Nananonymous... Occupiers?

lol this image combining an Anonymous mask with a 'nana head-scarf'

got me thinking:

...seems in some ways that resistance to many issues is morphing into a hybrid of general agreement that our current system of government is failing on so many levels and is now positively dangerous. We know that the corporations have more say within our system of government than we do - even over matters as deadly serious in their implication as to risk the health of our children and the ability of our air and water to sustain us.

What fracking has revealed is that the energy sector has too much influence and we have too little... just as the banks did in 2008 when WE bailed THEM out (no-one is bailing us out of this austerity crisis, this energy crisis, this education crisis, this healthcare crisis etc).

A vote every few years is of little point if the party in office make important, life-changing decisions without consulting the people. The vote that we get seems to mean less and less as the corporate influence grows stronger and laws are put in place to facilitate profit creation and hinder protest. At election time we are provided with promises - maybe a signed contract to live up to them would be a better idea?

Our lovely ‪#‎NanaGate‬ occupation of a field that started 5am 7th August 2014 was done to bring attention to an immediate threat to our children and grandchildren from the shale gas industry... not 'professional activists' (although my sister Julie Daniels and I had taken our first ever activist stand at Occupy London in October 2011 because of the absurdity of the continued bank bail outs and austerity measures implemented in part because of them) - the Nanas hope to appeal to people who do not consider themselves 'activists' but who are equally frustrated and concerned at the lack of justice, transparency and honesty by the government.

Now is the time maybe to consider what an 'activist' is... my personal definition is that it is someone who saw an injustice/wrong/threat or other thing of concern and acted on that concern. Simple. Acting on concerns can mean signing a petition, objecting to planning, lobbying an MP, getting your Councillors to raise issues, taking tea with the neighbours to share issues, involving others in your community to raise awareness... or it can involve stepping inside a building and drawing attention to the occupants that are behaving unfairly, dishonestly or in a corrupt way. From the black woman who sat on the white-only seat on a bus - we KNOW that we often need to use our physical bodies in some way to draw the attention of those who are not as aware.

There is a huge bonus to becoming active and being an 'activist' in this way and that is the self-empowerment that comes... meaning that we start to drive our lives - rather than simply going along for the ride (down roads we would personally NEVER choose).

 xxx