Invisible Voices

migrating....

2006-11-29T06:12:00.000-07:00

I'm moving! Please check out my blog at invisiblevoices.wordpress.com

Thanksgiving, Turkeys and Traditions

2006-11-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tradition has been on my mind lately. Thanksgiving is almost here, and then the maddening consumerist Christmas season will begin. Probably it already has. I've been trying to change my family's Christmas traditions for a few years now, trying to move them away from the gifts, and towards some quality time. Resistance is all I've gotten so far.

The reason we can't change things is "tradition". I'm coming to think that this is just an excuse to continue doing things that we suspect might not be right. "Tradition" is a big part of why baby seals are murdered every year in Canada, why dolphins are slaughtered in mass in Japan, and why millions of turkeys are sacrificed every year around this time. Does "tradition" mean murder, then? Seems to.

I leafleted with a couple friends this past weekend, handing out information on Turkeys. Some of the comments were interesting, in that disturbing way.

Handing the leaflet back to me, "Oh, I don't need this. Doesn't the president pardon one of these every year?" As if pardoning one abused turkey makes up for all those still suffering and dying at the hands of humans. When I mentioned that there are many millions needing pardoning, she made a face and walked away.

I would bet that she walked away grumbling about people like me, people who dare to think that non-human animals have just as much a right to life as humans do, and try to get others to see that perspective too. She probably was a bit outraged that I tried to get her to see, however gently, the abuse that humans heap upon those we decide are less worthy of consideration. Does she really not understand that she once would have been considered property? That it has been less than a hundred years since women have had the right to vote in this country? That we don't have to look very far back in our own history to the time when husbands had the right to beat their wives to death, that it was not a crime to do so? Women were property then, just as non-human animals are currently considered property.

I think it is all connected. Until we admit that every sentient being has just as much of a right to life as we do, until we stop seeing living beings as property, we will continue to abuse other humans just as we do other species.

Just consider Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay for two recent examples. Really, though, this country was founded on human abuse, and how ironic that we have a federal holiday to celebrate it.

I think it is time for new traditions - ones filled with compassion rather than murder.

Education as activism

2006-10-27T16:33:00.000-06:00

Education as activism. Leafletting, writing letters to the editor, discussing vegan and animal rights issues with our coworkers...these are all aimed at educating our audience. But what about educating ourselves?

I was lazy about it, myself. Vegetarian for years without reading a single thing on vegetarianism. I didn't even have a cookbook for most of that time. It took only a vague reference to cruelties in the egg and dairy industry for me to go vegan, finally. And still I read nothing on the issues. Being vegan was enough, wasn't it?

A few years later I agreed to participate in a fur protest. "We have to do more," I thought to myself after my first protest, "simply eating vegan food and avoiding exploitation in my purchases isn't enough. It isn't just about our personal consumption. It is bigger than that." And so I became more involved in activism, participating in weekly fur protests and other periodic demos, starting a (short lived) brunch revolution. Yet I read nothing.

I watched Earthlings and it changed me, a bit. I didn't really understand the cruelty of the dairy industry before that. Knowing it is wrong, and seeing the horror of it are two different things, I found. You know on a much deeper level just how wrong it is after watching it. And that is just one example of the education Earthlings provided. I was motivated to do more after that, though I had no solid direction in mind. And still I didn't think to continue my education.

However I was also involved in an online community, VeganFreaks, and listened to their podcasts every week. It was obvious how much reading Bob and Jenna had done, as well as many people on the forums. I started listening to other podcasts as well, such as animal voices, and there again it was clear how much more others knew about various issues than I did myself. I went to AR06 and absorbed as much information as I could, knowing it was barely scratching the surface. I knew there was a welfare versus abolition debate within the movement, but I didn't really understand why people argued about it. I knew I was against vivisection, but was uncomfortable talking about it because I didn't know much about it. I certainly was not prepared for the debate that is sure to result from an anti-vivisection stance, namely the presupposed need to choose between non-humans and humans. Finally I realized what I should have known all along - I need to get off my ass and start educating myself. How can I be effective if I don't fully know the issues I'm trying to talk to people about?

So I started reading. I have a lot of catching up to do. In the few months since I started the process, I have managed to read only a handful of books, but already I can feel the effects. These are important resources, these books, this information. And we need to make use of them.

My have read list:
Terrorists or Freedom Fighters
Sacred Cows or Golden Geece
The Dreaded Comparison

Currently reading:
Rain Without Thunder
Capers In The Churchyard

And in the ever growing pile of books waiting to be read:
Igniting A Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth
Eternal Treblinka
Empty Cages
Rattling The Cage
Specious Science
Speciesm

There are so many other books out there that I should read as well. "Slaughterhouse" is one that comes to mind, but I'm not sure I can read it - I've read a few quotes from it, and they haunt me. Other suggestions are welcome, though even more useful would be an extra few hours every day so I could make some progress.

Many AR titles can be found at your local library, or could be ordered through them. (Getting your library to carry more AR books is a form of mini-activism all on its own.) If you are interested in purchasing the books, I have found AK Press, Lantern Books, and Friends of Animals to be great sources. Always try to order from the publisher if you can.

There are many excellent videos out there as well, well worth seeing. I've only seen Earthlings, myself. I find videos very difficult to watch, and I think their educational focus is a bit different as well. Just as words can't adequately describe the horror of animal exploitation (though I think Slaughterhouse probably does a disturbingly good job), videos can't fully explore the arguments for animal rights.

We need to educate ourselves on animal rights if we are to be as effective as we can be. It is a big job, but an incredibly important one. I didn't realize just how important it was until I started on this path. These videos and books, these thoughts and arguments, are our tools. 'Every tool is a weapon if we hold it right' (ani difranco), and so we need to arm ourselves with the knowledge, the critical analysis, and even the Bizarro type humor. Self-education is so important for us, for the movement, and thus for the animals, that it becomes a type of activism itself. And now no one has an excuse for not being an activist! Read, watch, and learn.

Perspectives: a cat, a Barbie, and humanity

2006-10-11T21:00:00.000-06:00

An (almost) anonymous donor recently sent me an odd gift, which sat awkwardly in my living room. A Barbie. I mean, really! Barbie! I didn't know what to do with it, so there it sat.

Until one day my cat suddenly realized that an alien form had entered her domain. Curious, she jumped up next to it for some investigation. The lack of response probably pissed her off, and realizing that she was bigger than it, and it was possible prey (my interpretation, granted), she bitch-slapped that poor innocent Barbie.

Barbie flew through the air and fell the equivalent of about 2 stories, so she should have been okay. But she landed funny, rolled a bit, and was clearly not doing well. Tempest, not content with the destruction she'd wreaked so far, jumped down to check out Barbie's status.

And watching her sniff around her molded plastic prey who looked somewhat human, I had an odd moment where I realized that though Tempest loves me, she is a carnivore. If it weren't for the size discrepency in my favor, I have no doubt she'd love me, but more in the sense of loving her next meal. Not the one I put in the bowl, but me, in her belly.

She's a cat. That's what they do. At least that is what they do when they have prey (other than the doomed Barbie) instead of food in their dish.

Humans might be busy destroying the earth and all of the resident species at the moment, but seems like a stroke of luck (good luck for humans, the worst possible for any other species) that humans survived at all. We're weak. We're slow. We are handicapped by our dull senses of smell, sight, and hearing. WTF?

Die In: A Farmed Animal Demo

2006-10-03T21:23:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I participated in a Die In, organised by FARM and held across the street from the US Department of Agriculture in DC. The Washington Monument on one side, and all these government buildings on another. You just can't feel more in the middle of governmental happenings than that, especially not when one of those giant green helicopters flies right over you.

This is not really a good feeling. We were a peaceful group, with the proper permits, holding signs, ringing a bell, and wearing black, yet our government will consider that terrorism with the new flavor of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. (Here is an excellent analysis of the AETA.)

Disturbing doesn't even cover it.

But the Die In. This was for World Farm Animals Day. I'd never been to one before, for any cause, and had no real idea what to expect. A nice nap in the sun was my thought, to be honest. And it really was the easiest demo I've ever participated in.

We got there a few minutes before it started, picked up our t-shirts (yes, I had to get a youth medium, the smallest size they had there) and milled around talking to people while waiting for it to start.

There were a bunch of people holding signs in a semi-circle, and then the rest of us layed down on the ground (mostly shady, to my great disappointment) and tried to look "dead, not asleep", as requested by Dawn of FARM.

We were giggly at first, or at least I was, and it was hard to not feel peaceful and prone to smiling. But Dawn talked about the animals in terms of numbers. In terms of how many we represented, the 50 or so of us who showed up. 1 million animals each, killed for the profit and pleasure of humans.

Every time the bell rang, every 30 seconds for 27 minutes, was symbolic of another 10,000 animals killed in those 30 seconds. 10,000 animals in 30 seconds. That really is the rate that animals are killed in this country.

It was not hard to be somber when considering these numbers. As I watched the clouds drifting across the sky, they didn't look like bunnies or snowmen, they looked like connective tissue under the microscope. They looked like processed and rendered bits of formerly sentient beings.

At the end, right before we descended upon the treats provided by Java Green and Sticky Fingers Bakery, Dawn talked about how difficult it can be to hold still for 30 minutes, that though it is not actually a long time, it can seem like a long time when you are so restricted. Yet laying on the soft grass with a gentle breeze, hearing the birds chirping and not smelling anything in particular, breathing freely, not moving, yet not constricted...compare this to life inside a gestation crate or a battery cage. Life isn't long for them, but every second must be agony.

Andy Rooney, of all people, recently said,

I often pass a farm with cows grazing in the field and I think to myself how terrible it is that human beings grow other animals just to kill them and eat them.

Isn't it, though? The good news is that human beings don't have to exploit animals at all. That we do is horrifying. That we have no need to use them, for medicine, health, entertainment, or transportation, is something everyone should be thinking about.

AR06

2006-08-24T09:13:00.000-06:00

A couple weeks ago I went to the Animal Rights conference in DC. It was my first AR conference, and to be honest, I was going mostly because I would be in town already and some friends were attending. So I joined the crowd and signed up.

Looking back, it surprises me that I was ambivalent about the conference itself leading up to it. Maybe because I didn't know what to expect? Or maybe because I was in the middle of moving across the country and was a bit consumed by that.

Either way, I was going more to hang out with friends than anything else. And I don't think there is anything wrong with that, to tell you the truth. Networking is never a bad thing, and it can certainly be hard enough as a vegan, as someone passionate about the animals, to find people to connect with. An entire weekend surrounded by vegans? And I was in town anyway? Yeah. Oh, and Temptation Soy Ice Cream. That, alone, was worth it!

The conference itself...I was pretty blown away. For each hour long session, there were choices of what topic to hear. Amy, one of the friends I mentioned, and I ended up having the same interests, and we were focused a great deal on how to actually do things. How to research, how to engage the media, how to make changes.

With each session I got more and more fired up. I had previously gone to fur protests and to a Free The CU34 protest, I'd written a couple letters here and there, but I am not sure I was convinced that I was acomplishing anything. But here, I heard how people were doing things, and exactly what they were accomplishing. And they were telling me how I could do the same.

I came away with so many ideas, and so much fire. I am worried that it won't last, that I will have these intentions but not act on them. Hopefully I'll surprise myself.

So far, I've signed up for DawnWatch's Alerts and when I get an alert, I act on it based on Karen's advice. I'm doing something, at least.

I also bought a monkey tag from Jeremy at Primate Freedom Project and I will do my best to track down my guy. Hopefully T82004 won't be just a number. He was born in 1982. If he is still alive, he has had 24 years of experimentation. If he is still alive, I hope I can help him.

This post would be incredibly long if I tried to detail all the people I heard and all the ways they helped me, taught me, opened my mind to more ways to make a difference. I've mentioned a few people, but there are at least fifty I could have talked about.

Walking around the exhibit area was almost comical the way I'd find myself exclaiming out loud "Oh, the bizarro guy!" and have a chance talk to him and get a really cool drawing in the book I bought. Or wander by Lantern Books and say "hey, I heard you on the vegan freaks podcast!" I felt like a groupie some of the time, but it was amazing the way all of these famous (to us) people were so accessable. Karen Davis sat down and had lunch with us one day and I ended up talking to her about Peaceful Prairie and the folks in the Denver AR scene. I was talking to someone at the PeTA table, and someone else overheard our conversation and said "Oh, you're from Denver? Do you know Ann?"

The AR world is small indeed, and I'm so happy to feel a part of it. What an amazing crowd of people that was! I really feel like we can make a difference. With this passion, how can we not?

Sanctuaries...a comparison

2006-07-24T23:38:00.000-06:00

I've posted a few times about Peaceful Prairie, the farm sanctuary in Deer Trail, CO. That was the first sanctuary I'd ever visited, and it was exactly as I pictured a farm sanctuary would be. A simple farm, the bare necessities, the dedicated people running the show, giving all of their time and resources to save the beautiful animals. Chris and Michele. Michele knows all of their rescued residents by name, by personality, by bleat and cluck and moo. She knows what they need when they call to one another, knows what she can do for them, and what they need each other for. It is a community, it is a family.

Recently I had the opportunity to go to The Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, NY, about 35 miles outside Ithaca. It was a beautiful location. I didn't feel like I was at a farm, though. The buildings were beautiful, everything was almost eeerily spotless. Not that things are messy at Peaceful Prairie, but they're definitely lived in.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is awesome that The Farm Sanctuary is doing everything it does to bring awareness to people. I don't know if they're the first of their kind, but they're definitely the first that most people hear about. But they not only have several brand new barns going up, replacing barns that looked perfectly servicable to me, but they have this huge gorgeous "people barn" with a gift shop. And some cabins that you can rent to stay the night at the farm.

I have such mixed feelings about this. I think about Chris and Michele busting their asses at Peaceful Prairie, Chris literally busting his back without a complaint. I think about the fact that they're begging the community to raise $24k so they can get a tractor. A tractor. Not another tractor. Just one. The first one they will have ever had, if they can raise the money for it.

And thinking about that, remembering the few hours we spent raking up one small part of the farm, the blisters (from the rake) and bruises (from goosifer) I earned, how tired we were from a mere 2 hours of work one day, and how great a need Michele and Chris have for any help at all, the comparison seems cruel. Farm Sanctuary is clearly bringing in a lot of money for them to be able to spend money on what seem like supurfluous luxuries. At least compared to Peaceful Prairie.

I can't help but to wonder how many more animals could be saved if the money had been spent on the animals instead of the people barn? Yet maybe Farm Sanctuary gets so much money because they have these special things, these extras? Many of us were upset, knowing that many people visit the Farm Sanctuary, treating it as a sort of petting zoo. I can see how that mistake would be made, to be honest. I never did see any sign of the people who founded the Sanctuary. I saw some people working, but I was only ever told the name of our tour guide. And that bothered me too, though it is more difficult to explain.

It was an odd experience overall. I can say unequivically that I prefer visiting Peaceful Prairie. Several people were deeply depressed by visiting the Farm Sanctuary, seeing it as a drop in the bucket. I think part of this feeling stems from the fact that the entire experience kept us so far removed from the animals. Yes we got to pet the cows and goats and pigs, we were told a bit about the personality of a few select animals, but overall...we were on a guided tour, guided by someone who has limited experience with the Sanctuary, and it felt very distant to me.

I contrast that to being at Peaceful Prarie, no gift shop to be found, but stories about Graebel fighting off four coyotes (not a typo!) and having to be pulled off the last coyote so it could get away...I hear about Sherman hiding from the slaughter truck, John Lee taking care of his flock, and Goosifer's neurotic behavior. They are family. And they are my family now. In comparison, visiting the Farm Sanctuary was as personal as visiting a museum.

Harsh, I realize. Still, I think we all would agree that the "little guys" are generally overlooked, whatever we're talking about. And so I urge you to support the "little guys". I can pretty much guarantee they need the support more. Your money, time, and effort will mean more to places like Peaceful Prairie, and I'm positive there are many more like them out there, getting much less attention, and therefore much less of the desperately needed money, than they deserve. These are people putting it all on the line, dedicating everything they have to the animals. And you know, this is how Farm Sanctuary started too. I'm not denying what they've done, or that they're busy saving animals, more animals in fact, than Peaceful Prairie. But right now...right now Chris is in almost constant back pain from the 20 years work he's put in on the farm. He works 60 hours a week in Denver to earn the money that supports the farm and comes home to put in backbreaking labor. Well, I think it is clear where I stand. I'll leave you to come to your own conclusions.

Reflections on Fur Protests

2006-06-09T20:39:00.000-06:00

What creates in people the desire to wear the skin and fur of another being? If we go back far enough in time, it was survival. But now? It is morbid to think of, the death you're wearing. How can these people not think of the cats and dogs they've snuggled with any time they feel the fur? Are they really not thinking of the death of animals not so dissimilar to the "pets" they almost definitely have at home?

Maybe it is the power. They feel more in control of their own lives if they are contributing to the horror and death of another being?

I can't accept reasoning along the lines of "because I like it" - the cruelty, inhumanity, complete lack of regard for the life, terror, and pain of another living sentient being is too great for something as simplistic as preference or "liking" to be a reason behind the purchase and wearing of fur. There has to be more, as far as I'm concerned.

And so I can't help but to wonder about the people going into the fur stores. Most of them are obviously wealthy, but that isn't enough reason, the supposed status. The fur store is in a pretty pretentious area of Denver, so there are alot of really expensive cars being driven by, and tons of people driving those expensive cars honk to support us!

Sometimes I see these women with their expensive cars, their downturned mouths, their defensive posture, as they carry their furs to the store, and I can't help but to feel sorry for them. In my mind they become sad housewives, emotionally abused by distant husbands, desperate for any way to feel validated, empowered. Too bad they can't realize that it has to come from within.

It is impossible to not try to figure out the answer to these "why" questions as we hold our signs, encourage honking, ignore the "i love fur" comments, standing outside the fur store. Many an hour among the protesters is spent pondering this, yet we never seem to have an answer. And of course there will never be just one answer to "why". Not that any answer can possibly answer to the cruelty.

We've had some intersting and positive interactions with some of the people who go into the store. One woman went in the store, tried on one coat, came out, and picked up some of our literature. I only hope that we made her think and prevented a sale of one death coat.

Another woman walked past our signs carrying her fur coat, looking extremely pissed off. Well, that and looking somewhat frightened (of us, i suppose), is pretty common. What was unusual was her comment to one of the protesters, "this coat is the worst decision I ever made. It starts to rot, and stinks, so I have to pay money to have them store it in the summer." When she came out, with smiles and encouragement for us, she gladly accepted some literature on donating fur coats, and thanked us.

I think she is someone who wouldn't have gotten the coat had she put more thought into it, had really understood the cruelty involved. So maybe we are accomplishing something, one coat at a time.

It doesn't lessen the frustration of watching these women walk into the store with their furs draped over their arms, averting their eyes from our signs, from us. When they do look at us, it is with resentment and disdain, something I don't understand. Sure, resent us for trying to make you think about what you are doing, but disdain? Are you judging us? You with your death coat and death shoes?

I'll be standing outside Marks Lloyds Furs again tomorrow morning. Honk if you drive by, okay? I'll wave.

Peaceful Prairie Farm Sanctuary - an introduction to John Lee, and others

2006-06-03T08:48:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago I finally got off my ass and did what I'd meant to do for the past year - sponsor one of the rescued farm animals at Peaceful Prairie Farm Sanctuary. I got an email almost immediately, thanking me and inviting me to a picnic/fund-raiser they were having the following Sunday. Life being what it is (ironic, generally) their picnic was on the same day as the first Brunch Revolution that Joy and I were putting on. Arriving late to the picnic would be the best I could do, but it would be worth it - I would meet John Lee!

John Lee, pictured to the left, is the rooster I am sponsoring. I really knew nothing about roosters when I sponsored him, and even now I'm not sure what made me decide on a rooster. Maybe because roosters are seen as having so little value by the farmers, even compared to the commodity-only value other animals have. Also, who thinks of cuddly when they think of roosters? I figured that people are more likely to sponsor the pettables, like goats and cows and the more obviously cute like ducks, and so I would go against the grain, sponsor someone who might be otherwise overlooked.

I soon learned that roosters are often regal, like my new friend John Lee. That they have a strong instinct to keep the peace, and that they know enough about conflict resolution that you can't help but to wonder what is wrong with humans that we can't learn from them. Michele and Chris, the chief caregivers and owners of Peaceful Prairie, call John Lee their peacekeeper and wonder what they'd do without him to keep the order among the chickens rescued from Katrina.

These chickens were not only saved from Katrina, they were saved by Katrina. 5 weeks old when the hurricane hit, they would have been killed 2 weeks later if Katrina hadn't come through. Having been raised in the horrible conditions typical of all boiler chickens, they arrived at the Sanctuary with no social skills. John Lee has been teaching them what it means to be a chicken.

John Lee himself was rescued from a "family farm", where he was allowed to live at birth having mistakenly been identified as a female. Had it been known from the start that he was male, he would have been killed immediately - only the egg producers are allowed to live. When it was discovered that he was male, he was tossed into a cage with about 6 other roosters, left without food and water, to die. John Lee was lucky - though some of the other roosters had already died, he was rescued and has since come to live at Peaceful Prairie where he is free to live his life according to his natural instincts.

For John Lee, this means taking care of, and protecting a flock. When he first got to Peaceful Prairie, there were no "unclaimed" hens available, so he appointed himself protector of a "flock" of pigs. The little 5 lb rooster stood guard over twelve 600 lb pigs!

John Lee is just one of many many animals at Peaceful Prairie. While enjoying a BBQ Seitan sandwich (courtesy of Three Little Figs market!), I met Sherman, a cow who not only loves people, but apparently loves (vegan) people food! He really wanted to give the sandwich a try. When that didn't quite work, he decided to browse the silent auction.

Sherman has an interesting story, one that I know only a few details of. I know that he was rescued after successfully hiding from the slaughterhouse-bound truck loading. That is just one detail of his life that highlights for all his fellow cows just how sensitive and intelligent these giant creatures are. Another Sherman story is of him standing forlorn at the gate for days after his companion, Daisy, went to a new home at a sanctuary in Tennessee. Daisy wasn't always nice to him (you can see that one of his horns looks a bit funny - Daisy did some damage!), but Sherman loved her nonetheless. And he missed her fiercely when she left, waiting for her to come back, mourning her absense.

He was a sweetheart, no doubt. Not all the animals were quite so happy to have humans among them. The other cow kept his distance, wanting only the occasional companionship of Sherman. The ducks were also not sure they wanted to me around. I tried to take their picture, and they came running! Not to say hello, but to drive me off. One bit at my knee several times (didn't hurt at all - they were gentle bites), until I finally got the idea.

There are a lot more stories to be heard and learned at Peaceful Prairie, and I look forward to my next visit. Hopefully soon, with Joy and Ron!

I can't imagine anyone who could care more about these precious animals, than Michele and Chris. They have a dedication that I admire, and would find near impossible to emulate. I'm so glad I finally made the effort to support them, John Lee, and the Sanctuary in general.

Protesting: The importance of keeping your cool

2006-06-03T00:02:00.000-06:00

Many people have this idea that protesters are out there angrily shaking their fists and yelling at people. Maybe that is true some of the time at some of the protests, but it is certainly not true at the RMAD fur protests. In fact, RMAD has a detailed policy on the expected behavior of their volunteers.

Ironically, though I've been protesting with RMAD for a couple months now, I hadn't seen the Protester Guidelines until one of our protesters was arrested.

PROTESTER GUIDELINES

Use of These Guidelines

It is Rocky Mountain Animal Defense’s policy that protests and public events shall be conducted in a civil, peaceful, and orderly manner, respecting the rights of all other individuals. Individual behavior during our activities may reflect back on Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, other like-minded organizations, and the overall causes that we represent. Therefore it is imperative that we conduct ourselves in a manner that demonstrates professionalism and knowledge of the issues, and that garners respect from the public. Your participation in a protest or public event organized by Rocky Mountain Animal Defense indicates your agreement with these guidelines and your intent to abide by them.

Protest Participant Responsibilities

Participants shall follow these guidelines:

· Follow the instructions of the protest leader.

· Avoid confrontation. Never harass, insult or personally provoke others.

· If you find that you are directly involved in a confrontation, or in an exchange that likely is leading to confrontation, remove yourself from it and ask other involved protesters to do the same.

· If you observe a confrontation, or an exchange that likely is leading to confrontation, approach the involved protester and encourage him/her to walk away.

· If you are encouraged to walk away from an exchange you are having, walk away.

· Do not yell at others, even if you are provoked.

· If, for some reason you do get into a debate, do so with civility and without raising your voice. Focus on the issues, and not on individuals.

· Never give so much of your attention to any one person that you ignore others.

· Never interfere with the free-speech rights of others.

· Familiarize yourself with the literature. Be prepared to have a short answer as to what you are protesting and why. You are speaking first and foremost for the animals and Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, and secondly for yourself.

· Never impede the public’s access to streets or sidewalks, or to public or commercial spaces.

· Obey all laws, including pedestrian and traffic laws. Stay safely back from traffic.

· Direct media, police and other authorities to the protest leader.

· Make sure your clothing, and all signs and materials that you bring, are consistent with the message of the protest. If in doubt, ask the protest leader.

· Please return all Rocky Mountain Animal Defense protest materials to the protest leader unless given permission to use materials for a future date. In an effort to save money and protect the environment, Rocky Mountain Animal Defense reuses materials whenever possible.

Now, granted, we're all human and it is very difficult to maintain a zen serenity when you are out there demonstrating because of an issue you are passionate about. Especially when assholes walk by and try to provoke you with the "you're wearing leather shoes" comments. (which really just goes to show you how little we need leather, when the immitations pass so easily. but that is another topic entirely)

What happened was this: customers were in the fur store, at which point some of the protesters will hold signs (the graphic ones, especially) facing the store. If you're on the sidewalk, you have to be marching, if you're on the grass you can stand there, just holding the sign.

Though this picture was taken a week earlier, it was the same basic scenario. Except this time a guy walked across the grass right past Craig, and made the he-only-thinks-it-is-clever comment about Craig's shoes. Which are not, in fact, leather, but which apparently can pass as looking quite a bit like leather.

Craig, unfortunately, didn't give this comment the attention it deserved (none), but instead reacted. The guy had been pretty must past Craig, but came back and really got in his face. The kind of logic that this redneck-yuppie used were truely clever and convincing: his assertions that he made more money than Craig, and presumably the protesters in general. His hate talk about "faggots", which was educational as well, because until then I hadn't realized that being gay was required of men interested in protesting. Granted it is Denver, but I haven't met even one gay male protester. Or maybe I have. Somehow sexuality isn't something that necessarily comes up when you get a group of passionate Animal Rights Activists together at a fur protest. Imagine that. Unfortunately the cop, employed by Marks Lloyds Furs, did not hear the hate speach. Not did he hear the threat the guy made to Craig, along the lines of finding out where he lived and implying that Craig would then be harmed.

I heard the hate speach, but not the threats. There were people standing next to Craig who did hear the threats. I can believe that the cop didn't hear the threats, but I imagine it would have been hard for him not to hear the guy ranting, not quietly, about "faggots" and making interesting suggestions, such as, "why don't you go fuck his dick".

There was also obvious violation of personal space. If the guy had taken a deep breath, his belly would have pushed against Craig...that's how close and in-your-face he was. He also made rude comments to other protesters. Clearly his intent was to provoke.

It didn't take him long to keep all of his focus on Craig, who he could see was provokable. Craig moved away, to the other side of one of the protesters, but the guy followed him. Eventually Craig cracked, as I think most of us would have. Still holding his sign with both hands, he leaned his shoulder into the guy to move him away.

Craig was arrested, and the guy wanted to press charges. He was pretty pleased with himself, that much was clear. I would not be surprised if he is friends with Mr. Fur Store and set out to see if he could accomplish exactly what he did.

Unfortunately, it worked. And unfortunately this is not good PR for RMAD or the fur protests in general. We get a lot of support, and I'm sure we didn't lose any of our supporters with this arrest. However, I can't help but to wonder how many of the "I love fur"ers and "Get a job"ers felt vindicated in their belief that we should not be allowed to protest, and that we're a bunch of wackos for believing that wearing the skin and fur of another being is wrong.

Craig reacted, and it ended in his arrest. He was not, however, the only one at fault. Any of us could have and should have pulled him away when things didn't cool down. We are a team out there, working together to reach people, change their minds if needbe, and otherwise remind them that these cruely used animals need a voice. We march, they honk. It works well, but how many more people will remember instead the arrest, if peaceful, of one of ours?

I don't think Craig will be convicted. He has a good (and free) lawyer. One of us. He will get a jury trial, if the case is not thrown out of court. None of that changes the impression we may have given the people driving by that day, nor does it change the fact that Craig was in jail until 10:30pm that night.

Keeping our cool is never more important than when faced with the challenges of the people who can push our buttons the easiest. The hardest thing is sometimes to just walk away, but this is exactly when we need to. And next time, if there ever is a next time, when one of my friends needs to walk away and isn't, I'm going to overcome my own anger and pull him away. Pacifism is not the same as being passive.

Fur Protests

2006-05-14T22:34:00.000-06:00

I came only recently to protesting. I thought just "being" vegan was enough. Not consuming any animal products was a big deal, after all, and one I devoted a considerable amount of time to. Researching products, ingredients, making sure I was spending my money on cruelty-free goods; even better when I had the option of purchasing ethical products at ethical companies.

Protesting? I thought that was for other people. Intimidated at the thought of gaining attention by The Powers That Be (TPTB), I made the decision to let other people carry the burden of protesting.
I hadn't really changed my mind when I went to my first protest a couple months ago. Spending so much time on Vegan Freaks Forums and listening to the podcasts did make me think more about it, find more passion in the pursuit of AR. So when RMAD started a meetup group, I decided to join them at the protest. To my surprise, it was a fun and positive experience. It turned into a vegan-bonding day, and the support from the people driving by (mostly positive) was really encouraging. I liked feeling that I was doing just a bit more.

Gradually my thoughts on protesting began to change. Protesting was not difficult, after all. At least with RMAD, all you have to do is show up. They provide the signs, the pamphlets, they need only warm bodies of passionate AR activists. That I could do. And in doing, I began to see how necessary it was.

I would never have bought a fur, not when I was omni, and obviously not now. But clearly not being a consumer of fur does nothing to actually stop the trade. At least not until everyone stops buying fur. We have to educate people, we have to make it clear exactly what they would be supporting by buying a fur.

The animals being skinned don't have a voice that is heard. Their screams of pain, rage, and agony fall on the deaf ears of the trappers and the fur farmers, who think nothing of skinning an animal alive and leaving them to die a slow painful death. There are no rules or laws to regulate the cruelty of this particular industry, but there is no conceivable law that would make this okay. Raising and murdering an animal for the very skin on their backs. It is horrifying. That people justify this is beyond my comprehension.

I want their voice to be heard. I want to be their voice, and I want you to join me. Together we can voice the rage and the pain and we will be heard. There is no excuse, no justification for cruelty such as this. We have our skins, let them keep theirs.

Earthlings

2006-05-12T18:18:00.000-06:00

I just watched Earthlings, and am devestated. I bought a copy to send to a friend and decided I had better watch it so I know what I'm expecting of him - I knew it would be rough. He says he wants motivation to eat less meat. If this doesn't do it, I don't know what will. In fact, after spending 95 minutes sobbing, if this doesn't make him vegetarian, at the very least, I'm not sure I can be friends with him. I don't think I could be friends with someone who can really know what he's complicit in and not change.

Leo Tolstoy: "As long as there are slaughterhouses....there will be battlefields."

Something said at the end went approximately like: "if what goes around comes around, what is coming to them?"

We are all earthlings. I think it is time we all understand what exactly that means. Watch earthlings.

AR is about all of us

2006-05-12T14:46:00.000-06:00

I finished Ecology of Freedom today, and I was a bit disappointed. After spending months getting through the thought-provoking, lyrically word-dense book that literally turned some of my never-before-questioned thoughts on their ear, I thought he pancaked in his conclusion.

He spent 450 pages plus a 26 page intro building up his arguments against hierarchies and urging us to move away from hierarchical thinking, only to neglect to take it that one small final step. He didn't seem to make the connection that breaking down hierarchies within the human race and between humans and nature requires that you also break down the hierarchies between humans and other animals. How can you convince someone that all humans have equal worth, regardless of money, intelligence, or anything else, that equality of inequals is the goal? How do you convince anyone of that if you believe that subjugation and objectification of other species is okay? They are not here for the use, entertainment, and exploitation by humans. They are here for themselves, to live their lives.

Time after time it has been shown that increasing Animal Rights awareness increases Human Rights awareness. How could it not? If you can feel compassion for all of the animals, large and small, that surround us, you will naturally feel more compassion for all of the animals around you, human, insect, canine, bovine...all animals.

AR is about all of us. It is about the choices we make every day, about how we treat our companion animals, our coworkers, friends and family. It is about how we want to be treated by others, about the respect we have for each other. Break down the hierarches. Break them down between each other and between humans and animals. We owe it to each other.

"I do it for the joy it brings, because I am a joyful girl. Because the world owes me nothing, and we owe each other the world." Ani Difranco

Let's break down the hierarchies

2006-05-09T18:36:00.000-06:00

Admittedly I've been greatly influenced by Ecology of Freedom by Murray Bookchin recently, with his talk of hierarchies, but it makes so much sense, really resonates with me. If not for hierarchies, would we think exploitation was okay? I'm thinking not. Murray has me convinced. Furthermore, here we are, thinking we're the smartest animals on earth, somehow above all sorts of moral considerations...but wait! We're the only animals on the earth stupid enough to be destroying that which we need to live. Are humans really the smartest of them all?

So how to break down the hierarchical thinking? I think the first step is to make it personal. Objectification is so prevalent in society, we accept it without consideration. Well, here's news: it isn't meat, it is murder. It isn't beef, it is a cow. An intelligent, feeling, thinking, personality-filled being that people torture and kill in the name of their McMurder sandwich. Read about Elvis and then try to tell me cows are not worthy of our consideration! But don't take this to mean I somehow believe that an animal has to be smart to be worthy. It is all about the equality of inequals. You wouldn't BBQ an alzheimer's patient or a brain-damaged baby, would you?

Intro

2006-05-08T21:04:00.000-06:00

Welcome to Invisible Voices!