In the last installment of Fall Quarter’s Athens Activist Spotlight, Ashley Ante and Damon Krane of The InterActivist spoke to Erika Hedin. This month we chose Erika because we thought it was time to give credit to one of Athens’ very own radical activists. She was excited to be spotlighted in this issue and her interview proves to be genuine and honest. If you’d like to catch up with Erika you’ll be sure to find her volunteering at The Wire or gracefully riding her bike around town.
The InterActivist: How did you first become involved in social justice activism here in Athens?
Erika Hedin: Activism became a major part of my life shortly before the war in Iraq “began.” [Though severely underreported in U.S. media, the U.S. continued to bomb Iraq from the end of the first Gulf War in 1991, throughout the Clinton years, right up to the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq in 2003, in what amounted to the largest U.S. bombing campaign since the Vietnam War. –ed.] I wasn’t just involved with anti-war activism though. I became involved with Positive Action and Feminist Coalition, which were two groups that were working towards redefining the world and the ways in which people interact. Most of the work I was doing was anti-authoritarian, pro-feminist, anti-capitalist, and environmentalist organizing.
IA: Has growing up in Athens influenced your activism?
EH: Growing up in Athens has definitely had a huge impact on my political and social beliefs, and the experiences that I’ve had. Athens, being a hub for radical activism since the 1960’s, provided me with so many awesome people and events to learn from.
There wasn’t really any one moment when I realized I had to change things. I was raised with values that were obvious; that no, it is not okay to oppress other people. No, it’s not okay to take more than what you actually deserve.
There are definitely people who influenced my life and decision making. Jaylynne Hutchinson was definitely, and still is, a huge and awesome part of my life. She’s really involved in the program I’m doing in school now.
There are a few events that were definitely very influential for me. Attending the Institute for Democracy in Education’s annual conference in Athens when I was still in high school was a defining event. I attended as a pre-service teacher, which was a pretty awesome experience as a student and as a future teacher.
The Second Annual DIY (Do it Yourself) Fest in 2002 was a really big changing experience for me as well. The DIY Fest didn’t happen the past couple years, but we’re resurrecting it this year, which I’m really excited about because it was such a big part of my life. It’ll be happening this upcoming spring, and it’s going to be hosted by a new group called the OU DIY club. The OU DIY club is a group that is pretty much bottom lining that project and other types of workshops and activities around DIY culture, beliefs and values.
The DIY festival focuses on the idea that you should be able to do things yourself; the idea that everyone has the capabilities, or should have the resources and the knowledge, to be able to provide for themselves. Everything from being able to fix your own bike, brew your own beer, heat your house with solar power, sew your clothes, and make your own food. Our culture is taking those things away from us and teaching us that we should just consume. DIY is an idea that we should do it ourselves or do it together.
IA: What kinds of issues, campaigns, and projects have you been involved with since then? Which ones have been successful? Unsuccessful?
EH: I’ve worked with groups to try to stop the Marathon Ashland Pipeline in Ohio, to save Dysart Woods from being undermined, to attempt to make Athens a more bike-friendly community, to open The Wire and on a variety of other projects that have been both small and large.
The campaign against Marathon Ashland Pipeline was in a lot of ways unsuccessful because they ended up putting the pipeline through the route we thought was the most destructive. It was the route we were most opposed to. It was really effective in the sense that it brought a group of people together in Athens, and for most of us it was our first experience doing radical environmental work. Most of us had done environmental work from more of a mainstream perspective, but we had never really considered the options of direct action. I actually didn’t do any direct action during that campaign because the weekend we were having the direct action training was also the same weekend they cut out a huge path for the pipeline. It was really one of those moments where you feel like you lost. However, it was the first time that such a solid group of people got together, and it was an awesome opportunity for networking and building a sense of community. In that respect, it was really successful. It’s import to recognize that just because you haven’t met all of your goals for a project there are often times underlying benefits to it.
People are still fighting to prevent mining under Dysart Woods. It’s a real struggle because it’s been ongoing for so long. In that respect, it’s really hard to find hope in it; that’s what the companies are doing – the tactic of drawing things out.
The Wire is a really awesome project that is doing amazingly well. We’re moving forward. We’ve come a really long way in the past three and a half – four years. There are really only two of us that have been involved from the very beginning and there are about three or four people who have been involved for a long time. So now, it’s really a huge group of new people. Projects like that, that can have new people but keep the same values, are definitely a sign of success.
IA: What are you currently focused on?
EH: Right now I’m mostly working on The Wire, volunteering in the bike shop and coordinating volunteers. I’d really like to get Hock-Hocking Earth First! back on it’s feet here in Athens. Athens is definitely in need of a radical environmental group with a “no-compromise” mindset. Riding bikes is also super important to me, and I want to see more people in Athens riding and feeling confident and safe on their bikes.
IA: Do you identify with any particular worldview or ideology? Are there certain basic values that motivate you? In the long-run, what exactly is it that you’re striving for?
EH: I am an anarchist. I want to live in a world that is free from hierarchy. I don’t believe in electing other people to make decisions for me but would rather work with people in small groups and make decisions by consensus. I think that everyone can bring valuable thoughts to the table, and it is important to hear all of those voices. I believe that civilization is destroying the earth, and is destroying itself, at an ever quickening pace. In order to live sustainably and healthy—both physically and mentally—we all need to work towards dismantling the gears of civilization.
Civilization is not only Western Culture but the existence of government and institutions that rely on hierarchy. It is also the empowerment of some people and the disempowerment of others. I think a lot of people aren’t really willing to say they’re “anti-civilizationists.” Although I would say I am an “anti-civilizationist,” I think it’s important to say that I don’t see this civilization falling in my lifetime. I would love to see that happen, but I don’t think it’s going to. However, at the same time I think it’s important to acknowledge that civilization is not something that I find value in or that I find to be a good thing for the earth or humanity. If we acknowledge that it’s not necessarily a good thing then we can step back from our role within civilization and look at it with more of a critique. In order to dismantle civilization, we need to do whatever is possible to work against it by creating relationships with each other, with the environment and with our non- oppressive and non-controlling allies as much as possible.
Even though I am for the dismantling of civilization, civilization is destroying itself. It’s obvious when you look around, and you see how much is happening everyday – the statistics about global warming and about the climate change. There’s going to be a point of no return and eventually civilization is going to collapse on itself. We’re getting closer and closer to that point. The fall is going to come much more so from natural disasters. Events like Hurricane Katrina and all the other earthquakes and natural disasters proves that. The people that were hurt from those disasters the most are the minorities. We, as activists, need to help civilization fall, but we also need to help those who are going to be hurt by the fall the most.
IA: Has your outlook on the world changed in response to your experiences as an activist?
EH: My activism and my experiences in traveling the U.S. have only reconfirmed and strengthened my beliefs. I’ve gone and seen so many awesome community projects. Some are very similar to The Wire, and some are really different. I’ve gotten to see how those groups have been successful and how they’ve failed. A lot of times, people feel that Athens is a bubble and that we’re the only ones that feel this way, but if you look around there are people all over the place doing the same thing, even people in southeastern Ohio. Meeting the people in West Virginia, during my time with the campaign against mountain top removal (Mountain Justice Summer), who were also, in their own way, “anti-civilizationists,” gave me the sense that I’m not alone. There’s an amazing community bike shop in Tucson, Arizona, Bicas. I would love to see The Wire’s bike shop learn from projects like that one.
IA: What inspires you as an activist? What depresses you?
EH: Seeing new people becoming involved is one of the things that excites me and inspires me the most. Seeing my friends who brought me into radical activism get burned out and leave activism is one of the most depressing things for me. When people drop out, they’ve said that they need to work to make their personal lives as sustainable and as healthy as possible. Although they might not be as active in the larger community, they’re still doing amazing work by creating relationships with their families and close knit communities. They’re still being completely radical in their concepts even thought they might not be as active. Maybe their politics have changed a little in what they view as most important.
I took a year off and lived in Detroit for a year, learning how to grow food with my friends and neighbors. But still the underlying message for me was I wanted to be an activist. I still have time to burn out, but I’ve taken an active enough role that I learned I can take little breaks. Burning out is not something I want to do.
Riding my bike is my favorite thing to do when I’m feeling stressed. A friend and I went on a bike trip this summer from Detroit to southwestern Virginia. It was one of the most rewarding vacations from activism that I’ve ever had, and yet I was still doing something that I think is important. Wouldn’t it be amazing if someday there were no more cars and all of our travel was human powered?
IA: You’ve left Athens for an extended period of time and then returned. How has that transition been?
EH: Leaving Athens and coming back has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I love Athens with so much of my heart, but there are so many other things in other places that I’m so glad I’ve gotten to experience and learn from. It’s been so awesome to return and put all of that learned material into action in a place that is so important to me.
IA: How has being a woman grassroots organizer affected your issues, campaigns and projects?
EH: I guess it has affected the way that I perceive the world and the issues that are most important to me. I used to work blatantly on events and programming that was meant to empower women, and now I’ve more so brought feminist politics into all of my organizing. I think it’s important to look at the work that we do; to look at how it may be leaving out others, or be harder for women, people of color or other underrepresented people.
IA: What would you like to see happen in the local progressive community that’s not happening now?
EH: I’d like to see groups working together better on projects. So often I’ll be flyering for an event and see a flyer for another event on the same night on a similar topic hosted by another group. Athens is a small town. I don’t think that it should be as hard as it has been to keep from double booking the radical community.
I’d like Athens to be more open to political theory. A lot of times we move away from terminology that might be frightening to people. But I think it’s important to use terminology such as “radical,” “anarchist,” “feminist” and “anti-civilizationist.” They’re strong terms, and it’s important to understand what they mean to individuals. It’s important to use words and language because it strengthens our community so we can push ourselves further.
At the same time, I’m really interested in making spaces comfortable for everyone. The Wire is not an anarchist space. A lot of people have that misconception because some of the volunteers call themselves anarchists, but not everyone is, and that’s not the intention of The Wire. The intention is to be a community space for progressive thought and progressive politics. Just as you can be a multi-issue activist, you can be a multi-perspective person.
I think people are worried sometimes about labeling themselves for fear of getting put in a box. I worry about that too, but at the same time it is important for me to openly acknowledge that I’m a feminist, anarchist and environmentalist. Using labels can create a community. People who have the same thoughts and politics hear those words and then have a way to talk about those thoughts, along with another person’s face to go with the labels. It’s the realization that there are other people that are trying to live similarly. I don’t think many people realize that Athens hosted the North American Anarchist Convergence in 2004. There are a bunch of people in Athens who I would never have expected to come out for that. Community members came out, and they were definitely blown away about what that word may mean to individuals. It was really awesome to be an organizer for the Convergence and have a bunch of people come up to me and whisper in my ear and tell me, “Hey, I think I might be an anarchist.” •
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