Anthony J. Nocella, II, Best is co-editor of Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books, 2004). Best and Nocella co-founded the Center on Animal Liberation Affairs (http://www.cala-online.org/), and Best is Chief Editor of the (peer-reviewed) Animal Liberation Philosophy and Policy Journal (http://www.cala-online.org/Journal/Journal.html). Best also is President of Stop Animal Neglect and Exploitation (SANE), Vice President of the Vegetarian Society of El Paso, and runs his own radio show, Animal Concerns Of Texas (ACT). He regularly give talks to groups throughout the country and abroad on various topics such as state repression, direct action, and animal rights. Many of Best’s writings are posted on his website at: http://www.drstevebest.org/. Marilyn Buck is a long-time anti-imperialist political prisoner. She has been imprisoned since 1985 for her support and solidarity with the struggle for the right to self-determination of Black people in the U.S. In Texas, where Marilyn was raised, her family took part in civil rights work. As a young woman, she connected her own oppression as a woman through the Black Power movement of the mid-1960s. Politicized greatly by the struggle of the Vietnamese people to rid themselves of U.S. imperialism, Marilyn officially became a political activist when she joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Later, she worked for San Francisco Newsreel to educate politically through the visual media. Marilyn was imprisoned in 1985 based on her support for the New African Independence struggle. She was convicted of being part of a conspiracy to free U.S. political prisoners, and also for raising funds through bank robbery. Marilyn Buck and her comrades were convicted of participating in the liberation of Assata Shakur from prison in New Jersey. Assata remains free in Cuba under political asylum. Marilyn was also convicted of conspiracy of actions opposing U.S. international and domestic policies of war and aggression, including the attack on the U.S. Capitol building in the early 1980's. The life and death of environmentalist Judi Bari opened her eyes to the colonization of Nature by the U.S. government, including environmental racism, as the capitalist ruling class destroys and degrades the earth particularly in communities of the poor and people of color. Marilyn is an oft published poet and writer since entering prison, seeing it as an avenue to participate in the struggles to change the conditions in the Empire, to educate and inspire. She has a small chapbook, Rescue the Word, as well as a CD, Wild Poppies. Drew Dellinger is a spoken word poet, teacher, and activist. He is founder of Poets for Global Justice, a collective of artists using poetry and spoken word to build and support movements for justice, tell truths, empower youth and inspire radical imagination. Poetry can help ignite revolutions by stirring collective action and invoking a world of possibilities beyond the current regime of war, racism, sexism, poverty, greed and ecological destruction. Poets for Global Justice has rocked mics and inspired minds at events across the country, from mass demonstrations, street protests, and direct actions, to conferences, churches, and classrooms. Dellinger is also author of the collection of poems, love letter to the milky way, with forewords by Thomas Berry and Matthew Fox. He has presented and performed throughout the United States, speaking on justice, ecology, activism, art, anti-racism and democracy. Dellinger’s poetry has been widely published and his work is featured in the film, “Voices of Dissent,” and the books, Children of the Movement and Global Uprising. In 1997 he received Common Boundary magazine’s national Green Dove Award. He has studied cosmology and ecological thought with Thomas Berry since 1990. Dellinger has been called ‘an important voice of the global justice movement’ by YES! magazine and “a national treasure” by Joanna Macy. In September of 2005 Dellinger was arrested at the White House with a delegation of religious leaders, veterans and others demanding an end to the imperialist war in Iraq. Eastwood is a visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Syracuse University. Her area of expertise is in Sociology of the Environment, with an emphasis on environmental justice, international environmental policy, and NGO and Indigenous Peoples Organization movements. Dr. Eastwood’s past research and publishing involves Eastern European environmental movements before and after the 1991 political transitions. More recently, she has conducted participant observational research on international forest policy making through the United Nations, with a focus on NGO and IPO participation in the various international forest policy making processes. She is currently engaged in continuing this research, as well as beginning projects on (1) the debates surrounding Genetically Modified Organisms; (2) shifting politics of resource extraction in Montana which allow for alliances between indigenous peoples, ranchers, and environmentalists; and (3) Latin and North American revolutionary movements which critique neo-liberal economic and political policies in the current phase of globalization based on platforms of indigenous autonomy and environmental/land tenure concerns. Eastwood brings an activist perspective to her research. Theoretically, her research is informed by a post-structuralist analysis of discourse and power combined with a historical materialist analysis of the manner in which everyday activities are circumscribed and organized by larger social relations, such as the imperatives of trade liberalization and the global military industrial complex. Is a long time environmental, labour, animal rights and media activist having been involved in direct action groups in europe and the UK since 1980. He established a number of projects such as Hunt Saboteurs international, Blagh Magazine (Northern Ireland) and stood for the Greens in Northern Ireland before immersing himself in the establishment of Earth First! (Mid-Somerset EF!) in the UK. (1991) He founded the radical magazine Do or Die, co-founded the Earth Liberation Prisoners support network (ELP) was a regular contributor for the Green Anarchist, Green Revolution, the EF! Journal, Alarm, as well as participating as an EF!/IWW activist during this period. An open supporter and advocate of the ELF, he was arrested in 1994 for selling the magazine Terra-ist. In his spare time he authored two books of poems, Ecowars (1992) and Burn the Cages (1996) (both fundraisers for Mclibel Two and Gandalf 6 respectively). In 1994, due to illness (M.E.), Davey began his studies at Ruskin College Oxford, and then continued to read “Revolutionary Ecology” (Independent Studies) at Lancaster University in 1995. He got his MA in Peace Studies in 1998, and is presently doing post-graduate study, focusing on the anti-depleted uranium weapons movement (for which he is a founder and coordinator of the Pandora DU Research Project). He now teaches radical media in Independent Studies at Lancaster University, and is still involved with the IWW. Greenbrier is currently involved in a land-based community in North Carolina focused on the experiential practice, learning and sharing of "earthskills." Wild foods, hide tanning, nature crafts, natural and primitive building, and "radical homesteading" form the physical basis for living close to nature. "Truthspeaking," "radical honesty," and emotional healing and growth provide deeper sustenance for coping with the psychic and spiritual disconnection resulting from the process of domestication. Greenbrier is co-presenter of a slideshow presentation called "Feral Visions against Civilization," which has been taken on two separate tours around the US. She has co-presented and facilitated workshops and discussions on Green Anarchy, Civilization, and rewilding. Greenbrier's involvement in radical culture started with the "Riot Grrrl" radical feminist movement, and Food Not Bombs (an anarchist free food sharing movement) in the early 1990s. From there, an intellectual interest in Native American and ecological politics propelled her to get involved in the Earth First! movement in the Pacific Northwest, where she participated in civil disobedience/direct action organizing in defense of native forests, Indian Sovereignty struggles, and related issues. In the late 1990s, Greenbrier participated in and organized actions against genetic engineering and biotechnology, and eventually became involved in the anti-capitalist globalization movement. Through lived experience as well as theoretical exploration, Greenbrier's focus has expanded to encompass a critique of Civilization, rather than confronting the symptoms through symbolic, and ultimately reformist approaches. By developing and sharing lived, visual examples of "decivilizing" ourselves in our daily lives, she hopes to inspire others to explore the possibilities of community-based rewilding. Fred Hampton Jr. is an unleashed (September 14, 2001) Political Prisoner who has served a little under nine years in various state prisons. In the eyes of the state, Fred Hampton Jr. is a three-strike offender: Strike One: For simply being African. Strike Two: For being the offspring of freedom fighters: assassinated Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton Sr., Illinois Chapter Black Panther Party; and his mother/comrade Akua Njeri, Illinois Chapter BPP, and… Strike Three: For continuing the fight for the liberation of African people. Now that he is unleashed but not free, Fred Hampton Jr. continues
to expose the brutal prison conditions and fight to release still
held political prisoners, prisoners of war, and prisoners of conscience.
He continues to push for pardon based on his innocence in order
to clear his name of the dubious charges. Free Imam Jamil Al-Amin, Mumia Abu Jamal, Marshall Eddie Conway, Sundiata Acoli, Jerry “Odinga” Dunnigan, Ruchel Cinque Magee, Aaron Patterson! Hands Off Assata! Long Live Shaka Sankofa, Stanley Tookie Williams, and all other “Strange Fruit” this country has created. Hansen served 7 years of a life sentence in the Prison for Women in Kingston, Ontario for actions committed with Direct Action. This was a small guerrilla group in the early 80's that bombed the Litton plant (that built cruise missile guidance systems), burnt down Red Hot Video stores (that distributed violent porn), and bombed 2 transformers at a Hydro substation on Vancouver Island (to stop the expansion of the pulp and paper industry). In 2001 she published a memoir, Direct Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerilla, which tries to give an honest account of our politics and how and why she decided to start a guerrilla group in Canada. Presently she is working with Womyn4justice, a support group for women both inside and outside prison. The group is involved in direct action, public awareness, and working on a long-term project to start a transition house for women being released from prison with a self-run cafe/bookstore. Harper is currently under indictment on terrorism charges for his role in advocating direct action through his speaking engagements, video productions, and writings. Since 1997 the US Government has attempted to silence him with grand jury subpoenas, wiretaps, raids on his home, round-the-clock physical surveillance, police beatings, and an array of trumped up charges and bogus evidence. Harper has kept his resolve throughout the continual harassment and is planning on completing his first full length documentary after the conclusion of his current round of legal proceedings. homefries has been focusing on connecting social justice and animal liberation issues for the past several years. She has worked with a grassroots organization called Boston Ecofeminist Action. She facilitates workshops on feminism and animal liberation at conferences, community centers, and universities around the country. She holds a B.A. in Philosophy from New College of Florida and an M.A. in Feminist Theory/Social Movements Studies from Goddard College. Most recently, she has become interested in story-telling as a way of illustrating the intersections between feminism and the liberation of other animals. homefries and two other people started offering a workshop called “How I Became a Teenage Vegan Anarchafeminist.” She is also collecting the stories of people around the country for a radio series about how their struggles for social equality are related to non-human animal liberation. homefries' slide show, "Resisting the Symbolic Order: An Ecofeminist Look at Patriarchal Imagery" is available online at www.smartelectronix.com/~marc/rtso. Derrick Jensen is the author of many popular books, notably including A Language Older Than Words and The Culture of Make Believe. This book was a finalist for the Lukas Prize Project Award for Exceptional Works of Nonfiction, sponsored by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation at Harvard which cited it as a passionate and provocative meditation on the nexus of racism, genocide, environmental destruction and corporate malfeasance, where civilization meets its discontents. His most recent book, from which his chapter in this book is excerpted, is titled, Endgame: The Collapse of Civilization and the Rebirth of Community. Jensen joined the University of Texas at Austin faculty in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. on media law and ethics in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. He teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in media law, ethics, and politics. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a professional journalist for a decade. In his research, Jensen draws on a variety of critical theories. Much of his work has focused on pornography and the radical feminist critique of sexuality. In more recent work, he has addressed questions of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized racism. Jensen is the author of Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (City Lights, 2004), and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002). He is the author (with Gail Dines and Ann Russo) of Pornography: The Production and Consumption of Inequality (Routledge, 1998), and editor (with David S. Allen) of Freeing the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of Expression (New York University Press, 1995). In addition to teaching and research, Jensen writes for popular media, both alternative and mainstream. His opinion and analytic pieces on such subjects as foreign policy, politics, and race have appeared in papers around the country. He also is involved in a number of activist groups working against US military and economic domination of the rest of the world. As cofounder of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center, pattrice jones cares for chickens while promoting agriculture reform in a rural region dominated by the poultry industry. Jones also coordinates the Global Hunger Alliance, which unites animal, environmental, and social justice organizations to promote plant-based solutions to the worldwide hunger and water crises. She has spoken up for animals in venues as diverse as the World Food Summit in Rome, the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, and the Sustainable Development Conference in Islamabad. An activist since age 15, when she gave up meat and joined the gay liberation movement, jones has organized rent strikes, kiss-ins, street theatre, and extremely unlikely coalitions. At the Baker-Mandela Center for Anti-Racist Education, she designed programs concerning racism, sexism, and economic exploitation. She taught a University of Michigan course on social change activism until the course was canceled in retaliation for her own activism. A founding member of Global Boycott for Peace, jones agitates for economic direct action against war in the same spirit in which she advocates veganism. Her articles linking animal and social justice issues have appeared in Bangladesh, Italy, Pakistan, and South Africa as well as in the US and Canada. Richard Kahn Kemmerer earned a Masters Degree in Theology from Harvard Divinity School and her PhD in Philosophy from University of Glasgow, Scotland. Currently, she is a Lecturer at Montana State University, Billings. She has taught courses such as ethics, moral theory, and philosophy of religion at numerous colleges and universities. Currently, she teaches philosophy and religious studies at Montana State University, Billings. Kemmerer has published numerous reviews and articles and has a book in consideration for publication entitled, Ethics and Animals: In Search of Consistency. Lisa also has written, directed, and produced two documentaries on Buddhism in North America and Alaska. Besides philosophy and animal rights activism, Lisa is a classical vocalist, guitarist, and flautist, and enjoys painting and writing poetry. A nature lover, Lisa has hiked, biked, and traveled widely around the world. Marti Kheel is a writer and activist in the areas of animal liberation, environmental ethics and ecofeminism. Her articles have been translated into several languages and have appeared in numerous journals such as Environmental Ethics, Between the Species, and The Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. She has also contributed essays to numerous anthologies, including Healing the Wounds: The Promise of Ecofeminism; Reweaving the World: The Emergence of Ecofeminism; Ecofeminism: Women, Animals, and Nature; Animal Rights and Human Obligation; and Covenant for a New Creation. Kheel developed an early feminist critique of the philosophical dualisms between environmental ethics and animal liberation in a 1984 article entitled "The Liberation of Nature: A Circular Affair." Originally published in Environmental Ethics, the article has since been widely cited and republished in several anthologies. Over the years, her primary goal has been to develop an ecofeminist philosophy that is capable of bridging the seemingly disparate movements and philosophies of feminism, animal liberation, environmental ethics, and holistic health. In 1982, Kheel co-founded Feminists for Animal Rights in the hopes of bridging the divisions between the feminist and animal advocacy movements. She has Masters Degrees in Women's Studies and Sociology and received her doctorate in religious studies from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. She is in the process of writing An Ecofeminist Approach to Nature Ethics: A Bird's Eye View, which will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2007. In Spring 2004, Charlotte Laws was elected to her first political office as a councilperson for Valley Glen, California. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Ethics from the University of Southern California (USC) and has completed doctoral level coursework at UCLA. She also earned two B.A. Degrees, in Philosophy and Theatre Arts, from California State University (Northridge) and two Masters Degrees, in Social Ethics and Professional Writing, from USC. She has lectured and written articles in the following areas: the philosophies of Spinoza, Nietzsche, Russell and Mill, postmodernism, ethics, animal liberation/rights, environmentalism, philosophy of science, social philosophy, political theory, and First Amendment law. Some of her more mainstream articles have appeared in Newsweek, Publisher's Weekly, and the L.A. Times. For three years, she was also a regular contributor to California magazine, focusing on philosophy, politics, law, and social issues. Her first book was published in 1988, and her second book, entitled Armed for Ideological Warfare, which explores Spinoza’s philosophy and the animal rights movement, will be released in Spring 2005. She has been interviewed on a number of television shows, including Larry King Live, Fox News, The Late Show, and Oprah Winfrey. Charlotte has been a vegetarian since 1981 and is the Founder and President of the League for Earth and Animal Protection (LEAP), which advocates and educates on behalf of nonhumans and the environment. The website is www.LEAPnonprofit.org. Despite being a native Clevelander and an elder of the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation of Northwestern Ontario, LoGrande is relatively new to the realms of social and political activism. He did, in fact, spend the first 33 years of his working life as a factory employee, and was little involved with his Native Heritage (which is Metís, his father being Canadian Cree and his mother European). Tony first started to become interested in his heritage in the middle 1990s, and he began spending time as a volunteer at the American Indian Education Center in Cleveland, assisting the Center primarily with activities related to its annual Fathers' Day Powwow. Tony retired from his factory position in 1999 and, having continued his education starting in the mid-90's, took a position in social service as a counselor for a welfare-to-work organization. When that business closed its doors in 2001, he found himself without specific direction. On the advice of a friend, he moved to the Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, to assist an elderly medicine man there. He was subsequently recruited by the Chief and Tribal Council to organize and run adult education programs on the reserve, which he did for about two years. In recognition of his service to the Wabigoon Lake Aanashinabe, he was adopted and named by the Council and elders of the reserve. He has since been designated as a Tribal Elder. Upon returning home to Cleveland, he began volunteering once again at the American Indian Education Center. He was hired by the Center in October of 2004, and is the Assistant Director and Educator, editing the Center's quarterly newspaper, Smoke Signals, in his spare time. He has recently become involved in the work of the American Indian Movement, and is dedicated to securing the rights, political and social, of Native Peoples. Tony is completing work on his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Adult Education at Cleveland State University. My name is Jeffrey Luers. Most of my friends call me “Free.” I have been active since 1996 fighting for a range of issues such as animal rights, gender equality, anti fascism, eco-defense and others. These issues are not separate they are one struggle, one fight. My story is only a small part of a greater whole. In my lifetime I have witnessed an onslaught against the inhabitants of this world lead by the greed of industrialized nations. It is my belief that the oppression of people is rooted in the oppression and exploitation of nature, a fundamental disrespect for life that began with the conquest of Mother Nature and has lead to the conquest of humankind. I struck back in an act of resistance designated to raise awareness and draw attention to a problem that affects every human being, every animal, every plant, and every form of life on this planet. I am speaking of global warming, air, soil and water pollution. We are in the midst of a global environmental crisis. On June 16, 2000 I ignited a fire that would forever change my life. I torched 3 SUV’s. I took extra care and used specific fuels to ensure no one would be injured. Approximately 30 minutes after the fire was lit and extinguished, I was taken into custody by 3 undercover agents who had been following me, one of whom I would later learn to be a member of an anti-domestic terrorist unit. I was arrested on Criminal Mischief One, a charge that carries about one year. In the course of one week that charge would multiply into 10 felony counts, including 3 counts of Arson One. Getting to trial took the course of a year. By trial I had accumulated 13 felony counts, now including conspiracy with persons unknown. I was looking at a little over 100 years. I refused to take a deal. My trial was a joke. We proved that evidence had been tampered with, that officers had lied, and that the prosecutor had manipulated evidence to get a legal search. On top of that, the judge refused to allow me to separate the trial, such that I was charged with two different fires. Law requires that upon request separate offences must be tried separately. The final blow came when the judge threw out the testimony of my expert witness. In the end, I was convicted of 11 felony charges. I was sentenced to 22 years and 8 months. I have no possibility of parole. Craig Marshall, better known by his friends and enemies as Critter, does not consider himself an activist. He feels he is just doing his part to stop the techno-industrial state from destroying the only planet he has ever known and loved. Critter was recently released after serving a 5 ½ year sentence at the Snake River Correctional Institution for torching some SUV’s in June of 2000 in Eugene, Oregon with the hopes of raising attention to the environmentally destructive nature of these vehicles. For a couple of months before being taken hostage by the State he participated in numerous community projects including cooking breakfast every morning for Café Anarquista, serving free food and coffee to those in need, and helping with Food not Bombs. Prior to that, he spent most of his time defending the Fall Creek timber sales by doing tree-sits and road blockades. His experience in that forest and others before it made him realize what we are losing when we don’t fight to protect the Natural world from civilization’s greedy encroachment. Mason is an author, speaker, journalist, environmentalist, and attorney who focuses on human/animal concerns. His latest book, An Unnatural Order: The Roots of Our Destruction of Nature (Lantern Books, 2005), looks at the historical and cultural roots of the Western belief in God-given dominion over the living world. Mason is best known for his 1980 book, Animal Factories, written with philosopher Peter Singer. Mason’s writings have appeared in a wide variety of publications. He is a contributor to In Defense of Animals (Blackwell’s, 2005), edited by Peter Singer. His magazine article, “A Plague of Gypsy Moths” was chosen for the book, Cases for Composition (2nd edition; Little, Brown, 1984). His articles have appeared in The New York Times, New Scientist, Newsday, Country Journal, Orion Nature Quarterly, and other publications. His 1993 story in Audubon about the growing trade in exotic pets was nominated for the National Magazine Award for excellence in reporting. The article sparked national interest and was chosen for the anthology, Preserving Wildlife: An International Perspective (Prometheus Books, 2000). Mason and Peter Singer’s new book, Food Matters: The Ethics of What We Eat, will be released by Rodale in August, 2006. In addition to writing, Jim Mason speaks about animals, nature and the environment at conferences, churches, and universities. He has appeared on NBC’s Today, CBS This Morning, NPR’s All Things Considered, CNN, Midday Live, and other radio and television programs in major cities. His books have been reviewed in The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, In These Times, The Chicago Sun Times, and The Atlanta Constitution. Mason’s home page is at: http://www.jimmason.info/index.html. Molland has been involved with many animal liberation and eco-defense campaigns over the years. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for allegedly conspiring to incite animal liberation and earth liberation direct action through the dissemination of Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front information. Noel is currently volunteering with Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network (ELP), which he helped to found in 1993. Jalil was 19 years old when he was arrested. He is a former member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army. For the past 32 years, Jalil has been a political prisoner, and is one of the New York Three (NY-3) in retaliation for his activism in the 1960s and early 1970s. Two months shy of his 20th birthday, Jalil was captured along with Albert “Nuh” Washington in a midnight shoot-out with San Francisco police. When Jalil was arrested, he was a high school graduate and employed as a social worker. While in San Quentin prison in California in 1976 before being moved to New York, Jalil launched the National Prisoners Campaign to petition the United Nations to recognize the existence of political prisoners in the United States. Progressives nationwide joined this effort, and the petition was submitted in Geneva, Switzerland. This led to Lennox Hinds and the National Conference of Black Lawyers having the UN International Commission of Jurists tour U.S. prisons and speak with specific political prisoners. The International Commission of Jurists then reported that political prisoners did in fact exist in the United States. Jalil has received awards of appreciation from Jaycee’s, NAACP and project Build for his active participation and leadership. After many years of being denied the opportunity to attend college, Jalil graduated from SUNY-New Paltz with a BS in Psychology and a BA in Sociology in 1994. He would like to pursue his Masters degree, but has not been allowed by DOCS. Jalil has had many essays and articles published, including a compilation of prison writings, titled “We Are Our Own Liberators” and is featured in a video, “Jalil Muntaqim – Voice of Liberation.” During his imprisonment, Jalil has become a father and grandfather. He states, “I came to prison an expectant father and will leave prison a grandfather.” Jalil is presently working to develop a National Prisoners Afrikan Studies Project (NPASP), a non-profit organization dedicated to educating prisoners. Also, he is the founder of the Jericho Amnesty Movement, a national determination to win the release of political prisoners, and the co-founder of the New Afrikan Liberation Front. Nocella, a Quaker, is a Social Science doctoral student at the Maxwell School at Syracuse University, where his focus is political repression, terrorism, guerrilla warfare, and conflict studies. He holds a M.A. in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies and a graduate certificate in mediation from Fresno Pacific University. He was involved with peacemaking in Colombia with Mennonite Central Committee and the Christian Peacemaker Teams. He has taught workshops in mediation and tactical analysis, and has assisted in a number of legal committees in the Americas. He is a co-founder with Richard Kahn of the Institute for Revolutionary Peacemaking and Education and with Steve Best of the Center On Animal Liberation Affairs. Currently, he is involved with Jericho Amnesty Movement in Syracuse, NY, Syracuse Animal Rights Organization, Central New York Earth First!, is a facilitator of Alternatives to Violence Program at Auburn prison, and is a member of the Syracuse Quaker Meeting. Nocella has written in more than two dozen publications and is author of Introducing Restorative Justice to Activists, A Peacemaker's Guide for Building Peace with a Revolutionary Group (PARC 2004), and co-editor with Dr. Steve Best of Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books 2004). Nocella’s web page is: http://student.maxwell.syr.edu/ajnocell/index.html. Born in 1947 to a former fighter pilot All-American jock and a woman from California, in a rural farming community in North Dakota, her childhood was spent with her brothers and sisters on the Great Plains. Her family moved to California, first to Lompoc, then Palmdale, which employed her Dad as a high school coach and English teacher. She studied English and theater at UC Santa Barbara, then moved to Berkeley, where she studied anti-war and anti-racist politics during the Vietnam War. After moving back to the Midwest, she married, bore 3 daughters, taught English to Shona kids in Zimbabwe, trained as a chef, performed in community theater, ran road races, and worked in a variety of political organizations supporting democracy and equality. Arrested in June 1999, she pled guilty to conspiracy and association with the remnants of the Symbionese Liberation Army in 1975. She is currently serving a term, still yet to be determined by the Court, at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, CA. Paula Ostrovsky has a PhD in Microbiology, and many years of basic laboratory research where she published and presented her work in national and international venues. She abandoned academia to use her analytical skills and writing talents for indigenous causes. She has produced and hosted radio shows serving these causes on WEFT (Champaign, Illinois), KPOO (San Francisco, California), and Berkeley Liberation Radio (Berkeley, California). She has done media and public relations work for the Tashunka Witko Brigade, the American Indian Arbitration Institute, the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and the Media, Chicago Rock Against Racism, and presently the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee. Kanahus Pellkey is a Secwepemc & Ktnuxa from the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Kanahus Pellkey is a Warrior and Spokesperson for the Native Youth Movement. She is a community organizer, and has worked with many Indigenous Nations throughout Turtle Island. In 2001 Kanahus Pelkey and other Secwpmec Youth formed the Secwepmec Native Youth Movement (NYM). Their mission is to Defend their Territory and Protect the clean water, food, and Land in which her People still depend on for Survival. Kanahus and her People have been battling with the governments of BC and Canada against their illegal occupation and theft of Secwepemc Lands. They have also been fighting against illegal development of Sun Peaks ski-resort, a massive resort destroying Secwepmec hunting, food, and medicine gathering Mountains. This Stance resulted in over 70 arrests of NYM Warriors and Traditional Secwepmec People, including elders nearly 80 years old. As an Organizer and Spokesperson she has been targeted and assaulted by the RCMP. She fled and remained on the “run” until her capture in 2003. After her nephew passed away in a rural B.C. hospital, the doctors attempted to take the baby away and mutilate the body by performing an autopsy, Kanahus, her sister, and husband, and an NYM Comrade, fled the hospital with the baby to perform the proper burial ceremony in the mountains. The reaction of the enemy was a massive manhunt in which RCMPigs from across B.C., six different divisions, helicopters, and K-9 units were deployed to capture the NYMers. On a cold February night they were all arrested. She was refused bail even though she was breast feeding her 4 month old son. The Canadian Government held her for ransom away from her child because of her beliefs and defense of their Land and ways of life. Upon her release, she maintained her stance and continues to stand strong against oppressive Canadian control forced upon her Peoples. All charges have since been dropped, and she continues to Stand for her People and her Land, and continues her Uncompromising Stance. Her Warrior Spirit is an Inspiration to all. She can be contacted at: nymcommunications@hotmail.com. This Is Indian Land! Take Back Our Land! Fuck the Police! Free Peltier! Leslie James Pickering served twice as spokesperson for the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office, from its birth in early 2000 until the summer of 2002. During this period the Press Office sustained two raids by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and local law enforcement agencies. It responded to half a dozen grand jury subpoenas; conducted public presentations; produced booklets, newspapers, magazines, and a video on the ELF; and handled the release of dozens of ELF communiqués. Pickering was the editor of Resistance, the Journal of the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office, and many other independently produced materials regarding the Earth Liberation Front, and has since edited the book Earth Liberation Front 1997-2002. He has handled countless local, national, international media inquires, resulting in articles in the New York Times, the Washington Times, The Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Christian Science Monitor, Rolling Stone, the Village Voice, and many other newspapers and magazines. He has conducted interviews with ABC, NBC, CNN, FOX, CBC, BBC, National Geographic TV, and various other outlets. Pickering has also given lectures at colleges and universities such as Lewis & Clark College, Saint Michael’s University, Furman University, Bard College, New York University, Fresno State College, Macalester College, University of West Los Angeles, Princeton University, Mercyhurst College, and Syracuse University. He has a California High School Equivalency Diploma and a BA in Revolutionary Community Organizing from Goddard College. He is now involved in Arissa, and is based in his hometown of Buffalo, NY. Rayson is an anarchist writer and organizer who makes a priority of meaningful & effective prisoner support activism. He has co-founded such grassroots groups as STAND (Shut This Airport Nightmare Down), Southside Citizen's Coalition, and Chicago Anarchist Black Cross. He runs South Chicago ABC Distribution, crafts and distributes dozens of powerful publications and pamphlets (free to prisoners). These are often written by prisoners to help educate, connect, and empower people, inside and out, and to raise issues and up the struggle. That the list of Robert Roche’s accomplishments and achievements is lengthy is an understatement. Roche’s dedication to the Native American Community of Northeastern Ohio began in earnest in 1969 when Russell Means founded the Cleveland American Indian Center (CAIA). He began as a volunteer and was subsequently hired by the Center in 1970. In those early years, Robert served the Cleveland Center as the Youth Director, a paralegal, the Bureau of Indian Affairs Representative for the Child Welfare Act of 1978, and, as the Assistant Director. In this time frame he also worked as the Executive Director under the Comprehensive Education Training Act in conjunction with the Department of Labor in Eleven Northern Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga. During this time he was also self-employed, operating five stores with thirty-five employees, and was the City of Cleveland Minority Businessman of the Year in 1971. In addition, Roche has been active in the American Indian Movement (AIM) since 1972, and was a party to the original Chief Wahoo lawsuit with Cleveland AIM, the Cleveland American Indian Center, and Russell Means which was filed in that year. Another lawsuit was subsequently filed by the Cleveland American Indian Movement against Gateway/Cleveland Indians in response to their policy of prohibiting protesters and demonstrations at Jocobs Field in1995. Roche and others filed a civil rights action in 1998. Roche left the Center in the mid-eighties to pursue other interests. When he returned in 1992 he revived, with the help of Candy Cruz, the then defunct CAIC under its current name, the American Indian Education Center. In the ensuing years Roche has been incredibly busy in his efforts to bring clarity to Native American education, culture, and history to the people of the Cleveland community, both Native and non-Native. In his capacity as the Executive Director of the American Indian Education Center, as well as the Executive Director of the Cleveland office of the American Indian Movement, he has been involved in countless projects and undertakings designed to further the goals of those two groups and, more importantly, the welfare of the Northern Ohio Native American community. These endeavors included: the many cultural workshops he has conducted; his ram-rodding of the annual AIEC Edgewater Powwow; his hosting of his own radio and television talk shows; his involvement as Project Director of the Red Spirit Circle, an alcohol abuse treatment program; his speaking at over 80 colleges and universities throughout the United States and Ireland; his administration of a Federally funded Tobacco Grant for smoking cessation; and, his most recent venture, the founding of a Native-focused newspaper, Smoke Signals. Roche has participated, and continues to participate in, diverse community service efforts, from the Earth Day Coalition to the Lorain County Children Services. When asked what he feels has been his most significant achievement, however, he will tell you that it has been his work in the areas of promoting the education of our children to the point where they have professional, marketable skills, and assisting them in their efforts to find and maintain meaningful employment. In addition to his other activities, he is currently teaching a course on the American Indian Movement at Oberlin College. New Orleans editor, writer, filmmaker, and teacher, Kalamu ya Salaam is founder of the Neo-Griot Workshop, a Black writers’ workshop focusing on text, recordings, and videos. He is co-founder of Runagate Multimedia publishing company; leader of the WordBand, a poetry performance ensemble; and moderator of e-Drum, a listserv for Black writers and diverse supporters of their literature. Salaam is also the digital video instructor and the co-director of Students at the Center, and executive director of Listen to the People, a New Orleans oral history project. His latest book is the anthology, 360-degrees A Revolution of Black Poets (Black Words Press). Salaam’s latest spoken word CD is My Story, My Song, and his most recent movie is Baby Love (75-minute drama). Salaam can be reached at kalamu@aol.com. Saxon began voicing her disgust of the way humans treat each other and other species at age 5 when she became a vegetarian. At age 9, she began doing invisible theatre in McDonald’s, demanding to know where the beef came from. Now she is mostly an educator who uses theater, puppets, and ecopedagogy, a radical approach to education for the earth. She has worked with various groups including Youth for Environmental Sanity, Jatun Sacha, the Praxis Peace Institute, the Institute for Deep Ecology, the Paulo Freire Institute, and the São Paulo World Education Forum. In each setting Saxon has organized and facilitated workshops and conferences, using the arts for children, youth, and adults. In addition. she served for two years as the U.S. Advisor to the United Nations Environment Program Youth Advisory Council and co-founded INIYA, the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth Alliance. She now organizes outside of the NGO realm with PEACE (Popular Education and Action Collective) and other groups, focusing on ending the war and occupation of Iraq, leading people power strategy trainings, and bringing theatre and Brazilian percussion into the streets. She also recently worked on the design team to create a new small autonomous public elementary school in Oakland (SEED- the School for Expeditionary Learning, Equity and Diversity), where she teaches giant puppet making and drama. She graduated from the Friends World Program of Long Island University that brought her to work and study in Latin America, East Africa and Europe. She is currently working on a Masters in Education with a concentration in Participatory Theatre and a credential in Adult Education at San Francisco State University. Scarce is a sociology professor at Skidmore College, where he teaches Sociological Perspectives, Development of Sociological Thought, Contemporary Social Theory, Environmental Sociology, Social Movements & Collective Behavior, and other courses. Scarce’s books include Eco-Warriors: Understanding the Radical Environmental Movement, Updated Edition (Left Coast Press, 2006); Contempt of Court: A Scholar's Battle for Free Speech from Behind Bars (Alta Mira Press, 2005); and Fishy Business: Salmon, Biology, and the Social Construction of Nature (Temple University Press, 2000). He is also the editor of Syllabi and Instructional Materials for Environmental Sociology, 4th and 5th editions, for the American Sociological Association (1999 and 2003). His scholarly journal articles have been published in Symbolic Interaction, Society and Natural Resources, Teaching Sociology, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Law and Social Inquiry, The American Sociologist, Animals and Society, and elsewhere. Among the more unusual events in his life, Rik was jailed for five months in 1993 for refusing to cooperate fully with a federal grand jury. His "contempt of court" citation resulted from his assertion of a researcher's right to safeguard confidential communications and his steadfast stance in defense of the American Sociological Association's Code of Ethics. Never accused of wrongdoing, arrested, or tried, he was released when a judge recognized that he would not cooperate further with the grand jury. Rik's current research is a socio-ecological history of the Hudson River. Schnurer received his Ph.D. in rhetoric from the University of Pittsburgh. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California. A long time animal rights activist, Schnurer's work focuses on social movements, cultural change, and activist strategies. He is the co-author of Many Sides: Debate Across the Curriculum (Idea Press, 2000) and a contributor to Terrorists or Freedom Fighters: Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books 2004). Sepúlveda is one of the most multifaceted poets from Latin America. He was born in Santiago, Chile in 1967. His notable poem, “Place of Origin,” written at the age of 17, portrays the years of violence and rebelliousness during the Pinochet military regime. His recent poem, “Pax Americana,” published in various alternative zines, is a mantra of protest against Bush and Imperialist aggression. In 2002, his eco-anarchist essay, “The Garden of Peculiarities,” was published in Buenos Aires, two months after the Argentine revolt. Sepúlveda's poetry has been extensively published in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Mexico, the USA, and Spain, and partially translated into English and Portuguese. While in Chile, he directed the magazine Piel de Leopardo (currently on-line, edited by Lagos Nilsson: www.pieldeleopardo.com), and in Eugene, Oregon he co-directed the bilingual magazine Helicóptero in collaboration with Paul Dresman. In 2001, his book of poetry Correo Negro was published in Argentina, and in 2003 his collection of poems, Escrivania, was published in Mexico. The English translation of “The Garden of Peculiarities” is soon to be released by Feral House, and the second edition of “Hotel Marconi” (published in Chile in 1998) will be published by Cuarto Propio in a bilingual edition to be distributed in the USA. Sepúlveda holds a Ph.D. in Romance Languages and teaches at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where he lives with his compañera, Janine, and his two-year son, Indigo. Somma is a professor of Political Science at California State University, Fresno. He has worked on environmental and related issues for many years. Dr. Somma has published work on political ecology, water politics, environmental public policy and public opinion, and revolutionary environmentalism. He believes that environmental conflict and environmental issues will soon overshadow other issues and dominate social, economic, and political decisions. He strongly advocates decentralized technology and the rapid development of alternative energy so that each house, workplace, and transportation system creates its own energy. He argues for expansion of wilderness lands, a cessation of old-growth logging, strong population control measures, encouragement of organic farming via a radical change in agricultural subsidy policy, and strong controls on bioengineering. In 2005, with Mike Becker and numerous others, Somma recently started the online journal, Journal of Green Theory and Praxis (http://greentheoryandpraxis.csufresno.edu/main.asp). Somma believes that human society needs a spiritual evolution to sanctify nature and life as a moral and ethical guide. He argues that deep ecology is the pathway to this spiritual evolution, albeit with many key steps remaining to its development. Recently, he organized a conference at Fresno State entitled “Revolutionary Environmentalism: A Dialogue between Activists and Academics.” Conference panels and discussion drew a packed house of students and faculty. It also drew the attention of angry right-wing ideologues, agribusiness, and law enforcement, including the FBI. Somma welcomes comments, questions, or suggestions about revolutionary environmentalism addressed to him at markso@csufresno.edu. Starr is an activist in and scholar of the anti-globalization movement. Her book, Naming the Enemy: Anti-Corporate Movements Confront Globalization, written well before the Seattle protests, was the first systematic and international documentation of the emergence of what is often called the "anti-globalization movement." She participates in a rank-and-file affinity group in all the major North American manifestations, and has worked on many local projects such as community currency, permaculture, union organizing, activist legal work, infoshop, Transform Columbus Day, and many campus campaigns. Her second book, Don't Be a Tourist: Guidebook to a Global Uprising, is an accessible introduction to points of consensus, debates in the movement, and tactics. Taylor is Samuel S. Hill Professor of Religion and Social Ethics at the University of Florida, where he is developing the first graduate program in religion focusing on the intersections among peoples’ religious beliefs and practices and their natural habitats. He is the author of many books and dozens of articles on nature religions, grassroots environmental movements (especially radical ones), environmental ethics, and affirmative action policies. His books include a two volume, international, Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature (Continuum 2005) and Ecological Resistance Movements: The Global Emergence of Radical and Popular Environmentalism (SUNY 1995). A gateway to the encyclopedia and other published work and initiatives can be found at www.religionandnatutre.com. Robert Thaxton, aka Rob los Ricos Robert Thaxton, aka Rob los Ricos, was born in the Texas Panhandle on the eve of the 1960’s. By the righteous (r)age of twelve, Rob began to work with various revolutionary organizations. He eventually left Pampa for the streets of Dallas, Texas, where he joined CISPES (the Committee in solidarity with the People of El Salvador), worked with ACT UP, and KNON-FM, a peoples (Pirate) radio station where he served as program director. In the early 90s, as Rob Thaxton began to fade into a memory, Rob los Ricos relocated to Austin, Texas, to engage in anarcho-specific activity such as Food not Bombs and Earth First!. In the late 90s, he lived in Portland, Oregon where he worked with the Anarchist Info Shop. On June 16, 1999, Rob Los Ricos traveled to Eugene, Oregon to attend an anarchist conference and a Reclaim the Streets festival. Arrested by police during the June 18 Reclaim the Streets demonstration-turned-police riot, Rob was accused of throwing a rock at a cop, and was subsequently beaten by police. He was ultimately charged with rioting, first degree assault, and second degree assault. Used as a Latino, out-of-towner, anarchist scapegoat example of what can happen to those who dare to rebel, Rob was given a nearly 8 year prison sentence. Rosalie was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She is Sicangu Lakota, a descendant of Chief Little Thunder and matriarch of one of the Little Thunder Tiospayes (extended families). Lakota is her first language, which she has been teaching for more than 30 years. She is currently an adjunct professor at Black Hills State University. Although Rosalie's livelihood has been as an artist, she is most known for her wildlife activism. Her most recent effort was to appeal to the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for a global campaign to protect Sacred Species. She chairs the Seventh Generation Fund and South Dakota Peace and Justice Center, and is a board member of Predator Conservation Alliance and the Alston-Bannerman Fellowship program for activists of color. Rosalie has developed "Cultural Mapping," which is a description of the Lakota Worldview and the refined disciplines that helped Lakota people to survive in a very responsible manner (pre-Columbus). "Cultural Mapping" is being used as a means of cultural healing for people affected by oppression and poverty. A former political prisoner, Toure is the first person of Afrikan descent in the u.s. to be convicted of seditious conspiracy charges, of “conspiring to overthrow the u.s. government.” He was captured in February 1982 and released October 1991. A longstanding member of the Afrikan Liberation Movement, he is an outspoken critic of the injustice, oppression, and exploitation of u.s. government. Toure was an employee and representative for the American Friends Service Committee in Geneva, as well as in South Afrika, at the World Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Other Related “isms.” In 2001, he was a recipient of the 2004 National Lawyers Guild Award. He has published poetry and articles in many newsletters and other publications including in the book Hauling Up the Morning: Izando la Manana: writing and art by political prisoners and prisoners of war in the U.S. (Eds. Blunk, Levasseur R. L., Red Sea Press 1990). Currently, Toure is working with the Jericho Amnesty Movement in Boston, Massachusetts and speaks around the country on prison abolition and political prisoner support. Wade was born March 15, 1985 in Alexandria, Virginia, and moved to Richmond, Virginia in 1990. He is the third oldest son in a mixed family of six children. His mother died when he was young and he was raised by his stepmother. His primary political interests concern the abolishment of the death penalty, ending institutional racism, securing civil liberties, providing opportunities for the poor, and of course saving the environment. Political consciousness came to him in early high school and radical environmental action came in late high school. He is currently serving three years in federal prison for a series of actions against suburban sprawl, the fast food industry, and Ford Motor Company. Wade recently turned twenty and celebrated his one-year anniversary in prison. While “on the street,” he worked for a variety of different mainstream environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club, the Nature Conservancy, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, along with liberal nonprofits such as American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, and numerous groups working to end the death penalty. He also worked for the Democratic Party. It might sound like he doesn’t value the contribution of mainstream groups, but he does. Walton is in the final semester of earning his M.A. in Political Science at Syracuse University. He holds a B.Mus with Honors in Music Composition, also from Syracuse. Walton is involved in labor rights activism and voter mobilization as a project leader with NYPIRG, and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Green Theory and Praxis. His current research projects include a study of the effects of Buddhist teachings on leadership and democratic governance in Southeast Asian nations, and a collaboration with Eastside Neighbors in Partnership (Syracuse, NY) to design and implement evaluation tools for their Youth ACTION program. Walton remains an active composer, and his music has been performed in London, New York, and Boston. His newest opera, which is based on the trial and incarceration of Leonard Peltier, premiered with the Syracuse Society for New Music in the summer of 2005. Wanbli Watakpe (Attacking Eagle) is first and foremost an Akicita (traditional Lakota warrior), and as such has vowed to stand before the people in times of war and behind the people in times of peace. He founded the Northern California Chapter of the American Indian Movement in 1969 and was the squad leader for the Little California bunker in the Wounded Knee siege in 1973. He then joined the fishing rights struggle in Washington State. He formed Northwest AIM with Leonard Peltier, Jim and Steve Robideau, and Joe Stuntz. He was arrested with Kenny Loud Hawk, Anna Mae Aquash, and Kamook Banks in 1975, and together with Peltier and Banks he faced the longest pre-trial case in U.S. history. He is a founder of the Leonard Peltier Defense Committee and has served as its Executive Director several times, including the present. Wanbli Watakpe has also worked to preserve indigenous ceremonies,
sacred sites, and Mother Earth. He also served the people as educator
and social worker, focusing on the preservation of the indigenous
family and the development of an indigenous framework to address
historical trauma. Widay is a joint M.A./Ph.D. student at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University. She is pursuing a Masters Degree in International Relations and a Doctorate in Political Science. At Syracuse University, Widay has served as a graduate assistant in the Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs, where she worked on the Transboundary Crisis Management project, helping to develop a coding scheme and database for over two hundred transboundary crisis case studies. She currently serves as a research assistant in the Center for Environmental Policy and Administration, examining techno-environmental conflicts. Her interests focus on transnational environmental activism, environmental attitudes & behavior, and environmental education. Widay is currently researching transnational networking among environmental advocacy groups in the United States and Canada involved with the acid rain issue. Prior to her graduate studies, she completed her undergraduate degree at Middlebury College (Environmental Studies and Spanish), and was employed with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, working on contracts with the Department of Energy, Internal Revenue Service, and Office of Housing and Urban Development. She has lived and worked in Upstate NY, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and Madrid. In her free time, she escapes to a family cabin in the Adirondack Mountains. Weissman is working to create a world where human beings reaffirm a sense of reverence for the earth and a kinship with and compassion for sentient living beings, including each other. An anarcho-primitivist, Weissman is part of a rapidly growing movement that looks to abolish government and private property and to develop a post-industrial, post-capitalist, post-agricultural society, looking to pre-civilized peoples as a model for an egalitarian, fulfilling existence in harmony with the earth. He has worked on a wide variety of activist issues like animal rights, sweatshop labor, anti-militarism, environmental justice for indigenous peoples, corporate globalization, wilderness defense, the campaign to free Burma, youth liberation, global warming, genetic engineering, expanding the voices of women and people of color in social change movements, and overconsumption. With the Activism Center at Wetlands Preserve (www.wetlands-preserve.org), a human, animal, and earth liberation activist group based in New York City, Weissman works to convert the comic book industry to use of recycled paper; to promote the freegan lifestyle and ethic through "dumpster tours" (www.freegan.info); and to stop the passage of pro-corporate, anti-environment global free trade agreements, as part of the New York City People's Referendum on Free Trade (www.taareferendum.org). Zerzan, known as a founder of green anarchy, has written about technology, social dislocation, and the fate of the natural world for the past 30 years. He is author of Elements of Refusal, Questioning Technology, Future Primitive, Running on Emptiness, and is editor of Against Civilization. Zerzan is editor of Green Anarchy magazine, and translations of his work have been published in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Greece, Serbia, Ukraine, China, and elsewhere. Zerzan’s parents came to Oregon from Nebraska in 1940. He was born in Salem in 1943, and grew up in the Willamette Valley. His father was a mechanic, small business owner, and janitor; his mother chiefly attended to raising his two siblings and himself. Zerzan was an organizer and officer of the independent Social Services Employees Union in San Francisco (1967–1970), where he came to see Organized Labor as a bureaucratic and alienated structure. Afterwards, other major institutions, with their external authority modes, struck him as very problematic and not healthy to individual freedom. Thus, he slowly became an anarchist, more from his experiences than from theory. Zerzan has traveled and spoken widely in recent years. Since 1981, Zerzan has made his home in Eugene. He was a member of the East Blair Housing Co-op from 1987 through 2003, has been a volunteer at the YMCA since 1990, and frequently provides childcare on a part-time basis. Zerzan is married, with two daughters and a granddaughter. |
