LEGENDARY ACTIVIST JOAN NORMAN PASSES ON
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sue Norman Jones; 541.592.3190
Annette Rasch; 541.592.4334 or 541.659.2917
Laurel Sutherlin; 541.301.8963 or 541.899.3116
Cave Junction, Oregon - On July 23, legendary activist 72 year old
Joan Norman was killed in a head on car collision on Highway 199 near
the California border. Joan is dearly loved and revered by many; the
news of her passing sends shockwaves through Southern Oregon and far
beyond. Forest activists, friends, and family are now planning a
solidarity forest defense action in her honor on August 2, 2005.
The ìBiscuit Fire Recovery Projectî began logging old-growth reserves
just above the nationally designated Wild & Scenic Illinois River in
the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area on March 7 of this year. The image of
Joan Norman seated below the American Flag in her lawn chair just
before her first arrest on the Green Bridge has reached news racks
nationwide. Stories of her courageous acts of resistance and
conviction have touched tens of thousands of people.
"I don't know what else to do to stop the log trucks, so I am sitting
down again,î Joan said during her second arrest on March 14. Refusing
compromise or bail payment, Joan voluntarily spent several weeks in
jail in protest of illegal logging.ÝWhile inside, she worked
tirelessly to empower other inmates by offering legal resources and
personal support. Joan was arrested over 100 times in her life;
standing up for civil, social and environmental causes, and never had
a lawyer until the Biscuit campaign. She will be dearly missed, as
will her ever-present enthusiasm and her no-nonsense, powerful style.
Ý
Recently, Joan was asked if she was ever afraid to go to jail. Her
response to that question echoes loudly through our minds today: "NO!
NoÖI would rather go out in a blaze, defending the world I love. I
will be on the front lines someday and my soul will know the time to
go, and I will just leave. I will make that decision. Knowing this, I
am not afraid. I am more afraid that my grandchildren will think I did
not try hard enough to leave them a legacy of peace, and world worth
living in. I don't want them to know the beauty of trees by looking at
a book. I want them to be able to walk among 800-year-old trees and
know that is our destiny. That is where we have to get back to."
Joan had a contagious resolve and humble nobility that challenged
those around her to take a stand for what they hold most dear,
becoming a national icon of the forest defense movement. She
personified the dignified heroism of those who act selflessly in
defense of the fundamental values most American's share; but rarely
act on.
Her daughter, Sue Norman Jones, said ìJoan would like to be remembered
actively, not passivelyî.
Asked what her message to the world was last march regarding the
effort to stop the Forest Serviceís largest logging project in modern
history, the Biscuit, Joan said, ìTell them to get some fire in their
bellies and come to this gate of paradise and help us defend it. Tell
them to come. I will be here."
Joan is survived by four children: Susan, Timothy, Terry and Annie,
her friend and companion Bob Youdan, four grandchildren, one
great-grandchild, nieces, nephews and her extended environmental
activist family.
Information about the upcoming action to honor Joan Norman will be
available at www.o2collective.org.
An interactive memorial is planned for Joan on Sunday, July 31st at
3:00 PM at the Forks State Park, south of Cave Junction, just off hwy
199. Friends can bring food, pictures, songs and writings, and are
invited to participate in celebrating Joanís remarkable life and her
legacy. Donations can be made to the Joan Norman Memorial Fund at Home
Valley Bank in Cave Junction.
MORE ABOUT JOAN:
ìI have been arrested over 100 times standing against injustice. Why,
I went with the freedom riders to the south. I went to Alabama to stop
the lynchings and let the people be free. I went to Montgomery, Selma
and Birmingham. I started out with members of a church. I met Martin
Luther King, Jr. The thing we wanted to stand up to then was the
destruction of the diversity of people in this nation. The slavery,
racism, and violence toward people of color. The thing we are fighting
today is much the same only we are trying to defend the diversity of
the whole world, of life on earth. We need all of it to not just
survive, but to thrive as a peaceful, loving people.î
After that, Joan joined Vietnam War protests, she said, ìI saw the
genocide against the people of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and I jumped
in, with both feet. I was at the Nevada test site protests. I stood
beside the true hero's of this country. I stood by them at Fort
Benning to protest the School of the America's, the place where
international terrorists, death squads are trained.î
ìI was at the WTO protests in Seattle in 1999, I went to Washington DC
to stop the G8 and the WTO takeover of the world. I have been in the
streets with the best of them. I have lived for 30 years in a
community of freedom riders. I lived in a motor home for 12 years and
traveled to where I was needed. I had my own kitchen, my own first aid
station, my few books and my passion for freedom and justice.î
When asked how she got into environmental activism, Joan tells how her
Grandson was responsible:
ìHe said "Grandma, it's so beautiful and amazing in the forest, you
have to come with me so I can show you". So, I went with him. It was
hard for my old bones and joints. He was so excited to be showing me
this pure, beautiful world he had found. Excited that someone in his
family would go with him. It was hard to go up the steep paths, but I
did. And what he showed me was just so amazing. I saw it the first
time through the eyes of a child. We should all go into the forest
with young children. They see it like it is meant to be seen. With the
innocence of a being still connected to the earth. They see it the way
humans lived it for thousands of years.
I cannot explain in words what my grandson taught me. I can only say
that you cannot read about nature and wild places, you have to go
there. And, once you do, no threat of jail will keep you from
preserving it. The wild places are the last place on earth that we
have to remember our heritage and show us our legacy. We need to stand
up and protect these places. This is why, at this time of my life,
after all I have tried to defend, I am a forest defender.
When arrested last March 7 trying to block the Silver Creek Logging
companyís access to what activists maintain is an illegal old growth
logging sale on Fiddler Mountain, Joan said, ìthey came and removed me
from the bridge I was blocking by carrying me in my chair to the edge
of the sheriff's vehicle. They put me down there and thought I would
stay put. Then the officers went off to arrest someone else. I got up
and moved my chair back to my space. My sovereign space. An officer
yelled, ìHey youíre not supposed to do that! Get back over where I put
you.î I just laughed. People have been trying to get me to be where
they put me all my life. I have a right to stand up against evil and I
will.î
* Most of Joan Normanís quotes have been taken from a June 2005
interview with Ellen OíShea that appeared in ìZî magazine. You can see
the whole interview and more about Joan on Portland Indymedia.com
* To learn more about Joan Normanís last campaign, the ongoing effort
to stop the Forest Serviceís largest logging project in modern
history, the Biscuit, go to http://www.o2collective.org,
http://www.kswild.org or
http://www.siskiyou.org .
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End of Ecopolitics Digest, Vol 16, Issue 10
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