We are Tidewater Earth First!

Tidewater EF! is a faction of Chesapeake Earth First! and we are a biocentric direct action group that organizes resistance to human, animal, and ecosystem exploitation. We use a No Compromise philosophy in our opposition to the commodification and destruction of the wild and all biological kingdoms on Earth. Guided by a philosophy of deep ecology, we believe that life exists for its own sake, and that industrial civilization and its philosophy are anti-Earth, anti-woman and anti-liberation. Our structure is non-hierarchical and we reject formal leadership. We understand that we can never be the healthy humans that we were meant to be in a world without wilderness, clean air, and the howling of coyotes under the moon.

Some of the campaigns & organizations we currently work with or are directly involved in are: Dump Dominion, We Are Cove Point, Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons, Park Place Peace Garden, Food Not Bombs, the Catholic Worker Movement, No New Animal Lab, and No Atlantic Coast Pipeline.

 

To learn more about Earth First and the EF! Quarterly Journal, visit the EF! Website.

We really need your help! Contact us to get involved!

 

About Tidewater EF!

 

We believe in using Biocentric & Nonviolent Direct Action in our toolkit for change

Direct Action- the use of strikes, demonstrations, or other public forms of protest rather than negotiation to achieve one’s demands.

Biocentrism- a political or ethical stance which asserts the value of non-human life in nature.

To us, Nonviolence means not causing physical harm to humans, animals, or ecosystems. We do not consider acts of sabotage or property destruction to be violent. We consider “pacifist” inaction to be violent. In a world filled with nonstop physical and mental assault for the benefit of a few, we consider inaction to be violent and oppressive. It is our duty to protect ourselves, our ecosystems, and all living being which inhabit them!

We believe in the concept of Dual Power. Dual power means building solutions and tearing down oppression in the same sweep. It means shutting down fracking fields, prisons, and factory farms, and regenerating the ecosystem with bio-remediation and permaculture design. Without solutions, we will have no infrastructure to sustain us after winning the battle. Without Shutting down destructive and oppressive infrastructure, we have no room to build farms and ecovillages.

Dual Power means using physical “on the ground work” in unison with interpersonal and intersectional social justice work. We believe in personal transformation which overwrites hate-filled and patriarchy-filled conditioning with passion, self love, and respect for all others. In instances where others are acting oppressively, we work to help them learn and decondition first, and only after trying to educate and heal the wounds of patriarchy do we then take direct action to protect and defend ourselves and our communities from oppression. We believe all oppression is interlinked, and we must fight for liberation of all humans, all animals, and all niches in our planets ecosystems.

We are an anti-fascist, eco-anarchist, and total liberation group which believes in taking change into our own hands as opposed to waiting for politicians or figures of authority to do it for us. We do not trust any part of the current system of capitalist exploitation, and we do not trust those who wish to save ecosystems or wildlife for human use.

We act in solidarity with and all oppressed communities and movements on our planet, including Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ, Feminism, First Nations People, and others. We strive to rewild and decolonize our imperialist heritage so we may serve those who continue to be oppressed under Global Imperialism.

Until all the cages are empty and all the prisons are burned(and turned into forests)!

Tidewater Earth First!