I learned much more about sex, my body & how to love/appreciate/pleasure it, from Dr. Sue.
The Canadian doctor who shocked & changed many lives with her straightforward manner & quirky, funny (without trying) sexual health lessons.
Sweet Valley High books by Francine Pascal corrupted my brain. I read so many of the books as a young girl. I couldn't relate to anyone in the books but there wasn't any POC books for students back then. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweet_Valley_High
I got into gothic horror genre, in my tween years, reading books by V.C. Andrews. After reading, Flowers In The Attic - I wanted to read every book they wrote.
In my early teens, into my early 20s - I discovered John Steinbeck. I ended up reading almost all of the books he wrote. The books helped me to understand poverty & struggles of early Americans.
Please note this thread is about Western influences from my childhood into early adulthood years & I didn't have as many choices back then as I do now.
At age 14, I was gifted a copy of Rachel Carson's book - Silent Spring. It changed my life, how I viewed our human connections to nature & shifted my direction of life for awhile. Less than 2 yrs after reading her book - I was out at my first remote blockade to try to protect ancient old growth forests in Clayoquot Sound; treesitting & chaining myself to excavators & logging road gates.
I was a supply dropper '98-'99 at this blockade. We were able to negotiate to protect several old growth spots protected. We got more at risk areas turned into parks! Carmannah Walbran park exists now because ppl fought hard, sacrificed a lot to help to protect our old growth forests. We will ALWAYS fight back against ecocide. We never have full wins. We keep trying cuz not trying at all - isn't something we can live with. I will keep risking arrests to do what's right.
Tonight, I light up 4 white candles for my brothers/sisters who passed away, after spending almost their whole lives - trying to fight back against multiple #BCgovernment & multiple #GovernmentOfCanada abuses & exploitation & ongoing divide/conquer evil #colonialism.
If things keep going the way they are now - I'll be joining my now deceased fellow family of lifelong activitists. We know odds are stacked against us. We just can't live without trying to change what we can, while we're alive.
Please watch to understand early resistance action to try to protect old growth on #VancouverIsland was dealt with by #RCMP & #BCgovernment. This battle resulted in more ancient forest areas getting protection. It took almost a decade to get government to change & relent to endless protests. We'd pop up with new blockades & block new road work to access killing more old growth.
Long, sustained direct action does eventually work but it creates lots of activist burnouts.
So grateful for younger activists, who have grown up to be strong & powerful voices for their peoples, communities & ancestral lands. I remember this event, over a decade ago. Ta'Kaiya ended up at same 3 remote blockades as me, twice in recent years. She was amazing with caring for & teaching several native youths at camps ❤️
I hope we see more young activists use their personal influences for greater goods 🙌
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