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Activist Crystal Zevon wants you to wake up Crystal Zevon of Barre stands in the front hall of her home which is papered with posters, newspaper clippings and remnants of her activist travels.(Photo: EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS, EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS) Buy PhotoCrystal Zevon records video of a small protest by Code Pink aimed at deterring customers of Unilever, the corporate owners of Ben and Jerry during Free Cone Day on Tuesday April 8, 2014. (Photo: EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS, EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS) BARRE Just past downtown Barre, you'll come to a street called Liberty. Nearby is Freedom Way. Either one will get you to Orange Street and the big white house with a sign on front: WE ALL LIVE DOWNSTREAM. The words Zevon chose to post on her house, and the street signs that happen to be nearby, together form a billboard that express a triumvirate of Zevon's concerns. Zevon, 64, is an activist who has worked in her own neighborhood, and on the other side of the world. She fights for economic justice and protests against war. She will take a cause to Congress through legislation, and sleep in the street in the nation's capital. Zevon's interests concern climate change, economic justice, peace, the Israeli Palestinian conflict, poverty and education. Her approach to the issues can be as varied as the causes. "There are days when I think it's all useless," Zevon said last week at her house. "But I've got grandchildren. . I do it because I can do it. I have the means. I have the time. I think I have the background, the understanding of certain things. I have the psychic ability to do it. I'm not afraid of it. I think there have to be people who are willing to go the distance. We're necessary to get more middle of the road people at least conscious." Although Zevon's activism often takes her out of Vermont, she has worked locally in various capacities. In Barre, she was involved with LACE (Local Agricultural Community Exchange), a local food/farming organization founded by her daughter, Ariel Zevon. With a nonprofit component, LACE distinguished itself from other sustainable food outfits by its commitment to under served populations and broader community engagement. This was achieved by a variety of means, including bowls of soup by donation and a cafe, Bad Boy Bistro, run by young men who had recently been in jail. LACE closed three years ago. "Ariel wanted to provide a place where the people who are coming out of the courthouse, hanging out at Dunkin' Donuts smoking cigarettes, will have an opportunity to eat good food," Zevon said. Buy PhotoA store of buttons, pamphlets and posters fill the rooms of Crystal Zevon Barre home. Zevon is a seasoned activist having most recently lived in the Occupy DC encampment and traveled the country for several months shooting a documentary. (Photo: EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS, EMILY McMANAMY/FREE PRESS) Support for LACE came from musician and activist Jackson Browne, Ariel Zevon's godfather, who performed benefit concerts at the Barre Opera House. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D. Vermont, attended the June 2007 LACE opening. In an email sent last week from Hanoi, Leahy responded to a question about Zevon's activism: "I've always admired her idealism and her humanitarianism, and her seemingly boundless energy," he wrote. Zevon is in South Dakota today with Clean Up the Mines, a group that is working to get the federal government to pass legislation to clean up abandoned uranium mines. An event is planned for Earth Day at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Last month, for International Women's Day, Zevon attempted to travel to Gaza on a humanitarian mission with members of Code Pink, a women's peace and social justice group. The women carried microscopes, baby clothes and solar lanterns. Zevon also carried letters of introduction from the three members of Vermont's Congressional delegation. Yet the trip was thwarted when Zevon was detained at the airport in Cairo for 28 hours, and sent back to this country. "It was a harrowing experience," Zevon said. It was time to get "back in the street," said Zevon, who's been taking to the street for decades. These efforts include protesting the Vietnam War and opposing the construction of Diablo Canyon, a nuclear power plant on the California coast. She was arrested at Diablo Canyon, the first of about half a dozen arrests. On the streets of Washington, Zevon was a key member of the Occupy movement in the nation's capital, helping to establish and organize the encampment. Some of her advance work was done in a hospital room, by the side of her dying father. The group arrived in Washington with a weekend permit for the park and an understanding that "nothing's working," Zevon said. Their imperative was to create a new world, she said. They outlasted their permit by four months. Zevon settled into her tent with a sleeping bag and air mattress. "I don't think anyone thought we'd stay four months," she said. "We had a kitchen. We had great food. We planned actions. We were there for serious political reasons." Although Occupy movements around the country were sometimes criticized for lacking a clear mandate and articulated goal, the movement crystallized for Zevon a growing sense that pressing political and social issues are interconnected. The issues are bound, she believes, by the profound urgency of climate change.