Thank You, And Rest In Peace, Joan Norman
Legendary Forest Activist Joan Norman Passes On
“I am not afraid. I am 75 years old. Do you know what this culture has in store for me, an old woman? They will wait for me to be sick and at the end of my life and then strap me to feeding tubes, pump deadly drugs into me, put me on a machine to make my lungs go up and down and wait for me to die. I am not bound to go out that way. No, I 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 a 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.
Last Monday, they 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, ” hey you are not supposed to do that! Get back over where I put you”. 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. ”
July 28th, 2005 at 9:23 pm
Our sister, our courage
Don’t forget us Joan Norman
We will not forget you