Nahko And Medicine For The People - Love Letters To God

Unexpected gifts of activism include being gifted music you would otherwise have missed...

Be Kind

So sad to read of what happens when it all becomes too much to live with. The viciousness of trolls and their supporters is sickening. For the past 4+ years, harrassment/stalking/trolling has been a fact of my life and though I try so hard not to let it, the injustice and nastiness do get to me. Online and in the real-world, me and even more sadly - nearly everyone who has anything to do with me - are targetted by one man and his handful of misguided followers.

Of course the route is to block and ensure you don't 'see' the output - but when it impacts friends, family, fellow campaigners, people I love and respect... then there is no way of NOT seeing the impacts. I know who I am, why I do what I do and still keep taking the next steps I choose and if it weren't for the inclusion of others in the attacks (4+ hate videos per week naming many etc) - I would keep on ignoring the man with the wrong information who is lost in a conspiracy he will never untangle as it's of his own daily-making... but the hurt and damage to people's hearts is too much and I have to keep pursuing some legal recourse.

Even on a practical level this is damaging; this past week alone a large caravan with my name and some slander in large letters was placed on a busy road in the area I live - as I'm trying to find work, this is so damaging as outsiders can't see the whole long, sordid story behind it all. A previous incident involved 27 painted signs of hatred and slander on lamposts up the same road. The legal route and police support are less than worthless (Lancashire Police, Lancashire Police and Crime Commissioner) but I'll keep trying.

To friends and fellow campaigners caught up in this ugliness that has attached to me, I'm sorry this continues so relentlessly.

#BeKind

Activism in & vs politics..

 

Activism takes place in many arenas - this political one though is amongst the most challenging. Our system of government is not dealing with the urgent issues we all face in the here and now and is stuck in a past that had different demands and ways of living - it's creaking like a rusted antique, no longer fit enough, functioning fully or willing to give at all... to address its own inadequacies and failings. 

There is no time to wait this government out - we face an environmental and climate emergency that aren't going away and it's going to take many of us applying pressure in all sorts of ways to force this government to act for the greater good - not bow to lobbyists and economics alone.

It is brilliant that all manifestos from all parties now carry their 'green credentials' but unless there had been a Green Party pushing the issue for the past 4 decades - it would have taken even longer. Politics isn't just about winning elections - it's about being willing as a Party to push unpopular issues into the light, even if they are ugly and not 'vote winning' - but simply because they are true and they matter and we need to be informed so we can act effectively.

So now we know.. we KNOW that #Green isn't just a hippy thing but an existence thing and that so many species have already become extinct that each day of inaction - is another loss. Yet despite those manifesto updates to make them seem green - it's the urgency that's missing in parliament and the lack of focus on solutions rather than the cost of them or the work-rounds that might cut some corners etc.

I didn't join the Green Party expecting to see electoral wins (though there should be), I joined because I wanted to work on the issues that matter above all else - because without a survivable climate, breathable air and drinkable water... jobs, economies, borders, identity, nationality etc - just won't matter anyway.

I choose to engage in politics because it's the thing that causes so much harm and could be used for so much good and I choose to be with Green Party of England and Wales because I trust the ethics at the heart of the party to keep being the wise, honest and persistent voice of reason when all about are failing.

Thanks to Blackpool & Fylde Green Party for this opportunity to share with my sister Julie Daniels.

*The Green New Deal - UK is something we'll be looking to get more involved with as a local party and nationally.