‘Desperation made me an Extinction Rebel.’ Photo: Sue Hampton (bottom right) takes part in an XR protest (courtesy XR)
Desperate measures: Sue Hampton calculates the risk of being a Rebel
‘Being described by the Crown Prosecution Service as “of bad character” still hurts.’
A few weeks ago in Meeting for Worship, a wonderful woman called Marjorie, who is ninety-one, gave ministry about risk. She didn’t actually use that word, but she spoke of elderly Ukrainian women standing peacefully in front of Russian soldiers and talking to them, on behalf of their mothers. Moved as I pictured this scene, I remembered a tweet I’d seen an hour or two earlier from Peter Kalmus (@ClimateHuman), a climate scientist whose grief and passion is always palpable: ‘I’m often asked, “What can I do?” or “How can I be a climate activist?” Answer: Take risks. There’s a lot of guidance you can get, groups you can join, advice you can seek. But it won’t amount to much, if anything, if you don’t take risks’.
