FEATURE
PAMELA LEILA RAI
Olympian Spirit for Old Growth Forests
BY DURGADAS CHAPMAN
F
rom the swimming pool, to the high school classroom, to the yoga mat to the frontlines of the largest and longest civil disobedience action in Canadian history, Pamela Leila Rai could be called a true warrior woman. As the first woman of Indian ancestry to win an Olympic medal, Pamela’s taste for a challenge is something she is drawn to. After her many years as an elite athlete, Rai poured her energies into her career as a much beloved high school English, Math, Special Ed. and Social Justice teacher. She also embarked on a journey to her ancestral homeland of India, where she studied yoga in depth and subsequently spent 8 years building a sustainable earthen yoga centre on her acreage in Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island called Silent Motion Yoga. Since September 2020, Rai has been an integral member of the Rainforest Flying Squad, a peaceful group of grass roots, direct action folks dedicated to environmental and social activism. They have been blockading the Teal-Jones Group timber company from accessing the last 2.7% of ancient temperate rainforests left in the world. These biodiverse forests in British Columbia are home to trees up to 2000 years old and to endangered
24
APR / MAY 2022 News With A Desi View
species of flora and fauna that are unique to this environment. Rai’s unwavering passion for bringing awareness to important issues led to her early retirement from teaching so she could dedicate her time to activism. “I realized my ability to affect change was hindered in the schools. I was frustrated with the coloniality of the education system. My values and perspectives were not valued in my district.” admits Rai. Her drive for a just and harmonious world is the same drive that made her an Olympian. “It’s largely unconscious but when you are not of the dominant culture, nor look like them, the need to excel in whatever you choose to do, takes over to prove some worthiness. Hence, my success as an athlete I suppose. There’s a fearlessness that is embodied and I think that’s what makes me a good activist too. I’ve always stood up for the underdog. From a young age, I have always had a sense for social justice - whether it be Rights of the Disabled, Animal Rights, Women’s Rights, Rights of BIPOC or Environmental Rights; it runs through my veins.” Her life has always been punctuated with activist leanings; she even won a Canada
I realized my ability to affect change was hindered in the schools. I was frustrated with the coloniality of the education system. My values and perspectives were not valued in my district. wide environmental poster drawing contest at age 9 where her theme was ‘Keep Trees Green.’ Her ultimate purpose in life she says is in the service of promoting peace and love. Something she feels stems from her ancestral Indian roots. For the forest protectors, the fight has not been an easy one. The past year has been met with constant misinformation in the mass media, covid, living in the bush through everything from snow to a heat wave, legal battles and a government whose lack of action has created a backlash from environmental and indigenous rights movements that is unprecedented. Rai has been there since the inception of the movement when it was just a handful of concerned citizens fighting for these sacred forests. Armed with resolve, strong facts, a few tents, banners and a mission, the Rainforest Flying Squad has emerged as a force that government and industry cannot ignore. As with all grass roots, direct action movements, they started out small. Everyone www.desitoday.ca
