Photo: Devon Frederickson

Terry Tempest Williams is an activist and writer (and old friend) who travels the world bearing witness to human and environmental trauma and atrocity. Like Derrick Jensen, she refuses to look away.

Ground Truthing

Devon Frederickson interviews Terry Tempest Williams

August 1, 2013

guernicamag

Excerpt:

I don’t think there is anything as powerful as an active heart. And the activists I know possess this powerful beating heart of change. They do not fear the wisdom of emotion, but embody it. They know how to listen. They are polite when they need to be and unyielding when necessary. They remain open, even as they push boundaries and inhabit the margins, understanding eventually, the margins will move toward the center. They are tenacious, informed, patient, and impatient, at once. They do not shy away from what is difficult. They refuse to accept the unacceptable. The most effective activists I know are in love with the world.

A good activist builds community.

I used to ask the question, “Am I an activist or a writer?” I don’t ask that anymore. I am simply a human being engaged.