Editors Note: Due to some issues with lost letters between Lauren and her support committee this latest blog is long overdue. We apologize for the lateness in publishing this blog and are working the issues out to make sure it doesn't happen again.

The Rod Blog

06/30/07

Leafing through the New York Times yesterday, what do I suddenly see? - a half page article on Rod Coronado. "Holy ____!" I exclaimed. Then, reading it, I came across words I'd thought Rod would be the last person ever to utter: "I don't believe anymore in illegal direct action."

Every communication from prison to the outside world seems to take eons longer then any within the free world. So I imagine that, by the time you all read this, discussion over the article will have died down. But I can imagine what is happening now, as I write this. Emails are racing back and forth on email lists and inboxes are filling up with threads of the discussion: "Re: Re: Re: Re: Rod doesn't support illegal direct action." Some people will send several emails a day on this topic, denouncing Rod's public comments, or perhaps defending his change of heart. Still more people will be disheartened to hear Rod rebuke that position for which he has been best known for more than a decade. They will be saddened to see the individual who has (in the U.S.) carried the torch of illegal action longest and burned it the brightest, lay it down. I've endured these e-mail threads, overflowing inboxes, lengthy arguments for days and weeks on end, on several occasions. And time after time I am cognizant of the ratio of email banter to increased action. Many of those most vocal in these discussions haven't been seen at a demo in years. and I can't remember a time when vocal denouncements of others have been accompanied by a measurable increase in reported action.

To be clear, I do feel that discussion of tactics, public image, of consistency and of changing course is important for the health and efficacy of the movement. And most activists are not confined to such limited time that they cannot discuss and advocate, discuss and demonstrate, discuss and liberate; a half hour spent discussing is not necessarily a half hour less spent demonstrating. Unfortunately however, in practice, time and time again, I've seen "activists" who haven't been active in years roused to furious discussion of other people's tactics; I've watched multitudes introduce themselves to Rod and tell him they could never do what he's done - I've received letters to the effect myself. In practice, admiration and argument often do replace personal activism.

I've obviously never "directly acted" with Rod outside the bounds of the law - I believe I was in middle school while he was liberating animals and burning things down. But I've been to demonstrations with him. I've spoken at conferences with him and written articles for the same publications. We've handed out leaflets together, protested at homes together, and done jail support together. And from this I take inspiration: seeing this monument to illegal direct action continuing to work for the animals in so many other ways long after his illegal direct action career has ended; to know that, while so many "activists" are discussing, denouncing or admiring the tactics of others, Rod is out there engaging in them. More than a beacon of advocacy for illegal action, I see Rod as a person who, for nearly two decades, through persecution, prosecution, and prison, whatever it was he felt was most effective for the animals at that time, he was out there doing it: when he thought it was exposing horrifying images from animal abuse industries, he did it; when he thought it was liberating animals and burning down buildings, he was out there doing it; when he thought it was most effective to sab hunts, he went out and did it. And if he feels now that legal advocacy, activism, and education are most effective, he'll be out there doing it. That is more then I can say for very many activists I've met over the years, no matter how vehement their opinions, or how loudly they express them.

To echo a recent blog by my co-defendant Jake Conroy, we must be our own heroes; we must do the things that inspire so much admiration within us for others. Let our heroes be mirrors and measures against which we assess and compare ourselves - are we living up to that which we believe to be best? To those who value bumper sticker wisdom: do not be content to admire the change you wish to see in the world, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

There is a chance, however remote it may seem, that each and every SHAC 7 defendant will one day denounce his or her previous activism, change our minds about strategy, tactics or efforts against HLS as a whole and resign ourselves to holding vegan potlucks for the rest of our lives. Readers may scoff at this suggestion but if you've lived in this world for even a short time, you know that anything is possible. And if this happens, I hope you all will shrug it off, because you'll be able to say that you have been doing all you can for the animals, because you and those around you will give your all with or without us. Shrug it off, keep fighting - and bring a tofu dish.