Dena Eakles

You Are the Greatest

When they tell you you’re not one of them. Don’t be offended. It’s probably true.

When they talk about you behind your back and set up roadblocks on your path. Don’t waste your time getting angry. Don’t think about getting even.

These are the games of assumption and judgment. You don’t have to play in that playground. These are the strategies of divide and conquer – and you can see where that has gotten us.

This is your moment to shine. This is the moment to call upon your inner strength, and use your highest vision. That’s what’s needed now.

Never let anyone diminish you.

You are a human being. You have been given the gift of life and you belong.

People may try to erase you. People may try to usurp you but when you know and understand who you are they cannot touch you. Cultivate your courage. Cultivate your love and kindness. These are your weapons.

Don’t dance in the graveyard of ignorance. Find the living. And Enjoy.

Some talk about ancestors. Some talk about angels. Some talk about God. But talk is talk and knowing is a very different thing.

Place your hope on the possibility that humanity can and will come to its senses before it is too late. Trust that spark of divinity that each of us carries. Let it burst into flames, too bright to be ignored again, and hot enough to melt the hardest of hearts.

It is a difficult time. We have forgotten who we are, but we can remember. And in that remembrance everything is possible.

Take a step towards knowing who you are. You are the Greatest. You are needed and you belong. Widen your Circle.

It is our time.

The Power of Us

It might be time to discover the power of “us”. We’ve been embroiled in divide and conquer for so long that we have forgotten another path is even possible. Fear of “other” has taken the place of Love thy neighbor. Sound bites written by powerful agents have replaced common sense. I recently came upon an article about the increased and successful use of heat pumps in Maine. As you may know, heat pumps are the new electrified source of heating and cooling that are being purchased with immense rebates. This new technology helps reduce our carbon footprint.

What’s our carbon footprint? The oil, coal and natural gas that we burn to produce heat and keep the lights on carries with it a toxicity that is destroying the planet, one pipeline rupture, one train derailment, one flare-up at a time.

I may or may not be in line for a heat pump, but this article caught my attention. It seems industry moguls are having a hard time adjusting to the fact that people are leaving the fossil fuel industry. Whether due to cost or to save the environment, large numbers of people in Maine are acquiring heat pumps. They are ignoring false threats that heat pumps cannot withstand the frigid temps and other twisted facts bombarding them.

It made me think of our own fact showdown in the Midwest. If your information only comes from Dairyland Power you will believe that solar cannot possibly supply the energy we need. Or you may even succumb to the dangerous narrative that nuclear is not only safe but also necessary. If this is your thinking, you might consider the sources of that information and who will gain from it.

But more importantly what do we have to lose?

For more information on nuclear power read this from Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Or this on concerns regarding the Point Beach nuclear reactors from the Wisconsin PSR chapter.

Keep the cooperation in coop. Participate in the Vernon Electric Co-ops Annual Meeting, Saturday, March 25.

Cooperate

The definition of cooperate is “to work jointly toward the same end”. You remember the saying and probably have experienced, “Many hands make light work.” In the early 1900’s it was a necessity to help one another, especially rurally. And it was that joint effort of neighbors that built electric transmission lines and created distribution cooperatives like Vernon Electric and twenty-four more coops in our state.

The fact that cooperatives have remained solvent through the years is a testament to core principles: they are member owned and democratically run. That means members elect Delegates and the Board who in turn hire the CEO to run the day-to-day business of the cooperative. That business should be of concern to every member since it is our monies that feed the system and allow it to run.

What causes a cooperative to fail? Apathy of the membership is a major contributor to the detriment of a coop; conflicting goals is another. Misinformation or lack of transparency can cause conflict and can upend the cooperative spirit. Competition from outside might also influence a cooperative negatively.

Remember Vernon Electric Cooperative is a distribution coop. Dairyland Power is the generator, supplying electric energy to coops through coal power plants and other means. And while that has been a working relationship there are environmental factors influencing our need for locally generated renewable energy. Drive through the Driftless and you’ll see solar panels on homes. Most, like the ones I own, are grid tied. That means when extra energy is produced it goes back into the pool of electricity that Vernon Electric transmits. Over time local panels will reduce costs for all, if allowed to continue.

Times are changing. This is not a time for apathy. Get in the know or stay in the dark.

The next VEC annual meeting is Saturday March 25, Bylaws, rate increases and other important issues will be raised. Your vote matters.

Who’s Paying Attention

My early years were spent in an industrial area. Thirteen miles away, Shippingport, the world’s first atomic electric power plant began spewing in 1957. A steel mill, a varnish company, lumberyard and glass factories were all within walking distance from my childhood home. Railcars carrying all sorts of materials passed day and night.

I often say I should glow in the dark from the pollutants released into the woods where we played.

Through the years I watched the steel industry decline and the air and rivers cleared, only to witness the area succumb again to some of the most toxic pollutants known. They took down a mountain to put up Shell’s ethanol plant that makes plastic pellets. It recently went into full production and within weeks exceeded Pennsylvania’s limit on toxic air quality. (Read: Shell’s cracker plant pollution prompts civil law suite).

This is Beaver County, Pennsylvania, recently in the news because of the fiery fifty-railcar derailment in East Palestine, a quaint Ohio village on the border. Five of the 153 railcars carried vinyl chloride, a chemical used in battles during WWI. Residents of East Palestine were evacuated and people miles away were told to stay indoors. They were also told not to worry.

Dead fish in the stream, but your wells are fine, they’re told. Vinyl chloride is heavier than air so it stays close to the ground, they admit. It’s going take time to know what the effects are, they know, but nothing to be alarmed about.

Norfolk-Southern Rail is going to be responsible for the accident and “we’re going to make sure that’s going to happen, “ say the politicians. Yep. We’ve seen this movie before.

An old time railroader blames cutbacks on railroad jobs and remembers when fewer than 100 railcars were the norm, not 153.

And all I want to know is who’s paying attention?

photo credit: Erics Train Yard

Every Thursday I write a two minute piece that airs on WDRT, Thursdays at 5:30 pm. Then it appears here on my blog. But this piece could be a book.

So here you go: Shell’s ethanol plant took more than ten years to get up and running, during those years the need for plastics has diminished and the recognition that plastic is one of the most toxic substances on the planet has increased. People around the world are outlawing single use plastics, plastic bags and much more. Discoveries around the use of hemp and other natural fibers are proving to be as effective – and healthier for people and planet.

Beaver County was chosen by Shell’s Dutch Royal Company because they knew they could capitalize on a workforce that would do their bidding. It was also chosen because their product was in demand in a 700 mile radius of the area. Within a 700 mile radius the toxicity will be transported.

Apparently the train was carrying a variety of products from Madison, Illinois, to Conway, Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Has this become a new thoroughfare for hazardous materials?

While the air quality in the home of my birth continues to decline, the state and corporations continue to cash in on a product which should be banned and continues to put lives at risk.

This is far from over.

Residents of East Palestine are suing Norfolk Southern in a U.S. District Court, alleging negligence. And if you want to learn the gruesome truths about the lenience of laws surrounding the transport of hazardous materials and how the rail industries rejection of modern braking systems played a part in the fiery crash, read Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment.

And if you want to participate in the effort to expose potential hazards BEFORE they become disasters in Beaver County, check out the Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community

May we all find the courage to change the scorched earth trajectory that we are on.

Black Resistance

We’re in Black History Month, February first through March first. The theme for 2023 is Black Resistance. During this time, I am hoping to learn more and adopt some of the very valiant ways I witness Black Resistance.

For one, I’ve never had to fear that my nephew, brother-in-law, father or male cousins were going to be beaten to death for no reason by police. I’ve never had to have the “talk” about how to “behave” if stopped or questioned. I know of encounters my Black friends have had with racism and I am quite certain I would not have been able to remain dignified under such inhumanity. Black Resistance is the ability to face the ignorance of hatred and not become the hater.

Black Resistance is what I have witnessed in Black communities like Milwaukee and Detroit that resolutely carry on through unnecessary hardships and find creative ways to maintain in spite of it all. I continue to learn from their lead.

Black Resistance is the recognition of the need for self-care and more importantly community care. That is the hallmark of a People who will triumph. It’s my belief that white communities would benefit from the understanding of “Beloved Community” as witnessed in Black communities.

It is in present day Abolitionists that I have found great hope. We don’t need to remain in systems of oppression. We must accept the opportunity to live in new ways. It’s not only possible but also essential. And we must resist the doubts that say it cannot be done.There will be many opportunities over the next month to avail your self of Black Greatness. Resist the fear of learning Black History and embrace the truth that Black history is all of our history.

… and you can be sure I will be watching The 1619 Project on HULU

Read Rolling Stone Review…

Choose Peace Over Violence

It seems we blindly follow the trajectory of thoughts and beliefs that have gone before us. Old habits are so deeply ingrained that they are the last to go.

The recent mass murders in California point again for our need to change. Yes, the numbers and types of guns available are out of control. And yes, there are many people distressed enough to harm themselves and others. We use the label “mental health” to bundle gun violence, suicides, and other anti-social behaviors as we seek solutions to an ever increasing problem.

We dissect behaviors and talk of laws, but seldom do we discuss the roots of violence. We refuse to acknowledge that the isolation many of us experience and the strait jacket / conformity we demand of one another are disrupting our humanity.

They are symptoms of a culture that glorifies masculine toxicity, symptoms of a culture satisfied with hierarchy and status quo. We are a culture who has successfully placed property values over human life.

We have created systems where defenders of the earth are now intimidated by threat of death and unwarranted imprisonment. SAY HIS NAME: MANUEL TERAN – “Tortuguita”

We have created and accept a police state, where too often law enforcement has become judge, jury and executioner. SAY HIS NAME: TYRE NICHOLS

And we have created a numbed populace who no longer knows how to identify right from wrong, let alone knows how to respond to the inhumanity enveloping us.

Yet, if we could look honestly at our illness, we would find the antidote is close at hand. We need clarity, courage and conviction to upend the ignorance we face. Those elements are within us and can and must be cultivated.

We can carry on unsuccessfully trying to eradicate symptoms, or we can dust off and remember the source of peace within.

Choose.

Waking to the Strength of Love

I tend to believe it takes about a hundred years for innovative thought to become part of the fabric of a culture.

I remember reading Emerson and Thoreau in high school and how their thinking impacted me. Today their thoughts on Transcendentalism are integrated into our psyche. The effort they made to cut a new path becomes irrelevant as we take for granted our newfound wisdoms. The inherent goodness of people, the divinity of nature, and the need to have a personal knowledge of God or Creator, were all supported in transcendental thought. Few of us take the time to understand their journey or care to look where it may still lead.

So it is with Dr. Martin Luther King. Everyone knows the cliff note version of the man, holidays and school lessons see to it, but I’m not sure that many have made the effort to understand the heart of his wisdom. And if we have an intellectual understanding, we must wonder if it has yet had the time to creep into our souls.

Martin Luther studied what he called “the only morally practical and sound method” of nonviolence taught by his near contemporary, Mahatma Gandhi.

With his mind and his heart Dr. King contemplated the importance of love. He dove deeply into it and understood Love to be the means and the end to human suffering. He rallied all to heed the importance and the strength of love – love for the divine and love for all humanity. In the face of hatred and ignorance, he remained resolute inviting us to walk with him.

His words still echo in spite of very real efforts to make him obscure.

Those who are observant and resilient will discover the strength of Love.

And on it will go.

Lest We Forget

Ever heard of Enbridge? Unless you’re someone who has thought about preserving clean water for future generations, or keep stocks in oil, probably not.

Enbridge is a multinational pipeline and energy company with headquarters in Canada. It owns and operates pipelines in Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids.

It was Enbridge’s broken pipeline that caused the largest inland oil spill in our history. On July 25, 2010 at least 1 million gallons of bitumen, thick crude oil, leaked into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River.

Closer to home, Enbridge’s system includes Line 5, which travels 645 miles and passes under the Strait of Mackinac. With a history of unleashing environmental damage in its 50 years; the pipeline has spilled 33 times, leaking 1.1 million gallons of oil. And in Minnesota, the collusion between Enbridge and law enforcement over Line 3’s damaging construction is reminiscent of Standing Rock. Arrests and discrimination mount on Water Protectors while polluters escape justice.

I know the numbers of spills are dizzying and seemingly endless, as are the promises to never let it happen again. Also spectacular are the millions in fines assigned to the company – which brings no solace to environments destroyed by Enbridge’s negligence.

All of this is readily available to those who care to dig a bit. The links I have shared here are but a few. Don’t expect mainstream media to cough up too much truth and the Biden administration has already outpaced Trump in the numbers of offshore drilling permits granted. Most of the work to track Enbridges’ trail of destruction are led by Indigenous organizations like Honor the Earth. Or grassroots organizations: Environmental Defense, Stop Line 3, and Oil and Water Don’t Mix, to name a few.

So it comes down to this, my friends, we can go on living as though this finite earth can and will sustain our assaults, or we can pull up our big pants and tackle the hard truths in front of us. Reduce consumption. Transition to renewables. Support the people on the ground fighting the corporate elites. It’s time.

Photo: Tania Aubid of the Milles Band of Ojibwe holds a bullet-riddled sign opposing the Enbridge Line 3 project in February 2021. The sign had been in front of her home. (Photo by Mary Annette Pember, Indian Country Today)

Step Out of Normal

When I bought this farm 20 years ago, I hadn’t heard of Landback or colonizer. I bought the farm with the idea that it should go on in perpetuity with no more buys and sells, no more profiteering from extraction. I learned from Dine’ friends that land was not mine to own and I respected that understanding.

I was counseled, “Buy the land and it will teach you”, and I have learned from it.

I have learned that the symbiotic relationship with the land is key to understanding my humanity; and that the dance with the seasons is in direct relationship to my understanding of myself as a finite being. The satisfaction and fulfillment I garner is testament to a Greater existence. And the whole experience is one of beauty and peace, regardless of the difficulties that arise.

I believe the capitalist system has shortchanged our worldview and has cheated us of the most valuable of commodities, our humanity. I’m very grateful to have taken the plunge away from social norms and that very kind people took the time to help me heal. Because stepping out of normalcy is a healing.

It’s not easy to live in a world where bad deeds and actions are legitimized. It’s not easy to force innocents to close their eyes to the horrors of hunger, homelessness and violence. But that is what we do everyday. We teach our children to stuff the question, “Why?” And we carry on with the charade.

This country’s wealth is based on land theft and stripped resources. Trying to rectify poverty or heal generational traumas without acknowledging the assaults of our history will be fruitless.

We’re all damaged by cruelty. We must all take time to heal.

Step out of normal.

Facing Our Demons

Let’s call it what it is: illegal and inhuman. More than 2.4 million migrants have been turned away under Title 42 since 2020. According to US Customs and Border Patrol these individuals are seeking humanitarian protection. The recent Supreme Court decision to allow the continuance of Title 42 is in blatant disregard of human rights and a violation of International Law.

In the guise of a public health measure we have once again turned our backs on migrants fleeing poverty and violence. And we have allowed a right leaning court to uphold a pandemic health excuse to keep human beings in dire situations and in freezing weather at our border. Judges Gorsuch and Jackson articulated their dissent and in clear terms explained that this should not be in the courts domain; rather it is up to legislators to create avenues that support migrants seeking asylum.

That’s the rub, isn’t it? To get legislators to agree on a subject that will force them to unravel the racial biases that still dominate. There are legal and just ways to bring migrants seeking asylum into this country. Ukraine and Afghan refugees can attest to this. But let us not forget the photos of immigration enforcement on horseback rounding up Haitians to be deported. There were 20,000 Haitians deported in five months, and all under Biden’s watch.

Title 42 is an immigration enforcement tool. And we, as a country, should be ashamed. Instead, we make a wish for peace and celebrate the glories of a new year while in our name horrible racist and inhuman acts continue.

We pride ourselves on an exceptionalism that we have never earned.

May we become the humans that we are capable of being.

photo: creative commons licensed under the terms of the cc-by-sa-2.0

Author: Dena Eakles