Word from Gypsy Mountain, as of Thursday, Oct 1, 1998:
The barricade has grown. A solid framed wall now spans the entire driveway, from the end of one guardrail to the beginning of the next, protecting the front line of lockdowners from the eggs and other projectiles, including paintballs shot from airguns (which come out of the barrel at over 200 miles an hour). Such assaults don't happen every night, but they happen. The wall is crowned with a photo of David Chain atop a flagpole, and signs on the wall read "Gypsy Died Doing CDF's Job" and "$ Makes Life Cheap." There is always someone posted at the front of the blockade, to greet arrivals and fly the peace sign at passers-by, (even the ones who curse us) including the over 100 loaded log trucks that go by every day. A lot of those drivers smile and wave, give thumbs up. But where are those logs coming from? How many other THPs are active inside the Headwaters complex right now? Are they smiling because they found a way to get us all to stay in one place while fallers go nuts with the rest of the forest? For those who want to help but don't like blockades, there's much recon to do. Come see our map collection, pick your favorite.
The altar has grown. It is a place of incredible power and beauty, still attended by almost continuous prayer. I have never seen an otherwise industry standard collection of riff raff lockdowners be so spiritually focused, clear in positive vision, so hungry for truth. Today begins Yom Kippur, the time of atonement. We're always working in some part of the forest war at this time of year and always manage to bring up certain corporate sleaze individuals and our hopes that they do some atoning. This year I managed to remind myself and others who tend to do that, that we will probably benefit more from doing our own atoning.
The gypsymobile, which began as a bare bones junk car lockdown, now looks more like a living room. The newest addition to the blockade collection is a 72-foot bipod that spans the road just below Never Neverland. And all over camp, there are those special people who go everwhere with chain bracelets around their wrists. Free to move, but ready at a moment's notice to clip into the steel tubes to which they have assigned themselves. Even when there's no action, the stress of being ready to throw down at a moment's notice becomes chronic and draining. There's always someone who could stand to pass it off for a while.
Monday night, in Arcata, I met Gypsy's family. They told of the transformation they witnessed when he decided to leave Texas indefinitely and return to the Redwood region to make his home and defend the forests. He had, they said, never in his life been more happy and purposeful. All I could think to say to them was to never doubt that this has happened except for the highest good for all beings.
News by phone Thurs eve Oct 1 is that we're getting into the boring drag-it-out-wait-them-out-hope-for-rain part of the occupation. Cops went up the hill today, no sign yet of an independent investigation. Though to me, the whole investigation thing seems to be theatre at best. I have trouble imagining what forensic evidence could possibly exist that would shift the balance in this case one direction or another. John Campbell's lies about what was going on in that logging operation that morning have been elevated to one side of a virtual debate, with the activists' claims on the other side. A debate which, we are told, the Sherrif's Dept. (headed up by former PL boy Dennis Lewis) will resolve in their "investigation," the proceedings of which they've already lied about (See update 9/26).
The reigning tragedy continues to be the regional media, doing the full on propaganda work for the company. My favorite is still the Press Democrat, first they quote an article by Alicia Littletree which they refused to print. There's also an editorial saying EF! has conceded the death was an accident. THIS IS BULLSHIT! Once more for the stupid people: we have concrete video and eyewitness evidence that the logger knew Gypsy was there and fully intended to fall the tree in his direction! But good ol' Mike G insists on pulling things out of context and twisting them to suit someone's agenda. The case being assembled is for a wrongful death. It is up to the district attorney to file manslaughter charges.
The one that was too pitiful to be angry about was the article (Times Standard, Tuesday) about the industry wives' group Women in Timber making a plea for safer protests, blaming EF! for sending young people into dangerous logging operations. It implies that we have some strategic command that ordered Private Gypsy into battle. It also implies that we've made some kind of career out of doing protests and need to develop safer workplaces for our movement participants. Will someone please explain to them that we are here because we want this to end?
Finally, for the delusion of the week award: Lawyer for the family Steve Schectman challenged the fact that the sheriff's investigation team included none other than A. E. Ammons, the logger who threatened Gypsy and then dropped a tree on him. Dennis Lewis had no problem with this, nor did the impeccable Mary Bullwinkle, who cleared things up: "He is the one who can explain how the accident happened."
So, while I'm editorializing, I notice that in my own mind I get all righteous about the corrupt propaganda machine and then I realize that I, in my times of fear and self censorship, am their accomplice. In Willits or Ukiah, simply standing by my story could invite rabid hostility or simply get my ass kicked.
Under this kind of repression, the most courageous thing we can do, even more so than jumping in front of saws, is to bear witness to the truth. Let us not mince our words for our convenience or the convenience of those who do not understand. They need to hear it, we need to say it. We can only live honorably in this matter by sharing the truth. I'd love to hear from people who are having success with breaking through the cultural and worldview barriers that keeps us divided against one another for the amusement of a demonic alien in Houston, while simultaneously causing a lot of people to say that a peaceful, talented man in the prime of his life deserves to die for defending some trees.
"Your silence will not protect you" --Audrey Lourde
In Solidarity,
Reverend fly Greenfield
BLACKBERRY HOUSE INFO CENTER
revfly@pacific.net