The Eco-Rebel in Me
by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC
Back in the ‘old country’ (I’m originally from the UK), my friends would be skipping after-school community service, doing more hip things, like raiding their parents’ drinks cabinets or writing on park benches. Meanwhile, I’d be at the local Friends of the Earth offices writing yet another letter warning about the dangers of environmental destruction. I remember sometimes feeling embarrassed about these activities and certainly don’t remember having much fun.
Then I discovered Reclaim the Streets or RTS. These events would involve groups from 100 to as many as 10,000 people, gathering on public roads to protest against global warming, pollution and car culture. Spaces that were usually filled with nothing but traffic jams and noxious fumes would suddenly be alive with public celebration, transformed into a carnival-like atmosphere. This was a far cry from my Wednesday afternoons licking stamps - this was rock n’ roll!
On July 13, 1996, one RTS party became a legend in the annals of direct action. After eluding police, a celebration was staged on a major motorway. While a gigantic sound system blared techno music, dancers on stilts, wearing huge, wire-supported skirts hid protestors wielding jack hammers and shovels. After the “party”ended, the dancers retreated, revealing the work of the concealed activists - a mini-forest of planted trees.
Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t naive enough to assume that RTS had everyone’s support or what they were doing was “right”. Every time we blocked a road to assert our right to clean air, we stopped someone else exercising their right of getting where they wanted to go. Perhaps tax money spent on repairing the tarmac could have been spent on schools or hospitals (though most likely it would have gone to more roads or guns). Nevertheless, at the time, it was the only way I felt I could have a genuine impact on a system that seemed so hell-bent on its own destruction.Whatever the rights and wrongs of direct action, I certainly learned one thing from RTS - social change can be fun. While I may not block streets too often these days, I still value the humor and irreverence of those parties. If we are to create a truly inclusive vision for a sustainable future, we’ve got to make people want to join us. That means remembering to laugh, both at the status quo we aim to change and at ourselves. It means doing things not just because they are right, but because they come naturally to us. It means remembering to think beyond narrow issues, and to start talking about values. In short, it means embracing and celebrating culture. If we are going to change the world, we need some good times (and possibly some very big stilts!).
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