I Am An Activiste

Activist Manifesto from Animal Liberation Front website


I am an activist. Am I an animal defense activist? Yes. Am I an environmental activist? Definitely. Am I a human rights activist? Most assuredly. Am I a peace activist? Indeed. I am in complete opposition to all social injustice; I abhor all suffering. I disdain the anti-ethic that has created a society that lives upon the daily exploitation and slaughter of our animal brethren; a society that is rapidly choking off the only life support system we have; destroying our habitat, the earth; a society that embraces a philosophy of "might makes right" and chooses to ignore the plight of our "weaker" brothers and sisters--the homeless, the hungry, the elderly, the children; a society whose economy and "strength" rely on the production and dissemination of tools of destruction. I am an activist. My actions are directed at eradicating the root causes of ALL injustice: humankind's disregard for our connection with our earth, and our loss of respect for life.

Listen! I am the voice we heard so clearly as children until the din of society's indoctrination deafened our ears. I am the clutching the throat and intense sorrow of all those who visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I am the pain and sadness within each one of us who holds the threadlike bodies and swollen stomachs of Africa's starving children. I am the peace and serenity that befalls us when our eyes, for a fleeting
moment, meet those of a grazing deer. And I am the sentiment that makes us mouth the words, "Set them free," whenever we encounter animals imprisoned in cages.

I am these and more, and I am omnipresent within each one of us. I draw no political lines; I erect no artificial barriers between races, sexes, or species; I do not recognize boundaries between issues of injustice. I am above politics, devoid of our societal bigotries, and I embody all matters of justice.
I am THE answer.

I am our physical and spiritual connection to our earth and all life.

I cry out for each one of us to recognize the inseparable biological and ecological bonds that link all life together as earth's family. I implore us to acknowledge that human and nonhuman needs are complementary, not competitive, as all living beings are indispensable threads of a living tapestry, interconnected to each other and all of the earth's natural processes that sustain life. And I demand action. I demand that individuals act in accordance with the reverence they so richly deserve. I am the answer. I am the voice within your soul.

We must act. And we must ensure that our actions are guided by our inner voice that affirms our connection with the earth and all of her inhabitants. We cannot continue to alleviate the injustices imposed on an individual or segment of our society through an injustice to another. We cannot attain a true peace through the domination or killing of those who are perceived to be lesser or evil. We cannot "enrich" the lives of the poor people of Central America by boosting their economy through the destruction of their rain forests to raise and slaughter animals for a cheaper hamburger. We must strive to consider all life as brethren and act in accordance with our connection to the earth we share--to do otherwise is to betray not only our fellow beings but ourselves as well.

I want your thoughts in affirmation of our connection to the earth. I want your decisions to be made with an ethic of reverence for life as your guide. And, I need your actions to create a world of wonder, a world of justice, a world of peace bounded only by the limits of life. I am part of a living, caring world. I embrace a boundless ethic.

It is a life-affirming ethic in which I share a journey with the flowers of the field, the children of the streets, and the deer of the forest, in search of our home -- a world of peace. I am your soul.

I am an activist.

(Anonymous)