Today’s Music to keep me IIiiNnnnnSSssAaaaNNnnnEee – Roy Harper – The Tallest Tree – Chico Mendes!

Posted on by Opher

Opher

Chico Mendes – one of the real heroes. Roy wrote this song in his honour.

Francisco Alves Mendes Filho,[1] better known as Chico Mendes (December 15, 1944 – December 22, 1988), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on December 22, 1988.

The Tallest Tree

The earth is possessed
By the curse of the west
Who devour
Newpaper furniture
Paparazzia by the hour
But a man with a vision
Believed
That tomorrow’s begun
And has to be won
And nobody here is reprieved
O Chico, Chico Mendes
The man in a million
Stood in the way
Stood his ground
For the earth
For the coming of day
The chorus of dawn
On the perch of each morning
Receives
A forest of tears
As the joy reappears
On their leaves
And believes
Sings his name
And the tallest tree
Forever stands
Beyond the flame(s)
North south east and west
We can all reach the rest
Every day
Now is the change
To set out together
For a beautiful day
Whoever saw it
A different way
Was a man in a nightmare
Too numb to the future
Of brilliant possibles
Ever to share
The same air
As the men in the clay
O Chico, Chico Mendes
There are men who are more that just men

Roy Harper – The Tallest Tree – Chico Mendes!

Posted on by Opher

Chico Mendes – one of the real heroes. Roy wrote this song in his honour.

Francisco Alves Mendes Filho,[1] better known as Chico Mendes (December 15, 1944 – December 22, 1988), was a Brazilian rubber tapper, trade union leader and environmentalist. He fought to preserve the Amazon rainforest, and advocated for the human rights of Brazilian peasants and indigenous peoples. He was assassinated by a rancher on December 22, 1988.

The Tallest Tree

The earth is possessed
By the curse of the west
Who devour
Newpaper furniture
Paparazzia by the hour
But a man with a vision
Believed
That tomorrow’s begun
And has to be won
And nobody here is reprieved
O Chico, Chico Mendes
The man in a million
Stood in the way
Stood his ground
For the earth
For the coming of day
The chorus of dawn
On the perch of each morning
Receives
A forest of tears
As the joy reappears
On their leaves
And believes
Sings his name
And the tallest tree
Forever stands
Beyond the flame(s)
North south east and west
We can all reach the rest
Every day
Now is the change
To set out together
For a beautiful day
Whoever saw it
A different way
Was a man in a nightmare
Too numb to the future
Of brilliant possibles
Ever to share
The same air
As the men in the clay
O Chico, Chico Mendes
There are men who are more that just men

Chico Mendes Quotes.

Posted on by Opher

Chico Mendes was a Brazilian rubber planter. He saw the way the rubber plantations were creating an unsustainable environment, they were destroying the rainforest and its wildlife, so he set about doing something about it. He set about organising workers and opposing the big companies and ranchers. He unionised the workers and opposed the development of the plantations in favour of a more diverse environment and working practice.

All the big ranchers were interested in was profit. They threatened him and then they murdered him.

At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rain forest. Now I realize I am fighting for humanity.

I think we all are! If we lose nature we lose life.

I became an ecologist long before I had ever heard the word.

Ecologists are people who care about the planet, its life and people!

Heroes – Chico Mendes – Champion of the Brazilian Rainforest – murdered by the exploiters.

Posted on by Opher

Anthropocene Apocalypse cover

Swathes of the Brazilian rainforest are still being cleared. The pristine rainforest, the lungs of the world, are being decimated. The trees are logged, land cleared for farming and ranching and every day roads creep into its guts opening up more hunting and destroying habitats. The short-sighted devastation is all about money. It is driven by the huge companies who are creaming off the profits.

Chico Mendez was a rubber tapper. He made his living from the rainforest. What he saw appalled him. His livelihood and the whole forest were threatened. He became campaigning to save the rubber trees in the rainforest. He argued for a sustainable use of this massive resource.

In doing this he put himself up against the big business interests of the ranchers, miners, loggers and road builders who were opening up and destroying the forest. He was greatly successful and reached international renown. He made the plight of the rainforest a major focus.

In 1988 he was shot dead in his own house. His murder, by one of the ranchers, should galvanise the rest of us to take up the cause.

The world is being raped for profit. The wild-life is being destroyed. If we allow this to continue we will find that all the ecology of the planet is at risk. We will be destroying our own future.

This is what Chico had to say about it:

‘At first I thought I was fighting to save rubber trees, then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest. Now I realise I am fighting for humanity.’

—Chico Mendes