Week in Rewind: The Hardcore Activist

One of the attractions to the hardcore punk rock movement for me was the intensity of the awareness and passion coming from most of the people involved in this underground subculture. The music was raw with emotion, mostly anger. But not displaced anger, it was anger and outrage over things that made sense, plus it was channeled in positive ways. Most of the hardcore shows I attended were benefit shows, where money, food and other necessities were collected. The music and people were vocal about important causes, especially related to social injustice. The songs screamed at you, igniting you into action, to stand up for what was right and how things should be.

If you are not aware of this yet, Jen (of One Plus Two fame) and Mad Hatter (of Under the Mad Hat notoriety) are getting married this weekend. Their union is a union of the minds, born from a passion and vision for social justice. I am enamored by this amazing couple. Their profound empathy for human suffering and intense need to right all the wrongs is truly admirable beyond simple applause. Their wedding gifts will be on display this Sunday on each of their blogs (I hope I have that right), gifts proudly and lovingly offered from fellow bloggers celebrating their mental union and visions, shouting out about social injustices they want to see righted.

I have written before about why I feel animal rights, especially pertaining to anti-vivisection, are so important and dear to my heart, so I won’t go into it again. But, while writing about my life during the 80’s this week, I was reminded by just how active my activism was back then. I was passionate, I was involved and I made a difference. I have lost some of that drive until I started blogging. Between Her Bad Mother’s call to action, Jen’s daily posts on the plight of homeless and now this incredible outpouring of blogger gifts to these two fantastic women.

I am a firm believer that respect happens from the bottom up. Teaching your children to respect the weakest and meekest of creatures leads to a respect for all living things. I cannot tell you the countless number of articles or stories about serial killers and rapists that recanted how “as a child, he would rip the wings off of bugs” or “he often shot rabbits with BB guns just for fun”, the list and typical scenarios go on and on. Disregard for animals, as lesser beings not worthy of respect or consideration, too often leads to mentality that is perfectly ok to keep nudging the line further and further up the “food chain” (if you will), until other species are eventually thrown onto the other side.

Oh, how I remember my mother ripping the latest PETA or AAVS newsletters out of my hands, yelling and pleading with me to stop reading them. She couldn’t stand to see my in hysterics, crying uncontrollably over the sad and horrifying stories. Stories of government “research” where 750 cats were shot point blank in the head. Stories of rabbits with their eyes gauged out being thrown in garbage bins while still alive, no longer of use to cosmetic companies for testing make-up. Nothing life saving or earth shattering, here. We’re talking make-up!! Stories about the complete and utter disrespect for life, simply because it was not a human life, a lesser life.

Thinking back on my activism days made me nostalgic. I guess I took my mother’s advice somewhere down the line and just stopped reading because it was too painful. Well, I started reading the daily causes being discussed over at Jen’s and Mad’s blogs, and yes, they evoke the same despair and utter sadness. But, they also ignite that passionate anger, a feeling I had when I was young and ideal. Knowing so many people are willing to listen, that they feel the same way and want to make a difference brings it back even more.  I dream of the day when animals are seen an “end in themselves” and not a means to a human end. Thanks to Jen and Mad, I believe in that dream again and am willing to do something to make it become a reality. The first step in action is to speak out.  

Call me a hopeless romantic, but these two crazy cats have rekindled that spark! Weddings just do that sort of thing to you though, don’t they?  For the big event, I think I’ll wear my faux fur leopard coat and get all dolled up using my cruelty free cosmetics. Can’t wait!

Update on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 08:24AM by Momish

I am posting this article as a follow up, because it is actually good new.  From the Animal Legal Defense Fund website:

San Bernardino, Calif. – Sable, Cody, and Angel—three chimpanzees at the center of a lawsuit filed by the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF) against their Hollywood “trainer,” Sid Yost—are headed for retirement after a settlement in the year-long lawsuit, which alleged that Yost violated the Endangered Species Act and the California anti-cruelty statute by subjecting them to violent beatings in order to force them to perform for movie and television appearances…

you can read more about here

Comments

[venessa]

Awesome post.

[jen]

I love this post. And you are right, it does start w/ the meekest creatures.

In honor of this post I suggest we have a completely vegetarian wedding. I am sure Mad would agree.
Thank you for reminding me of the non-people people.

[Mad Hatter]

This vegetarian would have no other kind of wedding!

Thanks for this post. I am allergic to most animals which means I don't own any and therefore I seldom think about the hateful practices of cosmatic companies and the like. I live in a rural province, though, and inevitably the local news features a story every few months on the disgusting conditions of local puppy farms and the like. It really makes me wonder what drives people to treat animals so.

Thanks for this wedding gift and thanks for the gift of your renewed activism. I'm now 41 and I had definitely fallen off the activist wagon for some time leading up to all this.

[Momish]

Mad, it is good to know there are other women like me who have fallen off the bandwagon, I just hope I can recouped as nicely as you have. Also, I use to be a vegetarian, but then I moved in next to a Wendy's and their cheeseburgers broke me down. I rarely eat meat though. UGH overall.

[Jill]

I just kept sighing as I read this post. I feel so much the way that you do. As much as I am so pleased to have my family and glad that we're settling into the swing of life together, I am periodically very, very bothered by what I see as a relative complacency in me, compared to a few years ago.

I kind of feel like I'm in a holding pattern right now and I have many plans and desires for getting out of it and getting into the thick of activism again...

...and what better example to set for our kids?

[Her Bad Mother]

Perfectly said. What a great wedding gift.