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