Acting, Connecting, Feeling Powerful
I was recently arrested at the White House in Washington DC, USA. We were fighting for the rights of Indigenous people and to protect all of us from the damage caused by fossil fuels. Most of the leaders and organizers of the action were Indigenous people.
We asked the U.S. government to declare a climate emergency, ban all new fossil fuel projects and shut down some existing ones, and honor the treaties between the U.S. government and Indigenous peoples. About 135 of us were arrested, and hundreds more stood across the street and supported us.
I am a middle-class white Ashkenazi Jewish man from the United States. Deciding to participate in civil disobedience required me to step outside patterns of being small and quiet, following the rules, and being “well behaved” and on the “good side” of the authorities. Being surrounded by police also required me to face Holocaust-related distress about people in uniforms and with guns. I was scared and wanted to run away! My sweetie [partner} and I held hands a lot of the time, which made a big difference for me.
There was a sense of connection and togetherness even though most of us didn’t know each other. Feeling connected to many people helped me to go against my fears. Some people seemed relaxed and were saying and doing funny things, which helped me laugh and release some of my tension.
I felt powerful after the action. It was a big contradiction to early feelings of powerlessness, of being small, and of not trying.
I look forward to continuing to be active and bold. We need many more people participating in actions like this to bring about the changes we need.
Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
Reprinted from the RC e-mail discussion list for leaders in care of the environment
(Present Time 207, April 2022)