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September 2005

Volume , Number 0


Activism

There are no articles.

Commentary

There are no articles.

Culture

There are no articles.

Features

Environment
David Taber


Journal of the 18th Year
Z Staff


Labor
Jack Rasmus


Discrimination
Caroline Muscat


Legislation
David Mikhail


In Memory
O2 Collective


Appointees
Jason Leopold


Neoliberalism
Matthew m. Kavanagh


Grassroots Organizing
Louis Head


Foreign Policy
A.k. Gupta


War & Peace
Stephen Graham


Special Report
Nicolas J.S. Davies


Human Rights
Patricia Dahl


Student Organizing
Maria Brenes


Eyes Right
Chip Berlet


Reproductive Rights
Eleanor J. Bader


Zaps

There are no articles.

NOTE: Z Magazine subscribers and sustainers have access to all Z Magazine articles here and in the archive. The latest Z Magazine articles available to everyone are listed in the Free Articles box at the top of the table of contents, and are starred in the list below. Questions? e-mail Z Magazine Online.

Joan Norman, Activist

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O n July 23, 72-year-old legendary activist Joan Norman was killed in a car collision on Highway 199 near the California border. Joan was dearly loved and revered by many. At the time of her death, Joan was part of a militant campaign to stop the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project, which began logging old-growth reserves just above the nationally designated Wild and Scenic Illinois River in the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area in Oregon (an interview with Joan appeared in the June issue of Z Magazine ). The image of Joan Norman seated below the American flag in her lawn chair just before her first arrest on Green Bridge has reached news racks nationwide. Stories of her courageous acts of resistance and conviction have touched many. 

“I don’t know what else to do to stop the log trucks so I am sitting down again,” Joan said during her second arrest on March 14. Refusing compromise or bail payment, Joan spent several weeks in jail in protest of illegal logging. While inside she worked to empower other inmates by offering legal resources and personal support. Joan was arrested over 100 times in her life; standing up for civil, social, and environmental causes. She will be dearly missed, as will her enthusiasm and her no-nonsense, powerful style. 

Recently, Joan was asked if she was afraid to go to jail. Her response to that question echoes loudly: “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.” 

Her daughter, Sue Norman Jones, said, “Joan would like to be remembered actively, not passively.” 

Asked what her message to the world was last March, regarding the effort to stop the Forest Service’s largest logging project in modern history, Joan said, “Tell them to get some fire in their bellies and come to this gate of paradise and help us defend it. Tell them to come. I will be here.” 

Joan is survived by four children—Susan, Timothy, Terry, and Annie—her friend and companion Bob Youdan, four grandchildren, one great-grandchild, nieces, nephews, and her extended environmental activist family. 


From an o2collective press release. 
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