by Robin Haines Merrill,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement;
Curator, Upper Room Art Gallery.

ABOUT THE DESIGN CONCEPT:

From the Everglades to the ocean, water connects us all.  Underneath our feet, in the fragile aquifer of South Florida, water runs through limestone and supplies our daily needs.  In Fort Lauderdale, we are surrounded by canals, rivers, swamps, Intercoastal waterways and the ocean.  These painted intersection designs are an imaginary glimpse of what it might look like if we cut out the asphalt of the intersection.  It’s a traffic calming measure, but also a request to respect the water that surrounds us, seen and unseen.

The crosswalks reflect the vintage architecture of the local area, a retro review of styles and colors from the past that make us truly unique.

I’d like to invite you to participate in a community art event in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, May 15, 2016.
 
The City of Fort Lauderdale is part of a growing movement in cities across America that engages communities in public safety projects using artistic methods. This project was made possible in part through an "Art of Community" grant from the Community Foundation of Broward.
 
On Sunday, May 15th, the public will be painting in the Crosswalk sections of the design.  The center water design will be completed at a later date. Our hope is that this public artwork will help make the community safer and more mindful of traffic safety for all.
 
You can learn more about the PAINTED INTERSECTIONS PROJECTS by visiting the City’s website here:
 
http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/2936/2312?backlist=%2F
 
http://www.fortlauderdale.gov/departments/transportation-and-mobility/transportation-division/building-community-today/painted-intersections-project

by Houston R. Cypress, Coordination Circle,
Love The Everglades Movement.

On June 22, 2015, the Miccosukee Tribe submitted Initial Comments that begin to explain some of their major concerns regarding the so-called "River Of Grass Greenway" project -- a 76-mile, multi-use, asphalt bike path that is proposed to extend from East Naples to West Miami along the Tamiami Trail, as it cuts through protected lands, National Parks, State Parks, and other areas that are sacred and culturally-sensitive to the indigenous sovereignties known as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples.

In their Initial Comments letter, the Miccosukee Tribe requests an extension of the Public Comment period because the amount of time originally given is insufficient to adequately translate and convey the message to the Community Elders -- many of whom do not read or write in the English language.

Some other concerns include the following:

• Negative Cultural Impacts;
• Risk of exposure of Miccosukee cultural, historical, and archaeological resources to loss, theft, and vandalism;
• Invasion of Privacy;
• Negative Wetland and Habitat Impacts;
• ROGG fails to adequately address how the bike path might influence the Spread of Exotic Species;
• Use of herbicides to maintain grass strips impacting Native Species;
• Water Quality Impacts;
• Miccosukee Tribal lands have stringent Water Quality Standards which Must Be Met;
• Water Quality Certification Responsibility;
• Miccosukee Tribe sees no reasonable alternative that do not impact Tribal lands or waters and therefore will deny Water Quality Certification for any portion of the project within Miccosukee jurisdiction;
• Health & Safety Concerns;
• ROGG places more demands on the limited fire resources of the National Park Service;
• ROGG will also divert fire rangers and and fire management resources from saving lives.

The Miccosukee Tribe also goes on to enumerate the many laws that must be followed.

• All Applicable Laws Must Be Followed, including:
• National Environmental Policy Act;
• Endangered Species Act;
• Federal Advisory Committee Act;
• Clean Water Act;
• Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA);
• Big Cypress Enabling Act;
• Big Cypress National Preserve 2014 Superintendent's Compendium;
• Miccosukee Reserved Area Act;

Quote from the letter:
"The ROGG Draft Plan does not comply with all applicable laws, does not meet the requirements of NEPA, and does not comply with Tribal policies and practices."

Outside of the scope of the letter, I would like to remind folks what a separate indigenous sovereignty has been saying for quite sometime.  I'm referring to Bobby C. Billie of the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples.  One of the messages that he's been repeating is that burial sites would be disturbed if this project were to move forward.  He's been reluctant to specifically identify the locations of these burial sites.  I empathize, because I know very well how the sacred and holy can be open to violation, parody, or satire, once this information becomes public knowledge.  His concerns are definitely serious enough that they would have NAGPRA implications.  A lot of times, though, these areas are a taboo subject for public discourse, and that also complicates matters

I would personally like to take this time to remind the public of the difficult and contentious histories that indigenous communities across this continent have had with colonial powers, and governments like the USA.  Treaties signed and disregarded, broken promises, genocidal policies, forced removals of children, forced relocation of communities, wartime atrocities, assimilation policies, prohibitions on freedom of religion.  And yet, our indigenous communities have also found shining moments of cooperation, collaboration, and mutually-beneficial accords which contribute to the revitalization of indigenous communities and strengthened sovereignty.

There is a way forward where parties on all sides can express respect and appreciation for each other's customs and ways of life.  And what we must first do is pause, and listen, and reflect.  So let's take this opportunity to listen to and appreciate what this particular indigenous sovereignty is saying about how negatively this project will impact a way of life that has already been threatened by massive and prolonged environmental degradation.

And what is it about this particular way of life that is so special and unique that they are using all legal, moral, and spiritual avenues to express their concerns?

Well, in my opinion, it's about a garden, it's about a cooking fire, it's about the stories told at night by family and friends, it's about the stars twinkling overhead, it's about that Milky Way above, it's about knowing your place in the Universe.  It's about healing, and balance, and songs.

Read the Initial Comments by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida below.  (Document only visible on laptop or desktop computer.  Click the icon in the lower-right corner to read the document Full Screen.)

by Jean Sarmiento, Coordination Circle,
Love The Everglades Movement

What we’re doing in the Everglades:

• efforts to raise awareness;
  
• get people involved;
  
• thru their own media;
  
• the Responsibility belongs with us all;
  
• being here and supporting our Indigenous brothers and sisters.
  

There are parallels that exist throughout the world.

In Northern California, for example, the Indian Nations there that are going through the same struggles, now amplified by the States Drought.

So we do our part here in South Florida contributing to the well-being of our Environment. The further into the future we go the more prevalent the issue of Water will become and we see it already in more and more publications. http://www.nationofchange.org/2014/11/18/water-wars-21st-century/

"It is easier to flush toxins from the river valleys than to remove toxic ideas that cause them from human minds. In the order of healing, it is human consciousness that must first change." 
- Ken Carey, Return of the Bird Tribes

And as far as I’m concerned healing and recycling are the biggest jobs.

We are ALL made of this Water, whether you like it or not.  And because of that, this Water ties us all together.  And so it is through these Waters that we can transmit and deliver this message of Love – appreciation penetrating the very core of our beings

This Love is the highest principle of cohesion and surely trumps any draconian system of control we are under. Allow this force to be our guiding light.

May the boundaries that impede humanity be dissolved!

And on the Strength and Authority of Universal Law we act to steer this planet to its deserved harmonious state. 

by Mary Jo Aagerstoun, Ph.D.

I can see the quizzical looks and the raised eyebrows.  Artists are engaged with the real ecological threats we are facing, aren’t they/we?   Artists across our region are documenting disappearing wild areas, animals and plants in installations, paintings, photographs and videos on the walls of universities, museums, funky art spaces and high end profit center galleries alike.  Artists are hitting the art neighborhoods like Wynnwood and the Boynton Beach Art District, with strident guerrilla and commissioned street art admonishing us to change our profligate ways.   Artists are often in leadership of activist groups, creating stunning images, banners and signs for demonstrations.  So what are you talking about, you say! Artists are out there doing it!

And so you/they are. And thank you for that.

But, to stay relevant to the crises besetting us in the South Florida region, there is nothing like being willing to entertain a little criticism and self-criticism.  This is what I offer here.

I believe the time is now to get much more strategic and tactical about how we deploy art activism.  We need the whole spectrum from the quieter, slower EcoArt to the high profile, high energy pranks and hijinx of the YES MEN.  And we need to learn how to do them, as well as when and where for greatest effect and impact on the public.

For seven years I have worked through the organization I founded, EcoArt South Florida, to promote site specific art interventions into ecological damage.   We searched out opportunities for local artists to create eco-positive artworks that engaged science, engineering and community engagement as well as more traditional visual means like scale, color, texture and more. 

About a year ago, I started looking at some very uncomfortable realities …sea rise and climate change… and I began to be convinced there was a strong need for a different kind of activism.  Something that matches the urgency of our situation, as the oceans rise and the air becomes hotter.

This does not mean I think the EcoArt I have worked hard to help establish in our region is no longer relevant.  I believe it is vitally important to produce EcoArt direct intervention projects as models of what a sustainable presence of humans on this planet can and must become.  I consider these EcoArt works to be “slow activism” and intrinsically valuable.

The term “slow activism" was coined by British theorist Wallace Heim who has proposed that some of the most effective art interventions are consciously designed to proceed slowly: “…in the time it takes to engage in conversation…”  A great example of “slow activism” as “conversation” is the human-generated trophic cascade that occurred with the reintroduction of the wolf into Yellowstone National Park.  This intervention was not EcoArt, it was a straight science action, but it shows what can happen when a species long gone from an ecosystem reenters it, and by human design.  Soon after the wolf was reintroduced, aspen, cottonwood and willow, that had been all but extirpated, began to reestablish.  Why?  Because wolves were eating the elk, and therefore not as many elk were foraging on those trees, allowing small trees of these species to proliferate.  Trophic cascade as conversation between natural systems and human intervention was occurring!

In each of the EcoArt projects completed we can point to such “conversation” occurring, a kind of call and response between ecosystem crises, human (art) intervention and ecological response:  EcoArt as slow activism!!  EcoArt projects in this mode of activism teach, show, demonstrate and engage -- at a conversational pace.  They are tacitly critical of common eco-negative practices that have gotten us in the trouble we are in. They point the way, and gently point the finger.

But today, in this space Love the Everglades Movement has so generously provided, I want to urge all of us, especially artists, to engage a different kind of activism.  While EcoArt’s slow activist conversations with ecologies in crisis take place on one stage -- ecological restoration art as slow activism performance -- we also need to take assertive action on another stage -- the doorsteps of the entities causing the ecological damage.  We need actions that continue, expand and localize mobilizations like the impressive Climate Action event last September in NYC.

I am convinced what we need now here in South Florida is a tactical art activism that emphasizes irony and humor while burning indelible images into public consciousness, amplifying the information and warnings from our scientists and backing up the legal strategies of our advocates, with careful forethought and planning.  And, a basis in theories generated by some of the most interesting minds to focus on effective direct action and advocacy.

Tactical is the operative word.  Two of my favorite theorists come to mind:  the Chicana feminist thinker Chela Sandoval, and the Argentine born anthropologist Néstor Garcia Canclini.  I propose we consider their advice for how to engage a tactical art activism in the current context in which we find ourselves.

Sandoval’s concept of tactical activism is elaborated in her classic book Methodology of The Oppressed.  This is the concept of the “differential.”  Sandoval’s construct of “the differential” is not unlike the differential in the manual transmission of a car – it is the mechanism that allows gears to shift based on changing terrain; it is what makes the car adaptable.  Like the now old-fashioned stick shift, Sandoval asserts that contemporary activists can be more effective by being knowledgeable about and prepared to use multiple methods in their pursuit of social change.  They must have “differential consciousness” and engage in “differential social movement” that allow them to shift “gears” deftly from one approach to another.  In an environment of rapidly morphing political threats, it is not enough to use one method or pursue a single, unvarying strategy; today’s effective art activist must be prepared with a toolkit of diverse methods and a tactical mindset.

My other favorite theorist to whom I recommend we look for advice is Néstor Garcia Canclini.  In his 1995 book Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity, Canclini argues that politicized art gestures cannot, by themselves, lead to real change.  Canclini proposes that art should be deployed in situations calling for change as “performances” which represent and simulate political action in sync with other politically transformative energies, but on different stages at the same time.

Keeping Sandoval and Canclini in mind, then, I would like to introduce several examples of current art activism that tactically deploy both the “differential” and the “performative,” are directly engaged with environmental crises, and operate in sync with politically transformative energies in the culture.

In May 1982 ecofeminist artist Hélène Aylon created the “Earth Ambulance” that she took on a road trip to US Strategic Air Command bases, to “rescue” earth, metaphorically, from the threat of nuclear war.  (See slide show) Aylon collected soil samples at each site, in pillowcases inscribed with women’s accounts of their dreams and nightmares about atomic holocaust.  Aylon transported them in her retrofitted “ambulance” (a converted U-Haul van) to a mass disarmament rally at the United Nations on June 12, 1982.  The earth-filled pillowcases were carried on army stretchers down the steps of Ralph Bunche Park, across the street from the United Nations complex.

Over the next decades, Aylon carried out related Earth Ambulance projects in the Soviet Union, Japan and Israel as well as the United States.  The original Earth Ambulance has been decommissioned from active travel, and is reconstituted as a permanent exhibit at the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art in Peekskill.  Viewers are invited to sit inside the ambulance, which is outfitted as a kind of meditation space, decked with photographs and video documentation of several previous Earth Ambulance projects.

The YES MEN are a dynamic prankster art duo who specialize in satirical performances, impersonating corporate lackeys and fooling journalists.  They began pranking in the 1990s, and, in addition to their ongoing hilarious hijinx, have a passel of books and films, and an action network and planning instruction YES LAB to their credit.  They also teach activist performance in prestigious NY institutions.  Their real names are Andy Bichlbaum and Mike Bonnano, names that seem so fake they decided to create other names for their YES MEN personae--Jacques Servin and Igor Vamos--just to confuse people. 

In a recent prank, the YES MEN crashed a Homeland Security Congress in Washington DC, attended by government contractors, lobbyists and officials, including a retired Navy Admiral, a retired USAF general, a former Seal team leader, and an aspiring Republican Congressional candidate. 

Their performance consisted of:

• A stirring announcement of a fictitious new US government plan, the "American Renewable Clean-Energy Network" (AmeriCAN), to convert the US to 100% renewable energy by 2030.  The completely false, but also completely doable new energy initiative would redirect oil company tax breaks and subsidies to support renewables; commit to "Manhattan Project-level" Defense spending on conversion to renewables in order to prevent future climate-change-related conflicts; and partner with Native American nations whose lands could provide all of our renewable energy needs.  The announcement was interrupted repeatedly by audience applause.
  
  The announcement was made by the (allegedly) US Department of Energy's "Benedict Waterman" (Andy Bichlbaum ) wearing a page boy grey wig recalling the hairdo of the recently appointed Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz.  The wig was made especially for the occasion by RuPaul’s wigmaker.
  

Besides the Yes Men, Crazyboy, and Ybarra, participants in this project included members of Idle No More, and several other groups.  The action occurred just a few days after the Cowboys and Indians Alliance rally against the Keystone XL pipeline.

I consider the YES MEN to be the sine qua non of the super-sophisticated, brainy end of the artistic activism spectrum.  They do their homework.  They craft their hijinx carefully to gain maximum exposure in all corporate “news” media, create and circulate films in traditional venues, and for free online, and take full advantage of social media’s viral effects.  They utilize satire, shaming and wild humor, turning the real life ridiculousness of huge international corporations’ poisonous actions, responsible for our many environmental and human tragedy crises, against them.  They fund all this successfully with crowdsourcing, and have a team of probono lawyers ready to respond to lawsuits.  That they now focus almost all their efforts on their YES LAB, teaching others how to incorporate these kinds of approaches in their local efforts means this is a resource I hope we can’t refuse to use! 

Light Brigades are popping up all over the country.  A little film about their work is part of PBS’s Online Film festival…see it here.  This activist art intervention began in Wisconsin during the “Wisconsin Uprising” that sought to recall the Republican Governor Scott Walker.  While the recall did not succeed, the approach did!  The Wisconsin originators of the “Overpass Light Brigade” describe who they are and what they do:  “Our messages shine over highways at night.  We believe in the power of communities coming together in physical space, as well as the importance of visibility for grassroots and progressive causes.  We are a loose and inclusive affiliation of people dedicated to the power of peaceful and playful protest.”  Since the initial overpass displays on bridges spanning Wisconsin freeways, the approach is spreading rapidly across the country and are added to the OLB website as they emerge.  Detailed instructions on how to create the illuminated letters that spell out OLB messages are here.

Like The Illuminator, Light Brigades are highly mobile, placing illuminated messages at targeted locations, appearing and disappearing quickly.  Events are photographed, and have a longer life via postings on social media.  There are several points at which individual community members can engage in Light Brigades, including planning and strategizing for where the Lighted Messages should appear, development of the slogans, creating, maintaining and storing the lighted letters, and holding the messages at targeted locations, as well as keeping social media updated as events unfold.  Costs are relatively low, so this explains why so many brigades are appearing across the country, as opposed to Illumination projections, which do require a major investment in 10,000 lumen (minimum) projectors.

The Rude Mechanical Orchestra is a 30-odd-piece radical marching band and dance troupe.  They are for hire, and play protests, demonstrations, direct actions, picket lines, marches, benefits and events for good causes.  They say:  “We’ve played protesting union-busters and tip-garnishers, gentrifiers and privatizers, xenophobes, homophobes, and a host of other big uglies.  We’ve worked with groups like Time’s Up, the Restaurant Opportunity Center of New York, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project and the War Resisters League.  We’ve played community events around town and beyond, like the Queens Pride Parade, the Mermaid Parade, the East Village Roving Garden Party, Philadelphia’s Spiral Q Peoplehood Parade, and Boston’s Honk Festival.”  The group originated in the early 1990s, and has emerged and reemerged depending on need.  The most active orchestra operates in NYC, and there are new ones currently emerging in several other cities.  A typical set might include “a spritz of klezmer, some Balkan and Brazilian notes, plenty of funk, some Latin beats, a little jazz and an El Tigre cover, all of it served up with a patina of punk.”  They don’t do Sousa marches.  Here’s a sample from their gig at the big Climate Action March in NYC in September 2014! 

Music is so important to activism, and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra provides a mobile alternative to the stationary concert which often is expensive, discourages those not actively playing in the band from participating directly, and obviously cannot be deployed at fraught locations such as the headquarters of oil companies.  Activist musicians in the orchestra also point out that “To be effectively loud on New York streets, you usually need a loudspeaker, and to use a loudspeaker, you need a permit from the NYPD. If you’re planning on playing loud instruments, however, no such limitation exists, and this has made the RMO an essential ingredient in many impromptu demonstrations.”  TMO is a great example of the tactical wisdom of figuring out ahead of time what needs and what does not need a permit! And acting accordingly! 

The group runs Localize THIS camps (video), coaches communities on creating actions and offers training in:  Non Violent Direct Action 101, Creative Tactics For Visibility & Building Power. Giant Banner Building & Overpass Bannering, Flashmob Training, Projection As Protest, Light Brigade Training, Climb Training & Tripods, Blockade Training, Papier Mache Puppetry building.  Backbone pays special attention to “Security Training which shows would be activists how to stay two steps ahead of the authorities, versus two steps behind in paranoia.  Covers the basics of creating and implementing security within the group when engaged in an action, as well as in offices, homes, personal lives, and on computers.”  Lots of online action kits as well!

Along with the YES LAB and Beautiful Trouble, the vibrant Backbone Project not only plans and carries out their own artistic activism related specifically to local issues in Washington State, but they also provide assistance to other groups locally in Seattle and other WA cities, and elsewhere, both coaching actual actions on site, and training groups to do their own actions.  One very impressive offering is assistance with personal and group security, very much needed when activist art is introduced in contested public spaces.  Backbone also personifies the Sandoval prescription that activists become proficient in advance planning and the use of a wide range of approaches, tailored to specific on site requirements.  A new Backbone emphasis will be to develop a program to prepare CSOs (Community Supported Organizers) in local areas, based on the model of Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs).

Beautiful Trouble also has a corps of experienced trainers for hire.  The trainers available through the Beautiful Trouble network are both artists and activists. Recently Beautiful Trouble spun off a new initiative:  Beautiful Solutions!  As they point out, “Resistance is essential, but it is not enough.  As we fight injustice around us, we also have to imagine – and create – the world we want.  We have to build real alternatives in the here and now –alternatives that are not only living proof that things can be done differently, but that actively challenge, and eventually supplant, the power of the status quo.”

I end this discussion of a selection of the best of the best activist art initiatives currently available with Beautiful Trouble and Beautiful Solutions.  As concept and ongoing resource, these twin entities speak eloquently to what two of my favorite theorists, Chela Sandoval and Canclini pointed to almost two decades ago. Beautiful Trouble and Beautiful Solutions demonstrate the effectiveness of acknowledging, utilizing and distributing the best theoretical thinking and the best examples of intelligent, creative, strategic resistance visioning and deployment. 

I look forward to working with many of you to address what needs to be confronted, and what needs to be dreamed into existence here in South Florida.  There is so much that can and should be done to which all our innovative, artistic and creative thinking and action must be directed.


— Mary Jo Aagerstoun

by Houston R. Cypress,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement

The Film, Recording & Entertainment Council (link) is one of South Florida’s most important economic development organizations serving the Entertainment Industry and over the weekend FREC held its 11th Annual Star Gala recognition ceremony at the Magic City Casino.

The Star Gala (link) recognizes industry professionals and organizations whose careers and bodies of work establish South Florida as a significant region for developing a career in this commercial sector.  There is a thriving community of people here in South Florida and it is important to note just who they are and what they have done.

The nature of entertainment necessarily highlights those on stage, or in front of the camera, or in the spotlight, and so the unique work of the Star Gala is to highlight the talent and expertise of those behind-the-scenes.  The types of categories that this event notes include the work of choreographers, lawyers, recording executives, producers, directors, make-up artists, casting directors, recording studios, up-and-coming talent, and so many more.

Love The Everglades Movement, like FREC, is a member-driven organization.  Our work is concerned with offering opportunities for people to connect with the Everglades and thereby inspiring positive change in the broader society so that we can achieve goals such as improved water quality in the Florida Everglades.  Many of us are artists, and so the methods that we’ve been using reflect our skills.  We understand how our artistic projects communicate complex messages across multiple dimensions, so we’ve been eager to invite influential people to participate in our excursions and events.  Our understanding of the influential embraces people such as teachers, event planners, spiritual leaders, political organizers, etc.

We also strive to cultivate a community of people concerned with Everglades matters using an approach that is respectful of local mores – which we are discovering is not an easy task.  This work has required us to learn new languages, to go outside of our comfort zones, and to confront obstacles of all types.

LTEM began with a vision that Jean Sarmiento (link) was blessed with as a result of his dedication to his spiritual and ceremonial work.  Since the fall of 2012, our work has evolved:  from Everglades excursions, to art exhibitions, inter-faith prayer rituals, benefit concerts, short films, interviews with print/radio/television/internet media, and an eclectic symposium.

Our Summer Symposium 2014 (link) was the culmination of all of the projects and community networking that we’ve been involved in since our efforts began.  Our program and attendance reflected that.  It was also an event that was free to attend so that there would be no barriers preventing people from getting engaged in Everglades advocacy – FREC took note.

At the Star Gala, event hosts such as Trina Robinson of NBC 6 and world-renowned artist Laurence Gartel took time to highlight my achievements in film, television and art, as well as my community work with the Love The Everglades Movement as a prime reason for the honor.

So, I would like to share this honor with everyone who has been involved with LTEM in one way or another since our work began, including all those who’ve been on our Everglades excursions, everyone who has prayed for the water, all the friends we’ve made in all the different communities that we’ve visited, our benefactors and sponsors, and all the members of the Coordination Circle (link).  Nuff Respect!

Another honoree that was noted for Best Film Festival was Filmgate Interactive (link).  Filmgate is an event that showcases and develops transmedia projects – projects that are expressed across multiple media platforms.  Diliana Alexander, Executive Director for Filmgate, invited LTEM to collaborate on their filmmaking workshop.  Diliana wanted to use her resources to express an environmental and humanitarian concern for the Everglades and the Miccosukee community while providing artists from around the world with an opportunity to hone their skills using cutting-edge technologies.  You can see the result of this collaboration by clicking THIS LINK.

The Star Gala was a blast!  Some of us from the Coordination Circle who attended had an opportunity to rub shoulders with the professionals of the South Florida entertainment industry.  And I had a great time, with Dudley Alexis of Epyllion Films (link), in putting together the tribute video honoring Irene Marie of modeling agency fame for her Lifetime Achievement Award.  Love The Everglades Movement was in great company.

by Dr. Dennis Wiedman & Houston R. Cypress

by Geovanny Perez & Houston R. Cypress,
Coordination Circle, Love The Everglades Movement

Hello everyone.  I'd like to thank THE RIVERS COALITION, THE RIVER WARRIORS, AND C4CW for inviting me to speak today; I truly feel honored to do so.  I'm also excited to be able to connect with all of you, even if under such dire circumstances.

As for the matter that brings us here, I have found it necessary to participate in the effort to restore the Everglades because it's where my home (including my clan and Tribe) and heart resides.  In my lifetime I've seen many destructive changes to our lands, such as the disintegration of tree islands, the disappearance of game animals, the increase of pollution in water, and the erosion of the Everglades.  Because our culture is tied to the land (our ceremonies, our medicines, and many other spiritual practices), we are witnessing the gradual disappearance of our culture.   We are losing our roots.

But we know there is hope; we can certainly steer this thing in the right direction, but it will take incredible coordination and resolve to manifest our dreams.

This is where our spirituality comes in.

Personally, I don't believe spirituality to be superstition or hollow, self-promoting, self-serving, self-comforting cliches.

Instead, it is about wisdom, insight, strength, patience, trust, and compassion, and in the face of great uncertainty and potential doom, this is exactly what we need.  There are many great sages that have explored the struggles of the human condition in such a mysterious universe, peering deeply into our very being and place in the universe.  There is much to learn for the sake of our global as well as local ecosystems.

With Love the Everglades Movement, LOVE is central to our cause because we do not want to be ruled by fear or anger.  In fact, we know we cannot afford to be mindlessly distracted given what's at stake and the amount of time we have to make things right.  We know that anger and fear, especially in a crisis situation, may galvanize some, but it can also blind us, divide us, perpetuate the delusion that we are factions bent on defeating one another, and thus undermine these important efforts. 

In getting to know some of you, I've heard from you about other groups involved in this issue, and those comments have been disparaging.  We are supposed to be the SOLUTION to this problem, otherwise our divisions are poison in the water.  We do not have the luxury to bicker, but we can overcome this, in fact, we MUST overcome this.  As someone with an outside perspective, this entrenched rift is off-putting, but it is also all too familiar, so I sympathize with you even as I am critical (our Tribe has been witness to entrenched bickering slowing the Everglades restoration effort to a glacial pace).

So how are we to overcome this bickering? -- this factionalism?  Love & Respect is a good place to start.  We have youngsters here among us and we must set a good example for them.  Let's show them how to have a civil and civilized dialogue with one another.

Let's also continue to have forums for discussion, so we can increase understanding of our concerns and priorities and proposals for action.

Let's also ask for help from our friends, people such as you.

And let's not be afraid to disagree.  Let's welcome disagreements and critiques as opportunities to learn where our proposals can be strengthened and improved.

Let me offer an example of constructive critique within a context of civilized discussion.  Plan 6 and the Southern Flow way -- a very important proposal with definite room for improvement.  The Holey lands are an area designated as O.F.W. -- Outstanding Federal Waters.  From what I've read on Plan 6, there is not enough discussion or information about this important area:  the Holey Lands, an area with very stringent regulations.  Plan 6 would bring MORE WATER at a REDUCED QUALITY than is currently allowed and protected for.  So the question that Plan 6 must answer to move forward with broader support is:  How do you propose to degrade Outstanding Federal Waters with water from Lake Okeechobee?

I also have a request for my friends:  I need your help to address the L-28 Interceptor Canal.  The failure of CEPP to move forward was very disappointing to all of us.  But CEPP didn't do enough because it failed to address the L-28 Interceptor Canal.  CEPP was concerned with bringing New Water into the system, but the L-28 Interceptor Canal is currently bringing 40% of the waters coming into the area, and it's bringing water in with a disgustingly high concentration of Phosphorus.  By the time the waters pass through the Water Conservation Area 3A, the waters have been naturally filtered out and nearly meet the desired goal of 10 PPB of Phosphorus.  So what this means is that Miccosukee territory becomes a De Facto Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) and that is not right.  So I'm asking for your help to raise awareness and push for action regarding the on-going problem of the L-28 Interceptor Canal.

As for the factionalism within our environmental movements, well those of us from Love The Everglades Movement pledge to work from a place of Love & Respect with each and everyone of you.  WE WILL NOT TAKE SIDES.  We will continue to express our Love and Respect for these waters.

We continue to pray for the purity of the waters flowing from the Kissimmee River Valley, through Lake Okeechobee, over the River of Grass, and out beyond Florida Bay.

We continue to pray that compassion flourishes in the hearts and minds of the decision-makers and stakeholders involved with Everglades Restoration.

We continue to pray for the growth of the community concerned with Everglades Matters -- because the Everglades matters.

And we will continue to stand with you in prayer for the integrity and vitality of the Circle of Life.

These are the challenges we are called to meet -- with hope, grace, and diplomacy.

by Matt Schwartz,
Executive Director, South Florida Wildlands Association (Link).

Dr. Carl Sagan (and many others) said - “You have to know the past to understand the present.”  If you want to understand what's ailing the Everglades - and why every rainy season polluted fresh water gets sent into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries west and east of Lake Okeechobee - these two images are a great place to start.

Photo on the left is not real - it's a simulation of the historic "pre-drainage" Everglades.  What a satellite would have seen in the 19th century before the first major drainage canals were dug - if a satellite had existed.  The Everglades is one massive interconnected system - slowly flowing - both above ground and below - from just south of Orlando to Lake Okeechobee and then south over the soggy shoreline of the lake to the River of Grass and Florida Bay.  Photo on the right is what we actually see today.  Drainage canals have allowed about 6 million of us - and many more tourists - to settle on Florida's lower east coast - while millions of acres of natural wetlands surrounding Lake Okeechobee in all directions have been drained for agriculture (sugar, citrus, and other crops) and cattle ranching.  The water is laden with cattle waste, fertilizers, pesticides, urban runoff, and septic discharges.

A restored Everglades will be a system that looks - as much as now possible - like the photo on left.  The more natural wetlands we bring back - the less load we will be putting on the system and the more mother nature can do what she's always done in South Florida.  Want to really stop (or at least significantly diminish) the polluted discharges coming from Lake Okeechobee?  Clean up the water before it gets to the Lake and bring back the wetlands that can receive that water like they did before.  More to come.

by Dr. Mary Jo Aagerstoun,
Founder, EcoArt South Florida (Link).

Still WAY UP THERE after a hugely encouraging two days at the Love the Everglades Movement's First Annual Summer Symposium 2014 where I was so honored to present this discussion of EcoArt as slow activism and the need for aesthetically powerful and tactically deft Activist Art for our ecologies.

Please feel free to use any of this if you find it useful.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3vv0rlhomkddqb5/EcoArtActivismnotes.pdf

and for larger images of the slides:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oacdllii34v1ynx/EcoArtActivismEcoArt.pdf

For more information on EcoArt South Florida, please visit their website:  http://ecoartsofla.org/.

Video recordings provided by John W. Scott,
Clean Water Initiative of Florida (Link).