A monument to democracy on stolen land?
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Don't worry, I'm not advocating that anyone steal indigenous land and hire a racist sculptor to dynamite a mountain and name it after a lawyer—all to "celebrate democracy." We're talking about a figurative Mount Rushmore here—a long overdue acknowledgment of our green roots. Environmentalists have existed even before they had a label. Respect for the natural world is not "new age," it's about as old school as any human can get. So...which humans might belong in the eco-pantheon?
But before we get to our admittedly incomplete list of earth-friendly nominees, let's first show some indigenous respect and shed a little light on the origins of original Mount Rushmore.
WATCH VIDEO: The largest indigenous population in North America can be found in Chiapas, Mexico
Mount Rushmore 101
-The mountain-turned-tourist-trap was known to the Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers
-t was named after Charles E. Rushmore, a prominent New York lawyer, during an expedition in 1885
-The renamed mountain was transformed by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, from 1927-1941
-Borglum was a known member of the KKK
-The land upon which the Borglum worked, of course, was stolen
-George Washington and Abraham Lincoln were obvious choices for the monument. Adding Thomas Jefferson evoked the Louisiana Purchase while Theodore Roosevelt's visage gave the project the final stamp of Manifest Destiny.
- Interestingly, some might nominate Teddy Roosevelt for the Green Rushmore idea but any man who spews the following is automatically excluded in my book: "Democracy has justified itself by keeping for the white race the best portions of the earth's surface."
I could go on (and on) but it's probably clear by now that the best way to honor green pioneers would be to leave the Six Grandfathers mountain untouched, protected, and respected until nature runs its course:
Our 12 Green Rushmore Nominees
It's important to remember that activist efforts only "succeed" to varying degrees and often require time to be properly evaluated. Also, of course, all humans are flawed thus, those on the list below could just as easily be written off for their shortcomings or "failures." It might be far more useful to consider these nominees from a perspective of influence as opposed to specific accomplishment. But can we narrow 12 down to 4 or 5?
1. Rachel Carson
She essentially launched the modern environmental movement with her 1962 book, Silent Spring. As discussed above, we could focus on the reality that despite Carson's wake-up call about chemicals and pesticides, we now produce pesticides at a rate more than 13,000 times faster than we did in 1962. But it's not Rachel's fault that we still haven't learned, is it?
2. [url='http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/green-thoreau-simplicity.html']Henry David Thoreau
With his deep love of and respect for nature, Thoreau has been called http://thoreau.eserver.org "the father of modern environmentalism. He could describe at length the sound of a loon's call, the vastness of a forest, or the way a berry hangs off a bush." Yeah, but could he tweet?
3. John Muir
He has been called "The Father of our National Parks," "Wilderness Prophet," and "Citizen of the Universe." He promoted the establishment of five national parks, founded the Sierra Club, and he called animals "our horizontal brothers." He's even got his own Facebook page.
4. Helen Caldicott
The de facto founder of the no nukes movement and author of the seminal book, Nuclear Madness: What you Can Do, Caldicott's efforts have influenced millions. Sure, as I type this, US troops are using depleted uranium shells in Iraq and Afghanistan, but Helen has done her best to wake us up. No one can do it alone.
5. Al Gore
Don't faint, I'm not serious. I've only included Gore because, in a way, his legacy must be addressed. He's managed to co-opt much of the eco-debate in America despite his support for nuclear power, his failure to link the meat-based diet with climate change (they sold burger and hot dogs at Live Earth, for chrissake), his serving of endangered Chilean sea bass at his daughter's wedding, and the list goes on and on and on. As I've noted before, even if every American made every change recommended in An Inconvenient Truth, it would only result in a 21% lowering of carbon emissions. However, the Goracle is not without merit as a footnote in the Rushmore discussion. You see, if his high profile efforts bring more and more committed people to the realization that our way of life is threatening the eco-system with extinction, and some of these committed people opt to go much, much, much further than Gore would ever dream of suggesting, well...you never know, right?
6. Judi Bari
Judi Bari was a fighter and organizer for many social and environmental justice causes but became nationally known as first, the principal leader of the Earth First! movement in Northern California and later, the target of a still-unsolved bombing in 1990. She fought on until her death (from breast cancer) in 1997 and her example continues inspire those who put their bodies and their freedom on the line in defense of old-growth forests.
7. Vandana Shiva
Trained as a nuclear physicist, Shiva has emerged as one the planet's most passionate and knowledgeable spokespersons for environmental and economic justice. Director of the Research Foundation on Science, Technology, and Ecology, she is the author of many books, including Water Wars: Pollution, Profits, and Privatization. She is a leader in the International Forum on Globalization, along with Ralph Nader and Jeremy Rifkin and, in 1993, Shiva won the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (the Right Livelihood Award).
8. John Robbins
Robbins likes to say he was born "into the heart of the Great American Food Machine," but he turned his back on his family's Baskin-Robbins fortune to spread the word about veganism and explain how the purveyors of that machine "don't want you to know how the animals have lived whose flesh, milk, and eggs end up in your body." He's quite possibly the most influential vegan ever.
9. Lois Marie Gibbs
Gibbs burst into national consciousness in 1978, when she discovered her child's elementary school was built on top of toxic-chemical dump in Niagara Falls, New York. She organized the Love Canal Homeowners Association to struggle for relocation for the families of Love Canal. In 1981, Lois created the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, an organization that has assisted over 10,000 grassroots groups with organizing, technical, and general information nationwide.
10. David Brower
In the words of National Public Radio's, John Nielsen: "Calling David Brower an important environmental activist is like calling Hamlet an important member of the Danish royal court. Brower invented modern American environmental activism." In the words of Brower himself: Polite conservationists leave no mark save the scars upon the Earth that could have been prevented had they stood their ground."
11. Derrick Jensen
Every generation has a writer that inspires a new level of green awareness and action. Today, perhaps, it is Derrick Jensen—author of works like Endgame in which he posits that civilization is inherently unsustainable and addresses the resulting question of what to do about it. This immense and urgent question can and will inspire younger activists to discover fresh new methods and avenues of dissent.
12. Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
Come to think of it, maybe we should just make it an office building instead of a mountain and have these two groups come at from all angles with dark green (non-toxic) paint?
Those of some of my suggestions. How about you?
