These are extracts from Helena's "World of Demri" blog about Demri's activism. Please, be sure you check her blog (link at the end of this post and at links section of this blog's home page):
"Demri possessed a radical nature alongside immense charisma. She was a nudist, openly bisexual, modeled for several adult magazines like Penthouse and Hustler, and was unabashedly sexually liberated at a time where it was seen as taboo. She did not view other people with a critical eye, but rather embraced those who most would find “off-center”...
Demri’s uniqueness has always intrigued me, and I often wonder what her moral and political beliefs were, as well as what she would think of today’s political issues. The 90s were marked with many social justice issues like LGBT rights— specifically the AIDS crisis...
Demri was also visited in the hospital by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a subversive LGBT activism group that satirized traditional standards and gender roles by combining drag and religious imagery to their street performances. Kathleen said that they adored Demri, and the nurses would gawk at them on their way in...
To seek some more insight on Demri’s activism history, I reached out to Vivian McPeak, the founder of the Seattle activism group called the Peace Heathens, of which Demri was a member. The Peace Heathens were known for their annual Seattle Hempfests, and many Alice in Chains fans have likely seen this video of Layne Staley making an appearance at one in 1994. It is one of the few videos we have of Layne during that year, taken shortly after the release of Jar of Flies.
H: myself, V: Vivian
H: I was wondering what the core beliefs of the Peace Heathens are and how the organization was conceived?
V: In 1988 I had this idea to start a street-level volunteer group composed of alternative culture folks to do good things in the name of the alt-culture, community service projects and benefit shows for righteous causes that got little support from the mainstream. I called it the Seattle Peace Heathens. I created this manifesto, and Yossarrian “Rex” Kelley did a logo graphic I put at the top of it. I plastered the paper fliers all over The Ave, at places like the Allegro Cafe, Espresso Roma, and The Last Exit. I started getting lots of calls from people excited about my crazy vision quest, wanting to learn more and get involved. We started having meetings in people’s homes that eventually got too large, and we moved them to Ravenna Park, where we turned them into potluck feeds that started attracting a homeless contingent.
Meetings started attracting as many as 70 people, mostly music culture and street culture folks - hippies, punk rockers, and an eclectic mix of just progressive, activism-type people. The thing that struck me most, though, is I would be approached by some very neat and clean folks who came on really strong, talking about how resourceful they were and how they were going to contribute all these things. I became very excited about these folks and what they might bring to the group ...
The core values of the Seattle Peace Heathens were a commitment to service to society and others through volunteerism, basic counter-culture values of peace and love, Left politics such as social and environmental justice, and a commitment to the power of change through art (visual and music).
H: -It was said that Demri Parrott was a member of the Peace Heathens, do you have memories of her attending meetings or the Hempfests?
V:... Demri was a bubbly, outgoing person. She volunteered for the Peace Heathens and helped at several of the benefit shows we produced at the famed OK Hotel, one of the only venues with all-age shows. She helped put up posters promoting the shows around town, and at the shows, she worked the merch table and helped us load gear in and out, even though she was a very diminutive person. She was sweet and kind and fearless. She resonated with the Peace Heathens's core belief that all of the various cultural sub-genres of the music/youth/alt-culture (punk, metal, hippie, Reggae, etc.) shared a common spirit and was essentially responding to the same mainstream desire for conformity and control. She believed in the benevolent act of helping others, which was central to the Peace Heathen identity.
Source: Demri Parrott's Activism History - by Helena Harland (substack.com)
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