"Environmentalism", to me, is the White Man's term to describe something that is part of non-defiled Indigenous traditions called "living". The White Man seeks to defile and destroy everything he possibly can about Indigenous life--including the people. But also the ways of being, the values, the worldview, the practices, and the spirituality and religions. When people tell me "I'm anti-religion" I wonder what religions they are speaking about--well, I don't, actually. I already know: they mean one or two of three religions--the Ibrahimic/Abrahamic ones: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, named here in reverse chronological order. They never, ever mean Indigenous religion, because they don't think of Indigenous people as having a religion. They don't think of Indigenous people, usually.
Environmentalism is what white men have done with Indigenous ways of being, pretending it is the White Man who must save the day, and the Earth. These men ignore not only the on-going work of Indigenous activists globally, but of ecofeminists. Environmentalists are a notoriously sexist/misogynist bunch of men; virtually all bunches of men are sexist and misogynistic. They ought not be listened to, made into heroes, leaders, given awards, proclaimed as the new Messiah, and so on. The White Man must follow, not lead. He has led us into hell and he doesn't know how to get us out.
In case it isn't yet clear, I don't have faith in the White Man's ways of being, his values, worldview, practices, or spirituality and religions. He appropriates and exploits everything he touches. It's like The Midas Touch story except that everything he touches turns to CRAP.
There are very few white men I hold deep respect and regard for. Most of the activists I feature on this blog are neither white nor male, for a reason. I believe both whiteness and manhood, as socially constructed and politically acted out, are poisonous and inhumane. One of the white men I believe is doing good work is Derrick Jensen, and he is one of the key people involved in the production of a new film called End:Civ Resist or Die.
Derrick asks: “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”
The answer is that many people have been resisting all along, but not nearly enough people who are white and male, and those who are activist resisters who are white and male do not usually hold themselves accountable to activists who are women of color.
I am drawn to watch this movie because it is not a movie about the experiences of white men only, as most films are in North America. This means that actual human beings who are not white or are not male are spoken to and with as if they had something important to say. You won't find that happening on CRAPitalist media, unless the women or men of color are saying exactly what the White Man wants them to say.
Please click on the link below to return to the film's web page. All that follows if from there. At some point I may offer a review of the film here. But for now, please watch it.
http://endciv.com/
END:CIV examines our culture’s addiction to systematic violence and environmental exploitation, and probes the resulting epidemic of poisoned landscapes and shell-shocked nations. Based in part on Endgame, the best-selling book by Derrick Jensen, END:CIV asks: “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?”
The causes underlying the collapse of civilizations are usually traced to overuse of resources. As we write this, the world is reeling from economic chaos, peak oil, climate change, environmental degradation, and political turmoil. Every day, the headlines re-hash stories of scandal and betrayal of the public trust. We don’t have to make outraged demands for the end of the current global system — it seems to be coming apart already.
But acts of courage, compassion and altruism abound, even in the most damaged places. By documenting the resilience of the people hit hardest by war and repression, and the heroism of those coming forward to confront the crisis head-on, END:CIV illuminates a way out of this all-consuming madness and into a saner future.
Backed by Jensen’s narrative, the film calls on us to act as if we truly love this land. The film trips along at a brisk pace, using music, archival footage, motion graphics, animation, slapstick and satire to deconstruct the global economic system, even as it implodes around us. END:CIV illustrates first-person stories of sacrifice and heroism with intense, emotionally-charged images that match Jensen’s poetic and intuitive approach. Scenes shot in the back country provide interludes of breathtaking natural beauty alongside clearcut evidence of horrific but commonplace destruction.
END:CIV features interviews with Paul Watson, Waziyatawin, Gord Hill, Michael Becker, Peter Gelderloos, Lierre Keith, James Howard Kunstler, Stephanie McMillan, Qwatsinas, Rod Coronado, John Zerzan and more.
“A fierce critique of systematic violence and industrial civilization, End:Civ is not intended for garden-variety environmentalists. If you are anywhere below, say, an 8 on that sliding scale of pissed off, then this film is going to scare you — which means you should watch it.”
-Eugene Weekly
.”A tour de force film from Franklin López which does more than justice to Derrick Jensen’s thesis that industrial civilization is destroying life on the planet. Employing all the contemporary audio visual techniques our digital world makes possible for a single brilliant penurious filmmaker, López harvests sounds and images from our demented world to relentlessly show the rape of the mind and the earth. To those outside the small choir who see the message of resistance as obvious, this powerful film makes them deal with it either by denial or acknowledging, yes I see it is obvious.”
James Becket
-Director of The Best Revenge
“Franklin Lopez is a fantastically talented filmmaker, who has created a powerful and important film about the most important topic ever: how to stop this culture from killing the planet.”
-Derrick Jensen, Author of Endgame
“By far the most routinely praised contemporary media activist is Franklin López. His shows and films not only possess a distinctive look and feel, but they also contain a wicked sense of humor that is often sorely lacking among alter-globalization activists. López’s work engages in constructing a new vision where popular culture serves the interests of the poor and dispossessed, where humor is reignited within activism, and the D.I.Y. ethics of punk and hip-hop allow those with talent and gumption to be the media, once again.”
-Chris Robé, Pop Matters
“Franklin Lopez’ END:CIV is a labour of love, a stunning 75 minutes film…”
John Zerzan, author of Future Primitive
“It brought me to tears…” “I recommend it to people”
-Alex Smith, Host of Radio Ecoshock
“Franklin Lopez’s END:CIV project is awesome.”
-Shannon Walsh, Director of H2Oil
“Both the quantity and the quality of this movement’s filmmaking is increasing. This is the big battlefield on which we fight right now.”
-Michael Rupert, CollapseNet.com
Franklin López will be touring with END:CIV in 2011.
The END:CIV DVD by PM Press can be ordered now.
If you wish to book a screening in your town or want to order a DVD, simply click on the links below.
Order DVD — Book a community screening — Book a university screening
Upcoming Shows:
END:CIV with Director Franklin López
Date City Venue Country Tour: END:CIV TOUR 05/11/11 END:CIV with Director Franklin López in Kingston, ON AKA Autonomous Social Centre Canada Time: 7:00pm. Address: 75 Queen St.. With Aric McBay 05/13/11 END:CIV with Director Franklin López in Peterborough, ON The Cannery Art Centre Canada Time: 7:00pm. Admission: Sliding Scale: $5-$50 (no one wi. Address: 168 Hunter St. W.. 05/14/11 END:CIV with Director Franklin López in Toronto Detour Bar Canada Time: 7:00pm. Admission: $5-$1- PWYC – No one turned away. Address: 193 Baldwin St. Buy tickets 05/16/11 END:CIV with Director Franklin López in London, ON Lifespin Canada Time: 7:00pm. Admission: 5-10$ suggested donation (nobody. Address: 866 Dundas St.. Opening night of the London Anarchist Film Festival 05/17/11 END:CIV with Director Franklin López in Waterloo University of Waterloo – EIT room 1015 Canada Time: 7:00pm. Admission: 0-50 PWYC. END:CIV
Date City Venue Country Tour: END:CIV TOUR 05/15/11 END:CIV in Copenhagen Folkets Hus Denmark Time: 7:00pm. Address: Stengade, 50. Sponsored by The Climate Collective A discussion will follow. “how do we fight?” 05/21/11 END:CIV in Austin Austin Zen Center United States Time: 7:00pm. Admission: FREE. Address: 3014 Washington Sq. Venue phone: 512-452-5777.
For more tour dates click here
END:CIV by subMedia.TV is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at blip.tv.
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END:CIV DVD’s can be ordered in several ways.
2. International orders – $19.95 + $10 shipping
3. Pack of 10 DVD’s – $150
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5. For Institutions, libraries and Universities – $200
All prices include shipping world wide.
*The community screening kit includes 10 DVD’s, 10 promotional posters and a press kit.
Region 0 DVD-NTSC
Total running time: 75 Minutes
Subtitles: Spanish, English, German, Slovak, Italian and Romanian
Hi Julian
ReplyDeleteI support the anti-civ people and I like a lot of what Jensen writes about, but I wish he;s work oh his sexism. He of all people should know better than to continue to use the passive voice (women are raped vs men rape women) while talking and writing quite a bit about misogyny. I just finished reading 'Endgame' and he does it there to the point of un-genderizing the Q Tip Pepper Spray case. This was eight women forest defenders who were tortured by male cops in Humboldt County, CA. That they are women is of upmost importance, they finally won their case in 2005 but got no personal compensation, just some money to pay for their defense.
Jensen, who works with Lierre Keith should know better.
My point is that I am tired of
ReplyDeletebeing asked to help and then being pushed aside when the project is over. Most women who know women's history would never join forces with men, we know all too well what will happen. This is of course excluding the tiny handful of men who actively work on eradicating their own misogyny. I went to hear Jensen speak before I ever read his books, and it was so obvious in his talk. He tries too hard to prove he's one of he 'good guys'.
So it just reminds me not to get excited over anything men say or write, even anarchist men. They have to show me that they're fighting for women, that they're willing to take orders from women and not assume that they will lead
and women will follow, make coffee, cook dinner, raise the money, do the publicity while the men give the speeches and get the attention.
I don't know if you know what happened to Lierre Keith at the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco last year, but it proves that the anarchist movement is as sexist as any other patriarchal movement.
Unfortunately
I would rather hear Chellis Glendenning speak. Not only is she a feminist and a therapist, but from what I read about her she gave up a cosmopolitan life in the Bay Area to move to a small town (Chimayo) in New Mexico. I think she either lives w/ native people or has a lot of native friends.
ReplyDeleteHave you read 'My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery From Civilization'?
I've been to Chimayo and it looks like you really have to prove yourself to live there if you're an outsider. It has a very macho feel to it; it's a far cry from comfortable, wealthy Santa Fe.
I agree with you, Lauren.
ReplyDeleteHe should no better, and has no excuse for not getting it. I hope it sees this and takes it to heart, and into his writing also.
I do know what happened to Lierre, and it was grotesquely sexist to me.
ReplyDeleteI would encourage anyone reading this to get one simple fact: any movements led by men are going to be deeply sexist. There's no way around it. Why? Because any men who really "get it" wouldn't place themselves as the key spokespeople in any movement they are part of. They'd support women in leadership, to end the cycle of all of us looking to men--especially but not only white men--to "lead us".
Men cannot lead us. Period.
I'm a bit shocked by this, Lauren. I'd never heard of Chellis Glendinning before!! Hmmm. I'm thinking I need to familiarise myself with her work.
ReplyDeleteI've never really followed the white environmentalism movement, to be honest; I'm not sure she's part of that, but that's my initial hunch on why I haven't heard of her.
I look to Indigenous people for leadership in what whites term "environmentalism" and what Indigenous people call "surviving genocide [and ecocide]".
Here's a link to her book, though, so I won't forget to check out her work and so others can as well.
"My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization", by Chellis Glendinning (1994)
I'm seeing that this book deals with dissociation. I'm going to be reading it. Thanks for letting me know about it!!!
I'm going to try and do a better job of promoting women doing this work, rather than just a white guy. I love Derrick, but I do think any movement striving for liberation--of humans, non-human animals, or the planet--needs to be led by women.