18 December
A week before Christmas, on 18 December 1999, Julia 'Butterfly' Hill climbed down from a thousand-year-old redwood tree that she had made her home for the previous 738 days to protect it from loggers.
Julia, who had never done anything like this before, was one of hundreds of nonviolent activists who had come together to try to save the remnants of the ancient redwood forest on the US west coast. By moving into an area of logging activity they hoped to persuade the loggers to spare the forest – and, when that failed, to make it impossible for them to cut down trees without killing the protesters who were occupying them.
Sometimes this didn’t stop the loggers. On September 17 1998, Julia’s fellow protester David ‘Gypsy’ Chain was killed when the timber company cut down the tree he was in at the time.
Julia’s two-year occupation of the tree she named ‘Luna’ had a happier outcome. The Pacific Lumber/Maxxam Corporation agreed to spare Luna and establish a three-acre buffer zone around it.
Red Pepper in print
Subscribe to get the latest issue of the magazine
#230 Struggles for Truth ● The Arab Spring 10 years on ● The origins and legacies of US conspiracy theories ● The limits of scientific evidence in climate activism ● Student struggles around the world ● The political power of branding ● Celebrating Marcus Rashford ● ‘Cancelling’ Simon Hedges ● Latest book reviews ● And much more!
And you choose how much to pay for your subscription...
Red Pepper by email
Get the latest articles and updates in your inbox
End SARS and Fanon’s mission
The uprisings against police brutality that swept across Nigeria must be contextualised within the country’s colonial history, argues Kehinde Alonge
In the shadow of student rent strikes
Outside the media fanfare surrounding the recent wave of university-based militancy, one community's fight against developers goes on. Robert Firth reports
The conspiracy election
Conspiracy theories aren’t the preserve of a minority – they lie at the heart of US politics, argues Thomas Konda
Review – National Theatre Connections 2020: Plays for young people
From climate change to the perils of the information era, the collection powerfully explores the struggles facing contemporary teenagers, writes Jordana Belaiche
The convivial, practical road to socialism: a tribute to Leo Panitch
Hilary Wainwright remembers friend and mentor to many, Leo Panitch, who died on December 19, 2020
Simon Hedges is cold, wet and cancelled
Very sensible columnist Simon Hedges shares his take on the 2020 phenomena of people believing that 'cancel culture' is really a thing
