rachel-white

How Iggy Fox inspired me to take action

By Rachel White
rachel-white
After experiencing burnout in 2018, I took time out from a stressful job and as part of my recovery, in June 2019 I travelled to France to walk the Camino Frances. After completing this five-week solo trek across northern Spain, I returned to the UK very much a changed person. I had learnt to be grateful for the trees that shaded me from the sun, for the company of the birds, bees, mice, butterflies that were always found alongside me daily on the stretches of paths, where there were no other humans in sight. Walking in nature for hours before reaching sight of a town became my norm. I slowed down, I became grateful for the cool breezes at the top of a steep hill, for the sunshine that would dry my hand washed clothes, and the rain when it came, for refreshing me and cooling my aching joints. I also learnt to appreciate the quick connections I made with those who offered a friendly smile, a warm welcome at the end of a long day, and for those who shared their food and offered words of encouragement and love in whichever language it was spoken.

On my return to the UK, I noticed quickly that the life I had known before my travels wasn’t working for me any more. There seemed to be so much traffic, pollution, people rushing around, a life geared towards consumerism and waste. I now had to search out the green spaces and the birds. Why were there so few in the sky? And where were all the butterflies and flowers? They were harder to find now. Why had I never noticed this before? And where were the friendly smiles and easily-made connections now? I now felt a little ashamed to be a human: a little angry I could not just slot back into my old way of life. But my eyes had now been opened, and there was no going back. I would stare at my wardrobe, with so many clothes, accessories and shoes, so much stuff to choose from. I felt guilty and overwhelmed by so much choice. So many unnecessary purchases, that I had been led to believe could bring me satisfaction and happiness.

It was in this state of mind that I found myself in Trafalgar Square on 7th October 2019 looking up a group of brave young XR activists locked on to a scaffold tower, at my first ever protest, listening to a young man speak his truth in a speech so inspiring that it led me on my own unexpected path to become a climate activist.

In the tower I noticed he looked anxious, his face pale, palms sweating, trembling a little, as the police scaled the tower to arrest him, but I also noted that he also looked calm, peaceful, resilient, resolved to the job at hand. This young activist had joined XR the year before, as part of their media & messaging team. As a wildlife biologist he had specialised in tropical animal conservation and travelled, and worked alongside many indigenous communities in Ecuador, Mexico, Bolivia & Brazil and had seen first-hand what happened to those individuals who stood up to ecocide in their countries, who often lost their lives in doing so …he was also confused as to why the mainstream media were not reporting on these crimes/murders of these people trying to protect their lands.

I later learned that like me, this young man was reluctant to become an activist, but felt compelled by the circumstances he found himself in to do all he could to oppose and prevent greater crimes of ecocide and genocide, and so he chose to take part in an action where he splattered paint on the Brazilian Embassy in London to raise awareness of the Brazilian Governments crimes against its people and lands.

Sadly, at the start of 2020, I heard the shocking news that this 25-year-old activist had collapsed and died suddenly, as the result of an undetected heart condition. So saddened by the news, I travelled to London (just before the pandemic struck) to attend his vigil organised by fellow activists, friends and family who all attended to remember, honour, mourn and celebrate together his life cut short far too soon.

When attending an XR fundraiser a few months earlier, I had briefly seen Iggy in the crowd, dancing with his friends, and had felt suddenly compelled to speak to him, to tell him how much he had inspired me to take the step to join XR, and how grateful I was for all he had been doing to raise awareness of the destruction of brazils lands and those indigenous communities affected. I will always be grateful for having had that chance to meet him if only for a few moments to be able to say thank you.

After Iggy’s death, an edited version of the speech he had planned to give at his trial was published in which he admitted he had no intention of denying that he had vandalised the Brazilian embassy, but pleaded in his defence that he had only carried out this act to raise awareness of the Brazilian government’s own crimes: crimes far greater than paint splattered on a wall carried out through love, rage and compassion.

In 2021 I walked to COP26 with the Extinction Rebellion Faith Bridge http://caminotocop.com/. I began my journey on the 17th September arriving in Glasgow on the 30th October. On this journey I carried all my belongings in my backpack and would walk anything from 10 miles to 17 miles a day through, sunshine, wind and rain, sleeping on church floors at night.  At the end of each day myself and fellow activists would take part in outreach events to build alliances and engage communities along our route, to spread the word about the urgency of the need for meaningful action to address the global climate and ecological emergency.  Each night, each walker would tell their personal stories to communities about how they had become an activist. And I spoke about Iggy Fox.

So why did I choose to walk to COP26? Why do I feel compelled like Iggy did, to raise awareness, to enable people to consider the reasons we must all do our part to save all things this planet has given us? Why bother?

I could give you lots of complicated data and facts on the science as to the why we must do something, why government’s must take action etc, but I won’t, because ..I guess if you are still reading this and you have got this far, then you’re probably already feeling something in your gut too. Something that won’t go away, will it? I know what it is, because I feel it too, it’s a feeling deep within me that I believe is rooted deep into my connection to the earth, and its calling me. It’s that simple.

You see, to ignore all those with no voice, all those in the global south already greatly impacted by this crisis, or to not do anything to attempt to safeguard our children and that of future generations futures, just no longer feels like an option. The call is all too clear.

I am a rebel, I am a climate activist, but there is no difference between you and me. I am scared too. I am worried about what the future holds. But despite my fear I am speaking my truth. How did I find my courage to do so? how did I find my voice you may wonder?

It is simple. I saw others do it, over and over again, not letting their fear prevent them, and they have inspired me, because, the importance of the message they bring is far larger than them, greater than any of us.

Fear can often be disabling and can make us feel powerless. That is how I felt when I first realised the full extent of the climate and ecological disaster we face.

But nature has been calling to my conscience for a long time now, and this calling far outweighs any fear that surfaces, because nature needs me, she needs all of us…

The truth is that when I began this pilgrimage with Extinction Rebellion Faith Bridge, I considered myself to be someone of no faith. But during the last weeks of my journey to Glasgow, that belief changed. Now I now know I do have a faith. It’s a faith in people. A faith in the human spirit.

And how could I have not gained this faith when I have spent so much time with those who care and have hope for our sacred earth.

When you live in a community which is founded on mutual love and respect, where all voices are heard, how can you not gain a vision of what the future could look like and have faith in that.

So, thank you for all the conversations, whether they were easy or difficult that were had in all the different towns through which we passed. Thank you, for giving me a faith in humanity. For I now understand the value of faith and its true purpose: to inspire hope in us, for without hope I would easily fall back into apathy, in action and distraction.

The common thread that weaves its way through all of us on this journey from which ever faith or religious background ,is the calling to be in service: service to the planet, service to future generations, service to nature… so that we can achieve a balance again between mankind and the planet.

This kind of service can often feel impossible, overwhelming and too much to ask of anyone. But in each day in putting one front of the other we gain growth, momentum, belief and friendship on that journey, that can push us onwards to deliver a vision of what is possible.

To allow the broken relationship between people and planet to be healed, we all need to step into our own power and act to bring about the changes that are so urgently required.
It is clear that our leaders need to be led, we need to show them that the people have the drive and that we are here and willing. It is time for the people to be heard.

Hope can be a survival trait and it is something that should be put in practice daily for it to become real, as it is hope that leads us to take those first steps into action, and in turn inspire others to do the same.

If you love something you want to protect it… so if you love the beauty of the sky, the landscapes, the oceans, the animals, birds, forests and trees and those family and friends you hold dear, I invite you to allow yourself to have a faith in a future where the changes required will be one in which you will have far more to gain than to sacrifice.

If we are to turn around this disaster we cannot rely on new technology or financial wealth alone, it will be down to us all reaching inside our hearts to care for others, even those we have never met, and even those that are yet to be born.

So tell me, what will you next step be?

Watch Rachel’s speech in the Green Zone at COP26, inspired by Iggy Fox’s dedication to raise awareness.

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Remembering Fox by Danae Ave, founder of XR Greece

I cannot even begin to tell you how much of an impact Fox had on me. Individuals like him drive the wheels of civilisation forward and for that you need a formidable spirit and a magnetic personality. I sensed that a lot of people I met from XR felt completely lost after his passing, so I know I’m certainly not the only one. Fox was XR for me. I could not see XR the same way after his passing. It was his energy and his passion that drove all of us to him it was the fact that he saw our potential before we even recognized it in ourselves. He believed in what was not yet possible, but he believed in it as if it had already happened. As if it was already there. The way he believed in each every one of us was the same way he believed he could change the world. And he could. He was one of the very few people on this planet that drive the wheels of civilization forward. He was a complete human being, a visionary.  Courageous, charismatic, self-sacrificing… All those virtues he embodied from such a young age. In many ways he achieved what others never will in their whole lifetime. He did so much and he was so young and he inspired so many, so early.

I met Fox in London a few weeks before the protests of 2018 in April. I remember walking into the XR offices and no one was really talking to me. I did not look like a typical XR person – whatever that meant. Fox was the first one to approach me. He didn’t care about how I looked. He only cared about that small flame of hope I had inside me, the belief that I can be brave enough to make a change. I don’t know how he saw it before I did. But that’s how he was. He saw the potential and the best in ourselves before we ourselves recognized we had it.  Seeing him seeing that potential in me, I felt so empowered. Suddenly I realized I could also be a bit like him. He was a very intelligent and committed person who saw beyond the labels that we so often put on ourselves.

Every time I saw him there was a lesson to be taught for me and for others. A few weeks before the rebellion, a lot of preparations were happening and Fox was helping people post posters around, explaining a bit of the process. There were six of us and we were terrified. It felt like breaking the law, because posting posters in the UK from what I recall was not legal. There was a process to it. But Fox was unafraid and committed.

At some point he said he had to go because the police were chasing him. He told us not to worry and just make sure to post the posters.  We lost him for a couple of hours and then he came back and then we lost him again. I was so worried. In many ways that day stayed with me. Now that I think about it, it was a foreshadow of his absence and the future loss we would all feel. When he left, we all felt like there was no guidance. We were alone. Leadership was his natural state. So when he left us there that night, we were all terrified and felt lost as to what we needed to do. But we said we now had to proceed with the posters on our own, and so we did.

A few days later I saw him back at XR. He had this almost carefree attitude. I asked him if he was doing okay and I remember he said: “Don’t worry about me. Did you guys manage to post them?”  Meanwhile it was circulating that he was into some trouble with the police. But he did not tell me a thing.

That’s when I realized his commitment to what he saw as a better future was not a theoretical promise. He had become the promise. How can we change anything around us if we ourselves do not carry change within us?  Fox embodied the highest ideals. It was amazing to witness a true revolutionary in the flesh. When the rebellion happened we had a lot of exchanges but one in particular stayed with me.

I remember I asked him about his commitment and his response to me back then was inspiring and terrifying at the same time. He looked at me and said that there were people he knew, activists who lost their lives for this. I felt like there was an unspoken conversation that took place and in that moment I understood that he feared nothing of what was to come. We have this saying in Greek by the writer Nikos Kazantzakis: ” I do not fear anything. I do not expect anything. I am free”.  Fox was free. He freed himself from the burden of deciding between a comfortable life and a moral life because as much as we hate to admit it particularly in times like these, those two don’t go hand in hand. He was set in his vision, committed and unafraid, He did not expect anything. He acted to create it.

Fox was not at war with himself. He made peace with how he wanted to be and what he wanted to accomplish. So peace was his natural state. When I learned about his death I was devastated. I was in the  Netherlands, in Maastricht and I leaved far away from the city. It was on the countryside. I still remember running along the river with my bike and crying.  I felt all this pain and I felt empty. I could hear birds passing by and suddenly I felt like he was there with me. He was in the birds, the river, the trees, the wind. Now becoming one with the source. I always think of him in nature the most and I do strongly believe he is out there. Nature was the place he called home and now he is residing there…

He definitely was and still is my moral compass. He was the light inviting us to imagine a new life that if we dare is ours to create. Fox was a fiery spirit. His energy has been stored in all of us who remember him and honor him through our actions. In that way we will pass it down to others. He is present within us and present around us. I have felt his presence as well. In a dream I had, he was leading a group of people. I don’t remember them but he was as passionate as he always was, and he was talking. We also talked briefly. He was in a good place. I haven’t seen him since.

Fox was special. It’s these rare individuals touch us the most: I strongly believe that they have something almost karmic about their existence… They have a destiny to fulfil. Hence the clear moral compass that they so firmly hold from such an early age… Throughout our human collective history the hero gets cast as the villain because people cannot bear to witness the reflection of what they could have been, and what they could have created. People like Fox are brave reminders of our highest possible form but often these individuals do not stay long with us.

Despite the sadness I feel lucky, very lucky to have met him. He gave me the courage to be something better. Now I have to find the courage to stand on my own and let his absence and the pain it has caused me to move me forward with the same passion that he had… I know that he would have wanted all of us to keep on going.

I have channelled his ideas, what he stood for, and his vision for a better society into my future plans. I hope to honour them as best as I can. I want to turn the shock and sadness that his departure left in so many of us into something. Fox loved life and all life around us. He wanted to remind each and every one of us how precious it was. That is why people like him never truly die. Because they represent life and in their death, those beliefs carry on in all the living forms around us. So yes, he is and always will be surrounding us. In my opinion Raphael made a philosophical realisation about the essence of life and his part on this planet that most people who have reached old age never do. You see them trying to reach for something but the older they get the more abstract and unreal it seems: an illusion that they built their whole lives around. Values and goals that were built out of fear of death instead of out of love for life. This is a result of a sick society and this is why we are where we are, and why so many of us fear death so much. But Fox never did. That’s why he was a free man. Free from the fear and vanity that many of us unconsciously carry.

When he passed away, I made a promise to carry his legacy at a time when it is needed the most. It is a promise that many others who’ve met him I am sure feel compelled to uphold with his passing. I am sure all that he stood for will unfold in the actions of many of us in the near future, and despite how grim that future looks, we will not go down without a good fight. He would have done the same so no matter the circumstances people like Fox give us the strength and courage to fight for what is right and we will keep doing that till we pass the torch to others.