October 4, 2023
Climate Action Collective
Black Women in the Environmental
Justice Movement
“The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house. They may allow us to temporarily beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.”- Audre Lorde
by jada Witter
Introduction
Time and time again, it is found that the people holding the most integral building blocks to the progress we see in our society go overlooked. As a whole, we fail to allow truth to show her face, and we instead find comfort in the deception folded into the status quo. When taking a look at the climate change movement, it is rather evident that women of color have been the trailblazers, pushing past all odds in order to give us the opportunity to finish their work.
“[They] are the backbone of the environmental justice movement”
Leah Thomas
I don’t believe that the environmental movement can only be about the environment. This movement is a result of not only abuse towards the Earth, but the utilization of our planet's exploitation to restrain and harm other people, and it isn't until such intersectionality is acknowledged that we can truly grow and heal as a whole. Intersectionality as it relates the environmentalism has previously been compared to standing at the crossroads, and in this analogy, the two intersecting roads can be being a POC, and being a woman. The point is that societal struggles are not contained within themselves, they continue to spread and bleed into other aspects of our lives.
For years, BIPOC has been exposed to conditions caused by our climate crisis, whether it be communities turned into landfills, unhealthy air quality, or vulnerability to natural disasters. For people who are fortunate enough to not feel the more serious effects of climate change, it is easy to chalk these disturbing realities up to luck, but the times have shown us that ignorance is not bliss. As an American living in 2023, ignorance can be seen in the form of ignoring, or even denying the fact that the crisis as a whole exists. It is the same ignorance that causes us to ignore the multitudes of environmental racism until we can no longer hide behind our socioeconomic status and encounter struggles of our own.
Research shows the very clear fact that race and environmental issues are connected, though some may ask (just like I did) how it affects women of color-- emphasis on ”woman”. To answer this question, Dr. Mayesha Alam, expert on conflict, climate change, and gender, clearly stated, “In all societies, women and girls are like the canary in the coal mine - you can tell a lot about the health and stability of a society based on the quality of life for women”.
Due to the institutional barriers that many women around the world face (typically in poorer countries) when it comes to acquiring things like proper education, sufficient work, or even legal documentation, the narrative often shows that they are left vulnerable to climate change's inevitable impacts. These impacts are often overlooked and brushed under the rug to keep these underprivileged women in their position of weakness, but when intentionally acknowledging the connection, climate change can be found at the root, exacerbating these issues embedded in misogyny. These issues unfortunately include increased exposure to violence, rising rates of child marriage, casualties from climate-induced disasters, and many, many more.
To dedicate yourself to the movement is dedicating yourself to the mutual aid of not only your environment, but the people around you fighting the same battle, whether you see it or not. Because of the neglect of others women have been forced to take charge and take the frontline of this movement. We are calling for all genders, all races, and all classes to step up and take on our crisis together.
KEY TERMS
BIPOC- Black, Indigenous, and people of color
a term intended to center the experiences of Black and Indigenous groups and demonstrate solidarity between communities of color
Intersectionality- the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.
Environmental racism- a form of institutional racism leading to landfills, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal being disproportionately placed in communities of color. This can be seen through obvious things like landfills in a
community, or things often unseen like
policy or unhealthy air
misogyny- dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women.
How do these terms interact with our lives outside of the environmental justice movement?
Hazel M. Johnson is an environmental activist, coining the title of “Mother of the environmental justice movement” in the 1900s. She fought to improve the rights and living conditions of the members of her community in Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project on the South Side of Chicago. She took it upon herself to connect the high-cancer and respiratory illness rates of her area with the ever-present odor of her town. Her investigation led to the realization that Altged Gardens was in fact built on a landfill, polluting the air, and making it toxic. She used this realization to dedicate her life to being not only an advocate, but a hero to many.
Hazel M. Johnson
Leah Thomas is a prominent social justice-environmentalist of the 21st century. She focuses heavily on intersectionality-- and it was actually when she called her fellow environmentalists to stand up during the Black Lives Matter movement through her Instagram post, using the phrase “intersectional environmentalism”, when her notoriety kicked off. She used her social media platforms and her book to continue to educate members of the movement on the close relationship that race, privilege, social justice, and the environment share.
leah Thomas
Environmental Racism - Louisiana's “Cancer Alley”
In 2018 the company Formosa Plastics sought to build a 2400 acre complex off the western bank of the Mississippi River. The problem was that the petrochemical plant would be built in a district populated by it’s many BIPOC residents.
Unlike her neighbors who were worn down by the constant discrimination towards their community, Sharon Lavigne decided she wasn’t going to allow it. At the start, she faced her share of resistance, but through her persistence and the unification of her community, change was seen. Four years later, Judge Trudy White canceled the air permits for the Formosa Plastics plant, and in October of 2022, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency acknowledged the environmental racism and called on the Louisiana government to do something about the effects of polluting industries on nearby residents.
Of course, this is not the end. We must look at this win as one victorious battle, not a war that has been won.
It’s time for you to take action
It is easy to allow privilege to make our crisis seem distant, we must look around and remember that the change starts with us
Resources
