Greenpeace

There's much ado about global warming these days.  Everyone's talking about it, but few are acting to actively halt the climate crisis.  Even worse, the people who should be acting aren't doing just that. 

On Tuesday night, we reminded all the jokers here in Washington what will happen should the talk continue, and no action take place.

A picture's worth a thousand words. 

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political moral questions of our time.
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

A little over 78 years ago, one of the most influential figures in North American history was born in Atlanta.  The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became a leading voice in the U.S. civil rights movement, making inspiring speeches, mobilizing thousands to take to the streets, and forcing remarkable societal changes.

Today in the United States, we honor his life through a national holiday.  It's a day to reflect upon the change brought about by this amazing man and the many who took up the cause for justice, equality and fairness here in the land of opportunity.  Unfortunately, his message and his legacy have become fodder for political campaigns and sensational journalism.  Disappointing, especially given the long road ahead of us here in the United States before true justice and equality becomes a reality.

King's message of nonviolence is relevant now more than ever.  It was the images of peaceful protest- be it in the form of massive marches on Washington, or the more disturbing  images of water hoses, police dogs and batons turned upon even the smallest of nonviolent protester that brought a nation to begin to change itself, and took a candid world by storm. 

Throughout the struggle for civil rights, King consistently reaffirmed his commitment to nonviolence, the most powerful tool for social change.  While the struggle continues, his valiant legacy lives on, in part due to his noble pursuit of nonviolence.  King's six principles have always been a source of strength for me in the many movements in which I count myself a member.  They're on a whiteboard above my desk, but I thought I'd put them here again (they're always worth repeating).

Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people.

Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding.

Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people.

Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform.

Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate.

Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.

I am proud to work for an organization that holds sacred the principles of nonviolence.  As King said, it is a way of life, not merely a bullet in the study of U.S. history, the Indian independence movement.  I am a firm believer that more than ever, nonviolence is relevant to our society.  Greenpeace currently has 44 people onboard its ship Esperanza in the Southern Ocean actively preparing to use nonviolence should the Japanese whaling fleet decide to senselessly kill whales.  We are also facing criticism for not actively cooperating with groups who do not espouse the principles of nonviolence, principles that are, again, at the very core of Greenpeace. It always fascinates me when people are criticized for refusing to abandon their principles in a fight that commands fortitude and purpose.

On this special day for the people of the United States, I'd like to remember what nonviolence really is, and send good thoughts to all the people all over the world engaged in nonviolent resistance, and my friends who have kept the whalers at a standstill for ten days now. 

I'm frequently surprised at how often I get asked about whales by friends, families and new people I meet.  But I'm even more surprised at how little attention the issue gets in the U.S. news media.  Yes, I get it: Greenpeace taking action is nothing new, but really- the fact that the senseless hunt undertaken year after year by the Japanese government's sham scientific community and front groups makes me want to scream.  Thousands of tons of whale meat sits in Japanese freezers, an overwhelming majority of the Japanese public have no interest in eating whale meat and disagree with the hunt.  For nearly seven years I've been inside Greenpeace and in the diaspora, I've been rendered speechless by the fact that this s*** still goes on. 

This is Greenpeace's ninth expedition to the Southern Ocean, It's arguably the most arduous and dangerous voyage one can take.  Bringing these expeditions to the attention of a candid Fourth Estate is always a unique challenge, yet somehow it always manages to give me some perspective.  Greenpeace anti-whaling expeditions are not unlike well, anything in life.  They are vulnerable to extreme weather, food and fuel shortages and technical difficulties.  Communications efforts for said anti-whaling expeditions are vulnerable to those things as well (but somehow technical difficulties always seem to abound). 

And why would this year be different- well there was no saying.  I'd like to say that my increasing familiarity with the whales issue, but there were some signs that things would be different this year, big and small.  First and foremost, one of my good friends and my hero, Heath Hanson, was selected to join the Esperanza's crew to go to the Southern Ocean.  Heath's one of the best people alive today, so when I learned that he would join so many other of my favorite people onboard the Espy, I knew that things would be different.

The whaling season started with the stunning announcement from the Japanese government that they wouldn't take humpback whales.  Yes, they're endangered. Yes, they were gonna hunt 'em.  Yes Greenpeace demanded that they now.  Yes, so did many governments.  But the nearly 1,000 other whales the Japanese whalers promised to kill were still going to be killed- so it's hard to think of 50 less as a major step forward.

There has been some amazing media interest in this story, I can't lie. The most shocking, and best, however, was a profile of Heath that has now resulted in two marriage proposals.

Not surprisingly, this year's Greenpeace voyage to the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary has been filled with surprises, twists and turns.  We say it every year, but I'll say it again: this really should be the last year that we have to do this.  Nearly 1,000 dead whales, an unnecessary risk posed to pristine Antarctic environment, and so much danger for the crews of ships down there, and for what?  The media attention this year was maybe the cause for a recall of the humpback hunt, was definitely the impetus for many a broken Aussie heart for Heath, but we're still waiting for that deluge of outrage that will actually end the hunt.

Regardless, the fight continues.  Follow the voyage, stand up for the whales. And hope for Heath's safe return.