Helen John
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Helen John (30 September 1937 – 5 November 2017) was one of the first full-time members of the Greenham Common peace camp.[1]
Early life
She was born Helen Doyle in south-west Essex.
Career
In September 1981, Helen John, a midwife from Essex joined a march from Cardiff to Newbury to protest at the siting of ninety-four nuclear missiles at Greenham airbase.
Helen was born in Romford to parents who worked at the Ford factory in Dagenham. Growing up during the Second World War, she recalled how anxious her parents were for the safety of their children during bombing raids which killed friends and family.
When Helen left home to join the march in Cardiff, her five children, the youngest of them three and a half, were to be looked after by her husband. Dissatisfied with the lack of publicity when the march arrived at Greenham RAF base, she decided she would live at the peace camp full-time, away from her family. Helen observed that while it was acceptable for men to leave their families and go off to war, if women left their families to fight for peace, they were shamed for it. Many women after her chose to do the same. Her experience at Greenham began a lifelong commitment to campaigning against war and for nuclear disarmament.
She was a formidable part of a movement to alter the nature of non-violent direct action and as part of a small group, occupied the sentry box at Greenham’s main gate. The women sang, laughed and whooped at the nonplussed guards. At the trial, Helen used the public platform to argue her defense politically, a voice which she continued to employ not only to combat the growth of militarism domestically and internationally, but to raise awareness of such injustices as the dreadful conditions in women’s prisons and the commercial exploitation of women worldwide.
Helen’s contribution also lies in the everyday nature of her activism; teaching women prisoners to read and write, donating clothes or providing women with a meal, a bath and a bed when they needed it.
Having spent ten years living in a tent at Greenham peace camp, Helen, now in her mid-fifties, was a seasoned protester and committed feminist. Her activism was characterized by the non-violent direct action pioneered at the peace camp. She had been arrested and imprisoned countless times, thirty-two times for criminal damage alone. She was one of the first people to be charged under new anti-terror legislation for walking 15ft across a sentry line at RAF Menwith Hill which housed a US eavesdropping operation run by the US National Security Agency.
Despite being patronizingly described by the media as a ‘Grannie’ or a ‘pensioner’, Helen’s activism was forward-thinking, determined and intellectual. It often mocked the authorities – who found her ability to disrupt high-security military activities with what she called ‘non-co-operation’ singularly humiliating. Her creative use of non-violent direct action was in part designed to attract the attention of the media and politicians – for instance, standing against Tony Blair for the Sedgefield constituency in the 2001 and 2005 general elections, her campaign conducted from behind bars due to her conviction on charges of criminal damage. In 2001, she finished last of seven candidates, with 260 votes (0.6%),[2] and in 2005 she finished 13th of fifteen candidates, with 68 votes (0.2%).[3]
Helen's dedication to the peace movement and upholding the right to protest was expressed in every aspect of her life. Her energetic, challenging and inventive campaigning methods have inspired decades of young activists. After 25 years of tireless work, Helen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 for ‘rendering valuable services to the cause of peace, justice and human dignity.’
Helen John remained remained active even in her old age. [4]
In 2012, a documentary web series, Disarming Grandmothers,[5] was released. This series portrayed the lives of Helen John and, fellow campaigner, Sylvia Boyes, from their 'trial for terrorism' when they trespassed into RAF Menwith Hill to their family life.[citation needed]. She died peacefully on 5th November 2017, aged 80. As the legacy of Greenham echoes down through new generations of young women, we can remember Helen’s words as fundamental to our movement: “In sisterhood and total defiance.”
See also
References
- ^ Beckett, Andy (17 November 2011). "Protest and survive: the Greenham veteran who refuses to go away". The Guardian. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- ^ "Vote 2001: Results & Constituencies - Sedgefield". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ "Election 2005: Sedgefield result". BBC News. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ Learmonth, Sarah (8 March 2019). "Helen John – Greenham Woman". The Heroine Collective. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
- ^ Pope, Claire (23 April 2012). "Disarming Grandmothers". Peace News. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
External links
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