A little About Marie Mason...

"Promise"
Marie Mason

My face against the mossish bark
Arms outstretched to hold and feel
the heartbeat throb of
Water
Pulsing low below the surface
Even as it runs through my own veins
Your feet thrust deep within the Earth
Your head held high to track the Stars
An existence both of the Prayer and silent Service
Steadfast in years
And the long reach through time
A storied lesson told in rings
I read through fingers
Ancient Oak
Encircled by your children
Now grown tall
The deer pause to witness
This conversation and this promise
Between the Mouse and Lion, as of old,
Because tonight the blue strips
Flutter all around you in a winter breeze
Banners heralding
Disaster
Houses to be built
Destroying
Home.


Marie Mason is a 46 year old mother of two. She is an avid community gardener, a musician, a writer, an Earth First! organizer and a volunteer for a free herbal healthcare collective. She also was an extended care assistant at a small Cincinnati school when she was arrested on March 10, 2008 by federal agents. She has been charged with involvement with a December,1999 arson at a Michigan State University genetics laboratory at Agriculture Hall and a January, 2000 arson of logging equipment in Mesick, Michigan. Both arsons were claimed by the Earth Liberation Front.
The burning of MSU’s Agriculture Hall was a significant act and one that was bound to be targeted for response as part of the Greenscare repression. As former ELF press officer Craig Rosebraugh explains in his memoir, Burning Rage of a Dying Planet, “Not only was the damage quite significant,… but this was the first time arson had been used to further the cause against genetic engineering (GE) in the US. Furthermore, it was the first time the ELF had taken credit for any GE-related action.”
Predictably, the media presented the action as an assault on scientific efforts to relieve famine in the so-called developing world. But, as the ELF communiqué plainly stated, MSU’s research was funded by the US government and corporations like Monsanto, which then use their considerable power to force such crops on desperate nations. These nations often resist the importation of GE crops and seeds, given their significant risks to human health, cultural identity, biological diversity and ecological integrity.
A long-time environmental, animal rights and social justice organizer, Mason had previously experienced government repression when ELF actions occurred in her community. An easy target for the federal agents in their quest to criminalize dissent, Mason was an identifiable and outspoken critic of genetic engineering and destructive forestry practices.
It is important for the government to realize that when they push communities of resistance with Greenscare tactics that communities push back with solidarity and renewed efforts to make the change we want to see. By supporting our political prisoners, we encourage others to take their place in the struggle.