How to Collaborate for Environmental Justice
picture the world in five years
what do you see for yourself and your
loved ones
what about 10 or 20 years where do you
call home
what are you hopeful for i’m hopeful
for a world where social and
environmental justice is an attained
reality
and not some ambitious goal and i
believe that is possible
with the power of love
the covet 19 pandemic has been a vivid
reminder that we are intimately
connected
with nature and all of its living beings
whether we recognize it or not
we are a part of this ecosystem and our
actions have
tangible consequences however
the burden of these consequences are not
evenly
distributed these disparities were not
born
in 2020 despite how chaotic
this year has been long-standing
environmental racism
whereby black indigenous and latinx
communities
are disproportionately exposed to toxins
and hazardous waste facilities as
companies deem their communities
more profitable places to do their dirty
work
these same people suffer food apartheid
as they’re deemed not profitable enough
for grocery stores connecticut is not
exempt
from this as one-fifth of the entire
state’s
pollution is located in
bridgeport hartford
new haven stamford
and waterbury the five
out of 169 municipalities
where 71 of all the state’s people of
color
live bridgeport and hartford
two of my hometowns have the largest and
second largest incinerators
yet i remember struggling to find a good
grocery store
and healthy food and the result of this
occurring nationally
higher rates of cancer high blood
pressure
low birth weight diabetes severe
asthma and upper respiratory disease and
increased risk of heart attacks hook
worms
heat strokes and lead poisoning
environmental racism made communities of
color especially vulnerable
to the worst outcomes of the covet 19
pandemic
and to the same effect environmental
racism leaves communities of color
especially vulnerable to climate change
consider hurricane katrina or hurricane
maria
with cancer alley in louisiana and the
ever-present colonialism of puerto rico
these communities were deemed disposable
long
before the hurricanes hit and afterwards
they became climate refugees in search
of a new home
only to be met with hostility and
violence
their humanity disregarded yet again
this is the case all around the world as
the so-called global south
currently faces climate disasters famine
and drought with little to no
acknowledgement or aid
but this is the case in your backyard
too
consider which areas of connecticut lose
power for the longest
and get plowed last after extreme
tropical and winter storms
these are not issues we can simply
ignore as it will only
get worse the science indicates that we
have less than 30
years to radically change the world
frankly i don’t even believe we have 30
years
and while that may sound terrifying as
it should
i think i know the solution
intersectional activism and
collaborative organizing
with love so what does that mean
let’s start with intersectionality
intersectionality
is the term coined by legal scholar
kimberly crenshaw
originally created to help legal systems
better account
for the unique discrimination black
women face
it has since been expanded to account
for all identities and their
intersections
like race and sexual orientation
gender and ability religion and
nationality
and so on there are three
main pillars of intersectionality one
structural intersectionality which
refers to how
inequities affect people’s everyday life
like unequal access to opportunity and
resources
two representational intersectionality
which refers to how certain narratives
and images are produced about
individuals of marginalized identity
consider how the news reports on
certain people or how tv and movie roles
stereotype others
and three political intersectionality
which indicates how those occupying
multiple identities can be caught
between
conflicting political agendas
where do black women fall in feminist
agendas that
completely ignore racism how are
trans women of color represented or
protected
if at all now due to its complexity
intersectionality is often overlooked
but
i’m here to tell you that embracing this
complexity
embracing these intersections is the
absolute
minimum for creating inclusive and
sustainable solutions
to the very complicated problems we face
intersectional activism recognizes this
necessity and incorporates it into
organizing
now collaborative organizing is just a
step above traditional
community organizing as it allows you to
organize people of multiple identities
and thus
address multiple facets of an issue
rather than just one piece of the puzzle
collaborative organizing means bringing
everyone to
their seat at the table it’s not enough
to just leave the seat open
we must empower people to take up space
and use their voice
that brings diversity of thought to
perspective and ideas
it strengthens collective action and
collective action
requires love and solidarity
to fight for each other as much as we
fight for ourselves
complex issues of environmental racism
and climate change require
collaborative organizing and
intersectional activism
to build a better brighter equitable
and inhabitable future
trying to solve climate change without
addressing environmental racism would be
like
trying to solve a gigantic puzzle with
half the pieces missing
it won’t work and nobody gets to see
the pretty picture now
i want to clarify and say that i’m not
just here talking the ted talk
i walked the walk as a scholar activist
at uconn i got heavily involved in
grassroots organizing
and joined steering committees and
working groups
in doing so i noticed a jarring lack of
solidarity
and a complete disregard for
intersectionality
that was not only disheartening but
counterproductive
the potential for intergenerational
intersectional activism
was wasted but again
i knew the solution so i founded
yukon collaborative organizing also
known as yuko
and provided this necessary
infrastructure
in just our first year we collaborated
with over 20
organizations including but not limited
to
the naacp yukon chapter uconn students
were one health
the undergraduate student government the
graduate employee union
ico husky revolution against rape
project fashion
poetic release youth for socialist
action
fridays for futures and so many others
and we did amazing work together we
still do
we organized seminars clothing swaps
sit-ins climate strikes and open mics we
educated and mobilized
hundreds of students faculty and staff
and our marches have been featured in
newspapers ranging from
the daily campus and hartford current to
the new york times
now as a scholar activist i also did
research on the topic of cross-cultural
engagement intersectional activism
but i’ll save that for another talk so
what are the steps
how do we practice collaborative
organizing
the right way well
we do it with love yes love
so let’s get into it l listen to learn
listen to learn ignorance may be bliss
for some but it is counterproductive for
all no single person has all the answers
but when we actively listen to learn
not just to respond we develop this
collective genius that is innovative
and resilient oh
organize with an open mind harness that
creativity while remaining
intentional get clear on a goal without
getting locked into one way of achieving
it
think outside the box there is no one
form of activism
what matters is the intention behind
the practice the
value a variety of perspectives holding
intersectionality at the foundation
of your activism is powerful but with
that
of course comes the responsibility
to take the extra step to educate
yourself
and your people you must be able
to check yourself and be checked
by others while admitting when you’re
wrong
and pushing forward with a new
perspective
the possibility for growth is boundless
but only when you value the perspective
of others
enough to lose your ego and think
outside yourself
and e engage everyone
in every possible way now
have some scruples but as an organizer
you want to reach folks in from all
walks of life
so you must be mindful of working
people’s time
and inclusive of all forms of ability
and language barriers
try to think of every possible barrier
making your activism
inaccessible and create a solution ahead
of time
engage your network and encourage people
to come as they are
we cannot be exclusive in our fight
for justice that is collaborative
organizing with love
listen to learn organize with an open
mind
value a variety of perspectives and
engage everyone
in every way possible that’s the power
of love
now one of my inspirations
is the late fred hampton rest in power
and he said we must fight fire with
water
fight racism not with racism but with
solidarity
this is why i fight deep-seated hate
with
radical love systemic racism is rooted
in hate
all acts of subjugation share a
foundation of hate hate is divisive
fear-mongering
often times illogical and always
misinformed
hate keeps people apart blocking off
communication
and opportunities for progress hate is
dehumanizing
and immeasurably destructive
but i believe we can rectify this we
are not tethered to this course by
default but by
choice and if we choose love
we can change the destination listen
existing is a group project so when it
comes to the task of preserving our
world
and creating an equitable society for
all
procrastination is lethal
and as the global temperature continues
to rise
we must understand that there are zero
degrees of separation between your
family
and the family whose home is burning in
the
west coast of america
or the indigenous families in the amazon
rainforest
or the families in the southern
hemisphere of australia
and unfortunately the list goes on
but we must also remember the actual
billions of animals dying too
we share this ecosystem connecting our
health to that of the land
and all other animals
i opened discussing the covet 19
pandemic to make it abundantly clear
that environmental and social justice
are one in the same when i hear the
words
i can’t breathe
i think of eric garner george floyd
and all the black women whose last words
we will never know
like lelene polenko and brianna taylor
but when i hear the words i can’t
breathe
i also think of all the children born
with asthma because their communities
are polluted and i think
of all the people dying now from those
same communities
from covet 19 pneumonia
each is the same call for justice
collaborative organizing is to me the
best tool
for the intersectional activism
necessary to address
environmental racism and climate change
before it is too
late to my scholar activists wondering
how to begin this work start with the
body paragraph
and don’t hold back decolonize the
academic spaces you exist in
your work can have a lasting impact on
this world so make sure it is a positive
one
to my grassroots organizers trust in
yourself
you know your community better than
anyone else and that knowledge is
power always think big
build your own table then bring your
people to it
and to everyone never forget
that your life is just as sacred as the
next person’s
i know my black life matters period
so know that yours does too do not
adjust to injustice do not become
desensitized
to brutalization do not normalize
devastation always challenge the status
quo
systems of oppression may be familiar
but they are not fair we can either
continue to let the mistakes and hate of
the past reform
itself into new systems of exploitation
and destruction or
we can move forward acting with radical
love
and transforming our world together
we are limited only by our imagination
so next time
you picture the world in 5 10 or 20
years
picture the brightest and best possible
future
i’m hopeful for a world where social and
environmental justice
is an attained reality through
collaborative organizing and
intersectional activism but i will
not wait 20 years the future is
ours to create i believe wholeheartedly
that we have the power
to create the changes needed to save our
world and make it a better place for all
what we don’t have is the time to wait
and see
who will take the first step
that’s on us so let’s take it together
thank you