By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
Notwithstanding the progress already made, the whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. That day will not come until all forms of injustice and inequity—including those that are climate-related—are removed.
By Joel Stronberg, Civil Notion
The crises of 2020—the COVID-19 contagion, systemic racism, and a depressive economic downturn—are testing the mettle of American society. Curiously, they are also expediting efforts to address racial injustice and economic, energy, and environmental inequality within an integrated national climate policy framework.
By Gary Paul Nabhan, Resilience.org
Does the environmental movement launched a half-century ago reflect the vibrant diversity of the American people? Does that movement address environmental justice issues that disproportionately affect people of color?
By Douglass DeCandia, Center for Humans and Nature
In the words of Dr. Maya Angelou, “No one of us can be free until everybody is free.” When we move away from domination by supporting and uplifting those who have been most impacted by the worst of it, we are able to move toward equity. Where there is equity there is balance, and where there is balance all life flourishes.
By Jeremy Deaton, ThinkProgress
"Yes, this is coming apart,, We have to reckon with the grief. We have to reckon with the anger. We have to reckon with the fear. And we have to know that deep inside we actually have power and agency, and we can make a difference. When it’s a fight for your life, you’re willing to throw down, especially if you are doing it in a community together.”
By Joe Liesman, Resilience.org
The conversation you hear about the environment on CNN is not the conversation taking place in college dorms or outdoors clubs or in community centers or on farms or in the heads of those who hope and fight and when they sleep they dream of mountain air and when they close their eyes at work for just a moment are no further removed from the ocean than the fish who swim in it. And they are getting louder.
By Julie Dermansky, DeSmog Blog
Last month, four residents from Louisiana neighborhoods impacted by air pollution traveled far from their Mississippi River parishes to Washington, D.C., and Tokyo, Japan, seeking help in their struggle for clean air.
By Lai Sanders, Intercontinental Cry
The evidence is clear: Indigenous Peoples and local communities have long been the backbone of the world’s environmental protection efforts, safeguarding what remains of our planet’s precious forests and natural resources despite mounting threats to their lands and their lives.
By Chaitanya Kumar, Gurpreet Bola, Open Democracy
As two social justice activists, the narrative around movement-led political action is heartening. It opens up the opportunity to practice intersectional policy making that has been central to racial justice movements for decades.
By Sakshi Aravind, Oxford Human Rights Hub
Judge Preston has succinctly expressed the historic anguish of the environmental justice movement against social and environmental destruction led by resource oligarchies.
By Emily Hammermeister, Planet Forward
These communities—South Deering, Pilsen, and Little Village—all keep fighting back. The support of groups like the Sierra Club and Pilsen Alliance, standing in solidarity with them, makes them even stronger. As Cheryl Johnson said to me, it is important to “follow what you believe is wrong to try and make it right.” And that’s just what these communities are doing.
By Nicki Carter, Open Democracy
Environmental activism is meaningless if it does not grapple with issues of injustice and expose the links between environmental devastation, colonial history, and the exploitative relationships of the North and the South. But does this mean that campaigns focused on our connections to the natural world and the suffering of non-human animals are irrelevant?