The Green Flame

Episode 99 is an interview with Carl Van Warmerdam.  Carl delves into on the impact listening to the Ahjamu Umi Green Flame episode had on his life and activism.  We asked Carl three primary questions: How has the GF informed and inspired you?  What is your favorite episode?  What would you like to hear more of on the GF?  Please email contact@deepgreenresistance.org with your written, audio or video recorded responses to these questions so we can include your reflections in our Episode 100! Live Event, April 14th 2024, 4 - 7 PM Pacific Time.  You can find this live event on DGR's facebook and X accounts. As always, a BIG THANK YOU to you, our GF listeners.

The Tongass Rainforest in Southeast Alaska is the last great expanse of temperate old growth forest left in the United States, and it has been partially protected since the "Roadless Rule" halted most logging there in 2001.  Now, the "biggest threat to the west coast rainforest this century" is here: Bill S.1889/H.R. 4748, which would permanently privatize 115,200 acres (including 60,000 acres of old-growth) of Tongass National Forest into the hands of Sealaska Corporation — which has already logged massive swathes of the region. This conversation with Tlingit elder and forest defender Wanda Culp and filmmaker and activist Joshua Wright — who has been on the show before to discuss Fairy Creek — dives into "indigi-washing," one of the divide and conquer strategies used defeat public opposition to the destruction of the land. Wanda and Joshua are looking for allies: organizations and individuals willing to fight this project and defend the Tongass. For more information, visit https://www.notongassprivatization.org/

Dr Nzinga Dalilia, Saba Malik, and Max Wilbert join in conversation offering their unique perspectives on trauma, trauma community, addiction, “environmental justice”, othering, the necessity of feeling safe in the process of seeing and being seen, healing spaces, falling back in love with ourselves and with all of life and coming into our individual and collective power in the process and much more. Watch for part two of this heartfelt compassionate and expansive exploration of Black People for the Natural World.   Dr. Dalila's book can be found here: https://nzinghadalila.gumroad.com/l/nxrbq

Before listening to this episode, stop. For the first time Lierre Keith’s presentation on non-violent direct action is publicly available!  Go here and absorb this information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMk1eltyuek Next, listen this GF episode, Lierre’s account of ten courageous women's experiences as they organized and practiced NVDA brilliantly in November 2023 in Portland, Oregon. Here’s the link to listen to the women’s speeches that the mob failed to silence:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgCCULqQ1mqE7kDS3JOS7H6ZQeUjAhpkg 

Attny Bobby Chan graces us with an introduction to the deep social justice and spiritual roots of PNNI (Palawan NGO Network Inc) founded in 1991. PNNI organizes communities through consensus. They use advocacy, civilian enforcement and increasingly are seeking legal measures to protect and defend the Palawan paradise. To learn more and support this work go to https://www.pnni.org/

Jessica Reznicek is a 40-year-old land and water defender who has worked with and lived in the Des Moines Catholic Worker Community. After being charged with a "terrorism enhancement," she was sentenced to 8 years in 2021 for taking action to protect the water along the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) route by disabling construction machinery during the Standing Rock uprising.  No one was injured by Jessica and her fellow Catholic Worker’s actions, and the land was protected from the flow of oil for an additional six months. On this episode, we share an update on her legal case, and encourage our listeners to support her team and consider writing to her. More information can be found at http://supportjessicareznicek.com/. The Green Flame is honored to rebroadcast our interview with Jessica in the second part of this show. We conducted an interview with Jessica and Ruby Montoya on July 26th, 2017 — after they had admitted publicly to sabotaging the pipeline but before they had been arrested or charged with these crimes. The two activists set fire to heavy machinery and used blow torches to damage the oil pipeline and valves in an effort to decisively halt the project. While the DAPL was ultimately finished, their actions singlehandedly delayed construction for weeks or months.

Species extinction. Plastic pollution. Global warming. Catastrophic floods. Raging fires. The failure of coral reefs. Whales dying en masse. Forever chemicals contaminating mothers' breast milk.   Our planet is in crisis. And while the wealthy and governments pour trillions into technological so-called “solutions,” things are spiraling out of control.   What if solving the ecological crisis depended on falling in love with the natural world, and acting to defend those we love?   What if a biocentric worldview — one which places the natural world at the center of our morality — could help us access the courage needed to stop the destruction?   On October 21st, join us for special 3-hour live streaming event: Ecology of Spirit: Biocentrism, Animism, and the Environmental Crisis — "the spirituality of the front lines." This event will explore the connectedness of all life and focus on organized resistance to the destruction of the planet.   Donate and watch here: https://givebutter.com/ecologyofspirit RSVP on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/3618448905057824/   The event begins at 1pm Pacific Time / 20:00 UTC, and will feature speakers including:   - First Voices Radio host Tiokasin Ghosthorse (Cheyenne River Lakota) - Rainforest conservationist Suprabha Seshan - Author Derrick Jensen - Filmmaker and activist Keala Kelly (Kanaka Oiwi) - Writer and activist Lierre Keith - Mik'maq warrior Sakej Ward - Poet Will Falk - Animas Institute guide Rebecca Wildbear - Organizer Max Wilbert - Former Buddhist monk Alan Clements - and other special guests.   There will be opportunities to ask questions and participate in dialogue.   The mainstream environmental movement is mostly funded by foundations which don't support revolutionary change. Radical organizations like Deep Green Resistance rely on individual donors to support our activism around the world, which is why “Ecology of Spirit” is also a fundraiser.   We're outnumbered and we need your help.   There is a path out of the this crisis, and DGR is one of the organizations leading the way. But we can't do it without you. We’re raising funds to support global community organizing, fund mutual aid and direct action campaigns, and sustain our core outreach and organizational work.   Donate here: https://givebutter.com/ecologyofspirit   Whether or not you are in a financial position to donate, we hope you will join us on October 21st for this opportunity to connect with kindred spirits offering light in dark times.

Joshua Wright talks about his film Eden's Last Chance that was released in April of 2023. "For the nonhuman world, the apocalypse has already arrived. Don’t be a bystander to the death of the living world." Go to https://www.edenslastchance.com/ or watch it on Prime Video, Vimeo, Apple TV, Vudu, and Hoopla. The Fairy Creek Blockade has been established again: "WE ARE BACK  (We need YOU to JOIN US) - July 31, 2023, Pacheedaht Territory: A group of Forest Defenders have set up a camp to prevent the logging of old growth forests on Ed are inburgh Mountain near Port Renfrew BC. They are using a massive effigy of a screech owl, sculpted out of recovered wood to block the road at a bridge over the Gordon River, and hope to prevent logging in the largest section of old growth remaining in the watershed, which is home to the threatened owl. The camp was set up on Saturday, July 30 and prevents access to cut blocks 7165 and 7163 above the famous Eden Grove on Edinburgh Mountain were logging was active as early as last week.  Elder Bill Jones of the Pacheedaht Nation has called for the protection of all of the old growth on his territory, and supports this latest action. More info at https://www.facebook.com/FairyCreekBlockade" Additional news: this year’s DGR Conference is coming up later this month, and will include three days of training, workshops, group discussions, strategizing, and community. DGR Guardians, Cadre, and family (including children) are all welcome. Allies and friends may be approved to attend as well on a case-by-case basis. If you fall into one of those categories and want to attend, let us know. Cost is a sliding scale, from $25—$250. And if you want to donate to support our conference, you can donate here. Thank you!

In this episode of The Green Flame podcast, host Max Wilbert shares an update about the lawsuit filed against him and six other water protectors (including Will Falk, who has been on the Green Flame before) related to their protests against the Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. For more information on the lawsuit and the campaign, visit https://ProtectThackerPass.org. The Green Flame production team would also like to sincerely thank everyone who contributed to our fundraiser in May and June. Your generous donations enabled us to purchase equipment for our audio engineer to facilitate her work on this show. We are very grateful.

We are asking for your help to keep the Green Flame moving — we need to raise $1000 or more for production equipment for our audio engineer. This equipment will also support the final edits to an audiobook version of Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet that we have recorded and are planning to release for free. Thank you so much for your support! https://givebutter.com/greenflamepodcast The Green Flame is a Deep Green Resistance podcast that brings you revolutionary analysis, practical skills, and artistic expression from the grassroots movement to dismantle global industrial civilization.

On this episode, Max Wilbert speaks with Anne Keala Kelly about her new short book, "Our Rights to Self-Determination: a Hawaiian Manifesto." In addition to being an author, Keala is a filmmaker, journalist, podcaster, and writer. Her published articles and Op-Eds have appeared in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, The Nation, Indian Country Today, Honolulu Weekly, Honolulu Civil Beat, Hana Hou! Magazine, Big Island Journal, and other publications. Her broadcast journalism  has aired on Free Speech Radio News, Independent Native News, Al Jazeera English, The Newshour with Jim Lehrer, Democracy Now!, The Environment Report, and more. She is a frequent guest commentator on First Voices Indigenous Radio, and has been interviewed on numerous nationally syndicated radio programs, from KPFK Los Angeles' Rise-Up to Native America Calling in Anchorage to the Australia Broadcast Corporation's Pacific Beat. Her reporting on Hawaiian poverty and homelessness garnered her Native American Journalism Awards. And her documentary, Noho Hewa: The Wrongful Occupation of Hawai'i, has received international film festival awards, and is widely taught in university courses focusing on Indigenous Peoples, colonization, Hawaiian sovereignty, and militarism. Keala is an outspoken Native advocate for Indigenous representation in media, and has been a guest speaker at universities in Hawai'i, the U.S., and Aotearoa-New Zealand. She has delivered conference keynotes and participated in conference and community panels and roundtables. She has an MFA in production from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television. https://www.annekealakelly.com/

Our third Green Flame interview with Renee Gerlich celebrates the publication of Out Of The Fog: On Politics, Feminism and Coming Alive (Spinifex Press, 2022). Renee is a writer, artist and feminist based out of New Zealand. We focus on the coming alive aspect of Renee's life and her new multidimensional book. From the Publisher: From racialised police brutality to climate change, #MeToo, ‘trans rights’, COVID-19, the prospect of nuclear war and the prevalence of trauma – we are constantly bombarded with high stakes problems that we are expected to speak out about and act on. On closer inspection, the popular solutions to each of these problems aren’t easy to reconcile. Black Lives Matter activists demand prison abolition, while #MeToo feminists want rapists in jail – and while our objections to war and police brutality make us suspicious of state institutions in general, our responses to climate change and COVID-19 reinforce our dependency on them. Out of the Fog cuts through the confusion. Renée Gerlich suggests that readers move beyond feeling overwhelmed and emotionally manipulated. She draws on a radical feminist tradition that demonstrates how our despair is connected to our most pressing social problems, and offers a framework for assessing and interpreting the current political landscape. Out of the Fog delivers clarity and guidance in this bewildering time. Renée Gerlich’s insights will help you develop the capacity to speak with an authentic voice and to act purposefully and with impact in the world. ...understanding how our private heartbreak relates to our large-scale problems is the only way we can unravel the helplessness we feel, claim our voices, and take action in the way we deeply crave. We cannot do any of these things while living with the cognitive dissonance of competing ideas, priorities, solutions, and top-down paternalism. https://reneejg.net/

On November 19th, Deep Green Resistance hosted a special 3-hour live streaming event, "Collapse: Climate, Ecology, and Civilization" featuring Derrick Jensen, Saba Malik, Max Wilbert, Robert Jensen, Lierre Keith, and grassroots activists from four continents. This podcast is the audio recording of the event. If you wish to donate to support this work, please visit: https://givebutter.com/collapse. Thank you for our speakers, volunteers, organizers, and donors. We could not do this without you. ______________________ Our way of life — industrial civilization — is destroying the planet.  From coral reefs to the great forests, the last strongholds of the wild are falling. The climate is destabilizing. And we are entering the 6th mass extinction of life on Earth. Ecological collapse is here. This unprecedented crisis demands extraordinary solutions. And yet, governments and mainstream environmental groups are failing to chart a path towards a livable future. What is to be done? Join the philosopher poet of the deep ecology movement Derrick Jensen, radical eco-feminist author and strategist Lierre Kieth, and special guests Saba Malik and Robert Jensen for a special 3-hour live streaming event, Collapse: Ecology, Climate, and Civilization, hosted by Deep Green Resistance. This event explored issues of collapse (ecological, climatic, and civilizational) with a focus on organized, political resistance to slow and mitigate the worst aspects of collapse and accelerate the positive impacts. There were opportunities to ask questions and participate in dialogue. This event is also a fundraiser, because the mainstream environmental movement is funded mainly by foundations which don’t want foundational or revolutionary change. Radical organizations like Deep Green Resistance rely on individual donors to support our work. We are raising $25,000 to fund a national speaking tour, a community-led hydropower dam resistance campaign in the Philippines, land-defense campaigns addressing mining and biodiversity, training programs for activists around the world, and other organizational work. Whether or not you are in a financial position to donate, we hope you will enjoy and learn from this special event! _____________ We're also running an auction that is open for another two days, until November 23rd: https://go.charityauctionstoday.com/bid/956  

Our way of life — industrial civilization — is destroying the planet.  From coral reefs to the great forests, the last strongholds of the wild are falling. The climate is destabilizing. And we are entering the 6th mass extinction of life on Earth. Ecological collapse is here. This unprecedented crisis demands extraordinary solutions. And yet, governments and mainstream environmental groups are failing to chart a path towards a livable future. What is to be done? This November 19th, join the philosopher poet of the deep ecology movement Derrick Jensen, radical eco-feminist author and strategist Lierre Kieth, and special guests Saba Malik and Robert Jensen for a special 3-hour live streaming event, Collapse: Ecology, Climate, and Civilization starting at 3pm Pacific Time and hosted by Deep Green Resistance. This event will explore issues of collapse (ecological, climatic, and civilizational) with a focus on organized, political resistance to slow and mitigate the worst aspects of collapse and accelerate the positive impacts. There will be opportunities to ask questions and participate in dialogue. This event is also a fundraiser, because the mainstream environmental movement is funded mainly by foundations which don’t want foundational or revolutionary change. Radical organizations like Deep Green Resistance rely on individual donors to support our work. We are raising $25,000 to fund a national speaking tour, a community-led hydropower dam resistance campaign in the Philippines, land-defense campaigns addressing mining and biodiversity, training programs for activists around the world, and other organizational work. Whether or not you are in a financial position to donate, we hope you will join us this November 19th for this special event! Special thanks to our new editor M.K.

Joshua Clinton reads the article, "What is Biocentrism?" which was originally published on the DGR News Service on April 15, 2022. https://dgrnewsservice.org/civilization/ecocide/what-is-biocentrism-the-unfolding-miracle-of-life/

In this episode, Max Wilbert and Carl van Warmerdam discuss the 2021 Netflix film "Don't Look Up," an extended allegory for global warming. We discuss whether the film is an accurate satire or a pandering neoliberal fairy tale - or both.

Joshua Clinton reads the article: https://dgrnewsservice.org/civilization/ecocide/habitat-loss/bolivia-extinction-and-displacement-dams-not-green-energy/

Lauren Levey has had a lifelong involvement with women's rights and lesbian rights. She is a second-wave radical feminist who is currently on the Board of Directors of the Women's Human Rights Campaign USA, and serves as its Vice President. In this episode Lauren shares her radical analysis of abortion in America and on the fight to end the subjugation and erasure of women.

Longtime environmental and social activist and co founder of the Mendocino Environmental Center Betty Ball reflects on ecofeminism and her relationship with Judi Bari. The music for this episode is provided by the late Gary Ball, Betty's husband and fellow co-founder of the MEC. 

Dr. Heide Goettner-Abendroth's Girls and the Grasses keynote presentation, Principles of Sustainable Societies: Matriarchy as a Radical Alternative followed by a Q&A conversation with Lierre Keith, Michelle Martin, Rebecca Wildbear, Sue Breen and Jennifer Murnan. Check out the full event, which live streams on Saturday November 20th at 1pm Pacific, here: https://givebutter.com/girlsandgrasses