Greetings Brother Joseph. Thank you for this. I teach a course and would like to hand out copies (30) of this piece for discussion. Please advise. I will also suggest that my students join your Substack. Peace & Solidarity (niyonu@niyonuspann.com)
Absoluting beautiful writing. This stings. I am devastated. These places are truly America´s Last Best Thing. I am sharing this piece wide and far. Thank you.
"It is not just the land that is being lost. It is the idea that there are things in this country that should exist beyond the reach of capital, beyond the logic of profit and ownership. That there are spaces meant for nothing but sky and silence. That there are places where no one has to buy a ticket, where no one has to be convinced of their worth. That there is land that simply is."
There were many moments in this piece that I felt deeply but this paragraph spoke directly to my own grief of being chronically ill, and how existing in nature without profit, without need for 'worth' is how I am healing that grief.
The new administration in America continues to appall me in new ways every single day.
Every day I wake up heartbroken. The first time I stepped into the Redwood National Forest it literally took my breath away. There was such a presence with those trees, and I couldn't help wondering all the stories these magical beings could tell. Before I left apologized to them for the cruelty of humans and now this. Soul crushing 💔
This is an achingly beautiful piece and supports my intent to fight loudly everyday. I live in the Pacific NW and was at a protest at the Federal Bldg in Seattle and heard from several people fired from their jobs to care for our National Parks, Clean Water and other natural resources. Your writing is so deeply moving I just wanted to thank you for it. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your balance of the meaning of nature in our lives, the US history of tearing people and species from it and how we need to preserve such spaces to understand who we are and who we are not. Again, Thank you.
Beautifully written. Please, please, please Frederick - go visit these parks in person! As beautiful as National Geographic or, Ken Burns filmography is, nothing can compare to experiencing the majesty of our parks first hand.
As a Palestinian American, your words transported me back to Palestine, to the heartache and pain of witnessing the daily destruction of Gaza and the West Bank. It’s true—the Palestinian landscape, its farms, and those ancient olive trees are being destroyed by those who have little regard for the land’s soul and history. But I know who truly cared for these hills, who lovingly terraced them, who planted the olive and almond trees, and who nurtured the steadfast geraniums that still bloom in my grandmother’s garden. Indeed, “the land does not ask for loyalty, does not demand allegiance. It belongs only to those who honor it, who care for it, who kneel in the dirt with open hands rather than raised fists.” Thank you, Frederick, for sharing your gift of words so beautifully and powerfully.
Great article. I’d love to visit these beautiful places. The colonizers, capitalists destroy. As George Carlin said “we’re just a surface problem to the earth “, it’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas.” We look at the poor earth as our victim. “Earth” doesn’t care. We will destroy our own environment on the planet, but not the planet. I think it was John Glenn , who said when he was up there, he could cover the earth with his thumbnail, which made him feel pretty small and insignificant.
This is a stunning and chilling witness of this moment in time. I plan to share this with every person I know, and to keep sharing it until people get it. Thank you for the thoughts.
Greetings Brother Joseph. Thank you for this. I teach a course and would like to hand out copies (30) of this piece for discussion. Please advise. I will also suggest that my students join your Substack. Peace & Solidarity (niyonu@niyonuspann.com)
I deeply appreciate the ask you are more than welcome to share with whomever and however needed.
Absoluting beautiful writing. This stings. I am devastated. These places are truly America´s Last Best Thing. I am sharing this piece wide and far. Thank you.
"It is not just the land that is being lost. It is the idea that there are things in this country that should exist beyond the reach of capital, beyond the logic of profit and ownership. That there are spaces meant for nothing but sky and silence. That there are places where no one has to buy a ticket, where no one has to be convinced of their worth. That there is land that simply is."
There were many moments in this piece that I felt deeply but this paragraph spoke directly to my own grief of being chronically ill, and how existing in nature without profit, without need for 'worth' is how I am healing that grief.
The new administration in America continues to appall me in new ways every single day.
Every day I wake up heartbroken. The first time I stepped into the Redwood National Forest it literally took my breath away. There was such a presence with those trees, and I couldn't help wondering all the stories these magical beings could tell. Before I left apologized to them for the cruelty of humans and now this. Soul crushing 💔
This is an achingly beautiful piece and supports my intent to fight loudly everyday. I live in the Pacific NW and was at a protest at the Federal Bldg in Seattle and heard from several people fired from their jobs to care for our National Parks, Clean Water and other natural resources. Your writing is so deeply moving I just wanted to thank you for it. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your balance of the meaning of nature in our lives, the US history of tearing people and species from it and how we need to preserve such spaces to understand who we are and who we are not. Again, Thank you.
This is so beautifully written and so heartbreaking and infuriating. We will not take this quietly! #resist
No words…💔 Beautifully written!
Beautifully written. Please, please, please Frederick - go visit these parks in person! As beautiful as National Geographic or, Ken Burns filmography is, nothing can compare to experiencing the majesty of our parks first hand.
As a Palestinian American, your words transported me back to Palestine, to the heartache and pain of witnessing the daily destruction of Gaza and the West Bank. It’s true—the Palestinian landscape, its farms, and those ancient olive trees are being destroyed by those who have little regard for the land’s soul and history. But I know who truly cared for these hills, who lovingly terraced them, who planted the olive and almond trees, and who nurtured the steadfast geraniums that still bloom in my grandmother’s garden. Indeed, “the land does not ask for loyalty, does not demand allegiance. It belongs only to those who honor it, who care for it, who kneel in the dirt with open hands rather than raised fists.” Thank you, Frederick, for sharing your gift of words so beautifully and powerfully.
Thank you for this. I have traveled a fair amount to see our parks and even got married in one. We cannot just let them take our land and sell it off.
Wow! This has me in tears. Your words ring so true and I am so grateful that you have expressed what I cannot. Thank you.
Great article. I’d love to visit these beautiful places. The colonizers, capitalists destroy. As George Carlin said “we’re just a surface problem to the earth “, it’ll shake us off like a bad case of fleas.” We look at the poor earth as our victim. “Earth” doesn’t care. We will destroy our own environment on the planet, but not the planet. I think it was John Glenn , who said when he was up there, he could cover the earth with his thumbnail, which made him feel pretty small and insignificant.
Thank you. 🙏
So beautiful, expressed with such eloquence. Love how you weave in our dark history with the land and even so, beauty must prevail.
This is a stunning and chilling witness of this moment in time. I plan to share this with every person I know, and to keep sharing it until people get it. Thank you for the thoughts.
This is beyond beautiful in one million ways. You have perfectly captured our collective grief.