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Book Club: The Intersectional Environmentalist (Part 2) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

0:05
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie. I don't welcome to Stephane. Never
0:07
Speaker 1: told you protection of I Heart Radio. Um And as promise,
0:19
Speaker 1: here's our part two of our two part episode on
0:23
Speaker 1: Leah Thomas's recently published book, The Intersectional Environmentalist. If you
0:27
Speaker 1: haven't checked it out our part one on it, go
0:30
Speaker 1: do so. And also if you haven't checked out the book,
0:33
Speaker 1: go do so because it's it's really really excellently written.
0:38
Speaker 1: It's so important and it's such a good look at
0:42
Speaker 1: why the issues of the environment have to be intersection
0:46
Speaker 1: where we have to look at them through an intersectional lens.
0:49
Speaker 1: So it's just can't recommend it enough. Um. And yeah,
0:52
Speaker 1: this is as we were publishing this, this is Earth Day,
0:56
Speaker 1: Earth months perhaps and you might notice at Savantha sounds
1:01
Speaker 1: a little different, that is not happy. Decided to yes
1:12
Speaker 1: and thendate me with all of the particles of the
1:14
Speaker 1: earth as happens in Atlanta, Georgia. Um, and yes, everything
1:19
Speaker 1: is watering m out of my face. You're welcome. It's
1:23
Speaker 1: a fun description, the best way I could do it.
1:28
Speaker 1: And it's not COVID. I have taken three tests and
1:32
Speaker 1: they've all said no, so either its longing to me,
1:35
Speaker 1: which I don't can't happen, but I do have my
1:37
Speaker 1: disk of taste and smell still, as well as the
1:41
Speaker 1: fact that I don't really have a sore throat. So
1:44
Speaker 1: I guess that's that's good news. I think it's I mean, yes,
1:47
Speaker 1: I would say Paul's under the category of good news. Yes,
1:52
Speaker 1: but it's definitely a high allergy city. Uh, Atlanta. Everything
1:57
Speaker 1: is yellow, everything would smell, all is out full force.
2:03
Speaker 1: I forget about it every spring and then I go
2:05
Speaker 1: outside and slap you in the face, right but literally
2:09
Speaker 1: like a yes, oh yes, I forgot about this. Um.
2:18
Speaker 1: So with that being said, let's jump right in. But again,
2:22
Speaker 1: if you haven't listened to part one, we suggest you
2:25
Speaker 1: do that first because we covered a lot of the
2:26
Speaker 1: foundation from the book in that one. For this one,
2:30
Speaker 1: we're going to start with environmental justice. That theme. Here's
2:35
Speaker 1: a quote. What's often left out of environmental history and
2:38
Speaker 1: education is how people of color have always been at
2:40
Speaker 1: the forefront of community advocacy, even if they weren't as
2:43
Speaker 1: present at the first Earth Day. Our arn't is often
2:46
Speaker 1: seen summiting mountains in a national park. Black, indigenous and
2:49
Speaker 1: other communities of color are a part of environmental history
2:52
Speaker 1: and other very important ways, whether it's activism for indigenous sovereignty,
2:56
Speaker 1: are black and brown communities confronting environmental hazards is a
2:59
Speaker 1: rich history of bipoc environmental advocacy and a centuries long
3:03
Speaker 1: legacy of fighting for justice. The US Environmental Protection Agency
3:07
Speaker 1: defines environmental justice as quote the fair treatment and meaningful
3:11
Speaker 1: involvement of all people, regardless of race, color, national origin,
3:14
Speaker 1: or income, with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement
3:18
Speaker 1: of environmental laws, regulations, and policies. The term environmental justice
3:23
Speaker 1: began to emerge in the nineteen eighties after both the
3:25
Speaker 1: Civil Rights and Earth Day movements. Soon, environmental justice became
3:29
Speaker 1: a movement of its own. We can turn to the
3:31
Speaker 1: mother and father of environmental justice to get started, Hazel M.
3:35
Speaker 1: Johnson and Dr Robert Bullard. Hazel M. Johnson was a
3:38
Speaker 1: black environmental activist from the South Side of Chicago, Illinois.
3:41
Speaker 1: After her husband passed away from lung cancer at the
3:44
Speaker 1: young age of forty one, Johnson began to suspect environmental connection.
3:48
Speaker 1: In a short span of time following her husband's death
3:50
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty nine, Several others within her community, all
3:54
Speaker 1: guild gardens died from lung cancer. When a news report
3:57
Speaker 1: announced that aut Gueld Gardens had some of the highest
3:59
Speaker 1: race of cancer and all of Chicago, Johnson began to
4:02
Speaker 1: ask herself why would All Killed Gardens, a community initially
4:05
Speaker 1: built for black World War two veterans, have such a
4:08
Speaker 1: normally high instances of cancer. When investigating the differences between
4:12
Speaker 1: primarily black All Gilled Gardens and other Chicago neighborhoods, Johnson
4:16
Speaker 1: found that All Killed Gardens bore tremendously disproportionate environmental hazard burden.
4:22
Speaker 1: So that's a really long quote, but I think it's
4:26
Speaker 1: so important when we're talking about because in the part one,
4:28
Speaker 1: we've talked about education and how it doesn't showcase people
4:33
Speaker 1: of color even though they've been doing this work, and
4:35
Speaker 1: then not seeing themselves in that space, in this kind
4:39
Speaker 1: of a rature of the people who have been at
4:42
Speaker 1: the forefront of these movements. And I think this is
4:44
Speaker 1: something unfortunately we've seen multiple times with these like environmental
4:49
Speaker 1: hazards in communities that are less well off, people of color,
4:54
Speaker 1: all kinds of things, And that's part of that intersectionality
4:56
Speaker 1: we're talking about and why it's so important in this conversation,
4:59
Speaker 1: right and I think it's very interesting that we talked about, yeah,
5:02
Speaker 1: at the beginning of the first earth Day did not
5:04
Speaker 1: really include uh, those marginalized communities. And it's seemingly ironic,
5:11
Speaker 1: I think, because those Earth Day happenings was such a
5:15
Speaker 1: posh idea and so many upper class white people came
5:20
Speaker 1: in with like, yeah, let me have the T shirt
5:22
Speaker 1: that says I love the Earth and hugged the earth,
5:24
Speaker 1: and you know, the jokes about tree hugging and all
5:27
Speaker 1: of that came about and became almost a joke when
5:30
Speaker 1: the marginalized communities were so affected that it was a
5:32
Speaker 1: violence within that community, actually killing people, actually uh, making
5:37
Speaker 1: people sick, and no one really recognizing it. And because
5:40
Speaker 1: when you are in the higher class of people, I'll
5:44
Speaker 1: put that in closed meaning this as a derogatory way. Um,
5:48
Speaker 1: it was far fetched for them because they didn't see
5:50
Speaker 1: the imminent impact of it as where those that are
5:53
Speaker 1: marginalized and the lower socio economic class were truly affected
5:57
Speaker 1: on the daily basis, whether it's because they got sick
5:59
Speaker 1: because they did of the water, they were getting land
6:01
Speaker 1: taken away from them, any of those things that they
6:04
Speaker 1: have been on the forefront. But looking like their radicals
6:07
Speaker 1: because they're trying to stop something immediately. If not people
6:09
Speaker 1: who are going to die, people of their community were dying. Um,
6:13
Speaker 1: and it it's this example is a prime example of
6:16
Speaker 1: those dying and like immediate at that point in time,
6:20
Speaker 1: and it wasn't something in the far future. We need
6:21
Speaker 1: to make it better for our kids this whole thing,
6:23
Speaker 1: which is true. We do, we do need to make
6:25
Speaker 1: it better for the future generations, but it's killing the
6:28
Speaker 1: people now, and they there's this conversation of ignoring that. Um.
6:32
Speaker 1: The fact that Secretary of State that Holland was so
6:35
Speaker 1: fiercely opposed by those making money off of those marginalized
6:40
Speaker 1: communities who were killing off the earth and killing off
6:42
Speaker 1: the people of that land says a lot about what
6:46
Speaker 1: we see as valuable and what we see who we
6:49
Speaker 1: see as dismissable. And that again is why when we
6:52
Speaker 1: talk about intersectional environmentalism, this is not about just looking
6:57
Speaker 1: cute and doing a trend. This is trying to save
7:00
Speaker 1: their own lives. Yeah, and I think that's a great
7:03
Speaker 1: point that you bring up, because I feel like a
7:06
Speaker 1: lot of times these conversations around sustainability, it's easier for
7:12
Speaker 1: people to be like well, that's you know, we don't
7:14
Speaker 1: have to deal with it now. That might happen the future,
7:16
Speaker 1: it might not, but it is happening now, and people
7:18
Speaker 1: are dying from it now, and there are being hurt
7:21
Speaker 1: from it right now, and they have been for a
7:23
Speaker 1: long time. And then just something I was thinking about
7:25
Speaker 1: the other day, because there's just been a struggle with
7:30
Speaker 1: you know, mental health for a lot of people during
7:32
Speaker 1: this pandemic UM and I had a friend who we
7:36
Speaker 1: were talking about it, and it just occurred to me
7:39
Speaker 1: that some of the like, you know, we've we talked
7:41
Speaker 1: about this in a recent episode, some of the advice
7:45
Speaker 1: you hear all the time, UM is so privileged without
7:49
Speaker 1: seeming to realize that it is. But one of them
7:51
Speaker 1: is like, you know, go outside, go for a walk.
7:53
Speaker 1: And I'm like, it's great if you have access to
7:56
Speaker 1: like a safe place to walk, whether it's like sidewalk, sir, yeah,
8:00
Speaker 1: just general safety and walking about. But not everybody has that, right.
8:07
Speaker 1: There are so many things that are layered that seems
8:09
Speaker 1: so easy for those who are privileged. And again, this
8:12
Speaker 1: is the comment about being privileged, and I think that's
8:17
Speaker 1: an even bigger conversation when we talk about this whole
8:20
Speaker 1: environmental doom is um that's happening right now. And just
8:25
Speaker 1: as a reminder, people have been living in this doom idea,
8:29
Speaker 1: but they've been pushing and they've been trying to make
8:31
Speaker 1: a difference. UM. When we talk about like Keystone is
8:34
Speaker 1: a prime example because it actually got some traction um
8:37
Speaker 1: because we know they're still protesting in that area, and
8:40
Speaker 1: we know it's still happening. We know people are being
8:43
Speaker 1: unfairly unjustly arrested and pushed out, and there's a constant conversation,
8:48
Speaker 1: and then it's become sensationalized in the conspiracy theory types
8:51
Speaker 1: of movies that become entertainment and so therefore becomes fictionalized.
8:55
Speaker 1: And I hate that. I hate that this is what's happening,
8:58
Speaker 1: but also trying to bring awareness it's that's this this
9:00
Speaker 1: fine line. But the fact of the matter is when
9:04
Speaker 1: we have privileged people say oh no, it's over, just quit,
9:09
Speaker 1: that means you're not truly affected. If you really think
9:11
Speaker 1: you can quit, then you've been truly affected and you
9:13
Speaker 1: need to do we need to do more. And I say,
9:15
Speaker 1: not not you, we we need to do more because
9:18
Speaker 1: that type of attitude already put those people who could
9:21
Speaker 1: actually make some help and make some change and showing
9:24
Speaker 1: again their privilege that they can quit. Yeah, exactly. But
9:28
Speaker 1: moving on, She continues on, saying while some may have
9:32
Speaker 1: overlooked the increased placement of toxic waste facilities in black
9:35
Speaker 1: communities and deemed the occurrence coincidental, Johnson fought her entire
9:40
Speaker 1: career to prove that it was intentional. All across the
9:43
Speaker 1: United States, black and low income communities were plagued with
9:47
Speaker 1: environmental hazards that impact the health of residents and often
9:50
Speaker 1: resulted in illness worse than quality of life and death.
9:54
Speaker 1: Johnson fought for legislators and community members to recognize the
9:58
Speaker 1: racism and at play and it's serious consequences on health
10:02
Speaker 1: and the environment. She said, quote. For so long, environmental
10:05
Speaker 1: activism has been primarily a white, middle class issue, far
10:09
Speaker 1: removed from the daily reality of inner city life. Johnson
10:13
Speaker 1: told the Chicago Tribune in nine it's all very well
10:17
Speaker 1: to embrace saving the rainforest and conserving endangered animal species,
10:21
Speaker 1: but such global initiatives don't even begin to impact communities
10:25
Speaker 1: inhabited by people of color. And yeah, that's exactly what
10:28
Speaker 1: we're talking about. This whole idea that it's a far removed,
10:32
Speaker 1: uh ideal situation, as if something that's not really happening,
10:37
Speaker 1: It shows your privilege that you don't understand that it's
10:40
Speaker 1: happening right here when you look at the drinking water,
10:42
Speaker 1: when you talk about what's accessible, what's not accessible, when
10:46
Speaker 1: you're talking about air quality and why that is a danger,
10:49
Speaker 1: and yeah, who was who was doing the runoffs in
10:52
Speaker 1: what area? So when we see big industries doing runoffs
10:55
Speaker 1: into highly urban populations, you're like, yeah, that is absolutely
11:01
Speaker 1: affecting them, and no one's actually testing it. And as
11:04
Speaker 1: we know, as many administrations before even this administrations, they're
11:08
Speaker 1: overlooking that to make the money, which is such a
11:13
Speaker 1: b S way of being. I'm trying to I'm trying
11:18
Speaker 1: to make this family friendly. That's what we strive for.
11:25
Speaker 1: What we strive for. Yeah, yeah, and I think that, Um,
11:30
Speaker 1: there are a lot of uh. As we said in
11:33
Speaker 1: part one. One of the things that I love so
11:36
Speaker 1: much about this book is it provides resources and like
11:38
Speaker 1: other things to look up, um after after you've read it,
11:42
Speaker 1: and like things to educate yourself on and ways you
11:45
Speaker 1: can be active in this field. But I also like
11:49
Speaker 1: there's chapter like near the end, and we're going to
11:52
Speaker 1: talk about a little bit later, but there's sort of
11:54
Speaker 1: this like, yes, these big companies are doing this, and
11:57
Speaker 1: it can feel like you don't have any act, but
12:00
Speaker 1: here are industries where you can, and like one was
12:02
Speaker 1: fast fashion and stuff like that and sort of being
12:04
Speaker 1: aware of um all that goes into those things. And
12:09
Speaker 1: again there's still an accessibility issue and price point issue
12:12
Speaker 1: with all of this stuff. But I appreciated that. Okay,
12:16
Speaker 1: I know now I'm armed with more intelligence, more knowledge
12:21
Speaker 1: much yes, yes, which we love. Here's another quote. Shortly
12:26
Speaker 1: after Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Spoke to the Memphis
12:29
Speaker 1: sanitation strikers in nineteen sixty eight, he was assassinated. This
12:33
Speaker 1: was a national tragedy, and it was also a major
12:36
Speaker 1: setback for environmental justice justice. Civil rights activists had begun
12:39
Speaker 1: to speak up against environmental injustices. A beloved leader was lost,
12:43
Speaker 1: followed by several other prominent black leaders. As many civil
12:47
Speaker 1: rights activists and black citizens grieved, a largely white environmental
12:50
Speaker 1: movement began to sweep the United States. These environmentalists took
12:54
Speaker 1: note of the tactics used by civil rights protesters, like
12:57
Speaker 1: sit ins, and marches, and began to use those strategies
12:59
Speaker 1: to spread awareness about conservation, pollution, toxic waste, and more.
13:04
Speaker 1: The movement finally ignited in nineteen sixty nine when disturbing
13:07
Speaker 1: images of Cleveland, Ohio's Cuyahoga River engulfed in flames, yes,
13:11
Speaker 1: a body of water with fire raging on top of it,
13:14
Speaker 1: were published in Time magazine. The United States was shocked
13:17
Speaker 1: and wanted to know more. The river fire, caused by
13:20
Speaker 1: extremely flammable oil gas and toxic waste dumped into waterways,
13:24
Speaker 1: was far more anomalous during this time period, but with
13:27
Speaker 1: this one article, the nation came face to face with
13:30
Speaker 1: what a world on fire could look like if policies
13:32
Speaker 1: didn't adequately protect the planet. In response, millions took the streets,
13:36
Speaker 1: protesting and pressuring politicians to implement federal environmental policies. This
13:41
Speaker 1: collective action led to the largest environmental demonstration in history
13:44
Speaker 1: on April twenty second, nineteen seventy Earth Day, in which
13:48
Speaker 1: twenty million Americans called for a drastic improvement and environmental policy.
13:53
Speaker 1: The first Earth Day was a spectacular feat with gatherings
13:56
Speaker 1: and activities across the world. However, even though it was
13:59
Speaker 1: in hired by and occurred in close proximity with the
14:02
Speaker 1: civil rights movement and civil rights efforts of Chicano and
14:05
Speaker 1: indigenous activist. It was largely white lead and attended, which
14:09
Speaker 1: brings us to the question, what is the impact of
14:12
Speaker 1: having large scale environmental movements that mostly screwed the voices
14:16
Speaker 1: of the underrepresented and people of color. Yeah. Um again,
14:21
Speaker 1: I just think this is so important, all of this
14:23
Speaker 1: context and history that Thomas provides in this book and
14:27
Speaker 1: how it is such an intersectional issue, and um, why
14:34
Speaker 1: it is very very important that it remains that we
14:38
Speaker 1: look at it that way. And um, if you haven't
14:43
Speaker 1: listen to part one I read the book or seeing
14:45
Speaker 1: Leah Thomas about online, she did coin the term, uh,
14:49
Speaker 1: intersexual environmentalist, So this is like she is doing the
14:54
Speaker 1: work here, she has been doing the work. Um. And
14:57
Speaker 1: I just think she did such a great job on
15:00
Speaker 1: like tying all of these things together and showing where
15:02
Speaker 1: they're all connected. M And I do love her conversation
15:18
Speaker 1: about excluding the marginalized community, the indigenous and the Chicago
15:24
Speaker 1: community as well as obviously the black community. Um. And
15:27
Speaker 1: it kind of reminds me of the fact that the
15:29
Speaker 1: young people who have come up and rose in in conversation.
15:33
Speaker 1: You know, we have this whole thing with adult politicians
15:36
Speaker 1: making fun of young activists who were really trying to
15:38
Speaker 1: make an effort. That's a whole different conversation. You're like,
15:41
Speaker 1: why are you demeaning? What's happening here is a serious conversation,
15:44
Speaker 1: and you're acting like a child by demeaning a child.
15:47
Speaker 1: But I digress. But the fact of the matter is
15:50
Speaker 1: that we know great at Toomberg. She kind of became
15:53
Speaker 1: a symbol for those young people, and that the one
15:57
Speaker 1: famous picture that I remember is her and all the
15:59
Speaker 1: act of us, and two of the young black women
16:01
Speaker 1: were cut out or a women of color were cut
16:03
Speaker 1: out of the picture, and I'm like, WHOA. That says
16:07
Speaker 1: so much to what is happening here. And I know
16:11
Speaker 1: the other one of the ones that were cut out
16:13
Speaker 1: was Vanessa Nakatte, who is now a little more well
16:16
Speaker 1: known because of that incident, calling them out like I'm
16:21
Speaker 1: here too, I've been doing the work as well. I
16:24
Speaker 1: don't understand why I just got cut out, But it's
16:28
Speaker 1: very telling of what is being shown, what being talked about,
16:33
Speaker 1: who is being recognized. I mean, even Flint Michigan's own
16:36
Speaker 1: activist Mari Company, came about and has been a part
16:39
Speaker 1: of this work as well, and still is doing this work.
16:41
Speaker 1: I think she's like eighteen now and really pushing forward
16:45
Speaker 1: with the conversations. She raised money to get bottled water
16:48
Speaker 1: because of the water situation that was still going bad. Um,
16:51
Speaker 1: I don't think it's fully fixed even today, and no
16:54
Speaker 1: one's looking at it, and we barely see mention of
16:57
Speaker 1: her outside of when other activists are talked about two.
17:02
Speaker 1: We follow her. We know she does an amazing job,
17:05
Speaker 1: and she is doing that work. But I'm like, you're
17:06
Speaker 1: a kid, bless your heart, that you have to put
17:10
Speaker 1: this on your own shoulder, and now you've become the
17:12
Speaker 1: face of this and again had to go under some
17:14
Speaker 1: scrutiny about the fact that she was speaking out about it,
17:17
Speaker 1: and that she had to be the one to speak
17:19
Speaker 1: out about it, that she had to do fundraising instead
17:21
Speaker 1: of having the government supply as they should be taking
17:24
Speaker 1: care of their own people. So there's so many conversations
17:27
Speaker 1: about who is the face, who is being recognized and
17:30
Speaker 1: who is actually being listened to, And the fact that
17:32
Speaker 1: we know Greta, who was an amazing worker and I
17:35
Speaker 1: don't want to take that away from her, because she's
17:38
Speaker 1: doing amazing work and proud to see it. But she
17:40
Speaker 1: also has the privilege of being supported by her community,
17:43
Speaker 1: her country, and and doing all these things, even though
17:46
Speaker 1: she goes under ridicule from other adults. But the fact
17:52
Speaker 1: that she is getting all the accolades when so many
17:54
Speaker 1: others have been there with her, it seemingly like there's
17:57
Speaker 1: enough roses to give out, there's enough UH credits to
18:01
Speaker 1: give out. Let's do that. Let's let's talk about that
18:03
Speaker 1: and talk about those works as well, and quit making
18:06
Speaker 1: it seem like it's only privileged white people who are
18:09
Speaker 1: doing this, because it's not. It is not. So we
18:14
Speaker 1: keep going. In her book, and she says although the
18:17
Speaker 1: Earth Day Movement led to the creation of the Environmental
18:19
Speaker 1: Protection Agency and the passage of several prominent federal environmental
18:24
Speaker 1: laws like the Clean Air Act or the c a
18:26
Speaker 1: A and the Clean Water Act, it can be argued
18:30
Speaker 1: that these laws do not equally protect all Americans. While
18:34
Speaker 1: primarily white communities in the US saw a seventy percent
18:37
Speaker 1: reduction in air pollution after the CIA was passed, low
18:41
Speaker 1: income and black, Indigenous Asian Pacific Islander and Latino communities
18:45
Speaker 1: were seemingly left out of the parameters of protection outlined
18:49
Speaker 1: in these laws. In fact, some of the environmental legislation
18:53
Speaker 1: has passed in the nineteen seventies directly diverted toxic waste
18:57
Speaker 1: into black, brown, and low income communities. This exclusion and
19:02
Speaker 1: unethical treatment led to the emergence of the environmental justice
19:05
Speaker 1: movement in the nineteen eighties. And that's exactly what I
19:08
Speaker 1: was talking about earlier, how it went from okay, these
19:12
Speaker 1: industries aside the pool and re route to hear and
19:15
Speaker 1: no one really see what what just oh it was
19:17
Speaker 1: fixed up it here, So I'm going to be quiet, right,
19:20
Speaker 1: And um, there's so many parts of this book where
19:24
Speaker 1: it was hard not to just quote the entire thing
19:26
Speaker 1: because you know, we love some good data and numbers,
19:30
Speaker 1: and uh Leah Thomas like really lays it out, um
19:34
Speaker 1: to back up this point. So the numbers are really
19:38
Speaker 1: stark and really quite awful. Right, But here's a quote startlingly,
19:45
Speaker 1: As of twenty nineteen, race is still the number one
19:48
Speaker 1: indicator of weird toxic waste facilities are located in the US,
19:52
Speaker 1: according to Paul Mohai and Environmental Justice expert and professor
19:55
Speaker 1: at the University of Michigan. Even when socio economic factors
19:59
Speaker 1: are similar across the white and non white communities, the
20:01
Speaker 1: community of color is still more likely to be near
20:04
Speaker 1: environmental hazards. The fight for environmental justice remains urgent, even
20:08
Speaker 1: more so as we face the climate crisis. Right. I
20:12
Speaker 1: think once again, when we have a conversation about who
20:15
Speaker 1: gets good drinking water, who gets access to drinking water?
20:18
Speaker 1: Drink a bowl of water. Um, we know where it starts.
20:21
Speaker 1: When we talk about power outages, it's obvious who is
20:25
Speaker 1: prioritized and what is prioritized when you see grids. I
20:29
Speaker 1: think Texas had a huge understanding and saw that very quickly.
20:33
Speaker 1: Of course, Texas is privatized. I from what I'm aware,
20:36
Speaker 1: a lot of states are privatized and we just didn't
20:39
Speaker 1: know it or didn't understand it. So that's a whole
20:42
Speaker 1: different conversation in itself. But yeah, Texas became a glaring
20:47
Speaker 1: like obviousness of like, hey, we know who they're prioritizing,
20:50
Speaker 1: and you are not it. If you are in the
20:52
Speaker 1: low income area, you are not the one. So it's
20:56
Speaker 1: it's an obvious line. And there are moments when in crisis,
20:59
Speaker 1: you see who was being uh prioritized and who was
21:03
Speaker 1: seeing as important uh and who was seen as dismissed
21:06
Speaker 1: or eraseable. Yeah, and that's throughout the book. Thomas gives
21:11
Speaker 1: examples of that as well. And you know, when you
21:14
Speaker 1: think of terms like like point Michigan or it's very clear, um,
21:20
Speaker 1: who is being prioritized, right, um, And we're moving on it, says,
21:24
Speaker 1: History often repeats itself, and large civil rights and climate
21:27
Speaker 1: movements have emerged again. In twenty thirteen, following the murder
21:32
Speaker 1: of Tryvonne Martin, an unarmed black teenager who was racially
21:36
Speaker 1: profiled and confronted while walking to a family friend's house,
21:39
Speaker 1: activist Alicia Garza, Beatrice Colors, and opal To Matti created
21:43
Speaker 1: the phrase and hashtag black Lives Matter. Their campaign grew
21:47
Speaker 1: into a global movement following the deaths of even more
21:50
Speaker 1: unarmed black men and women killed by excessive force, galvanizing
21:54
Speaker 1: millions of protesters over the years, and the largest civil
21:57
Speaker 1: rights movement of the twenty first Central Land Back, a
22:01
Speaker 1: movement to reclaim everything is stolen from indigenous people's land, language, ceremony, medicines,
22:06
Speaker 1: and kinship, is growing to stop Asian hate movements, stoked
22:10
Speaker 1: by global increase in discrimination and violence against Asian people
22:13
Speaker 1: is gaining momentum and resulting in policies shifts such as
22:16
Speaker 1: an anti Asian hate crimes bill. Right, so again, just
22:20
Speaker 1: all this intersectionality and why it all matters, and then
22:25
Speaker 1: going on, here's another quote. At the same time, a
22:27
Speaker 1: new generation of climate activists are emerging all across the globe.
22:31
Speaker 1: The Youth Strike for Climate, also known as Friday's for Future,
22:34
Speaker 1: began in after Swedish youth activist Greta Toomberg stage of
22:37
Speaker 1: protests in front of the Swedish Parliament, holding a sign
22:40
Speaker 1: that read School Strike for Climate. Her actions, along with
22:44
Speaker 1: those of several other brave students, resulted in an international
22:46
Speaker 1: movement of students of various ages that demonstrated and walked
22:49
Speaker 1: out of Friday classes to demand climate action, a transition
22:53
Speaker 1: to renewable energy, and a commitment to stopping the climate crisis.
22:56
Speaker 1: By twenty nineteen, over one million demonstrators merrely students across
23:01
Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty countries had participated in the protests.
23:04
Speaker 1: And I'm glad we came back to her uh in
23:07
Speaker 1: our conversation because it is It's a huge thing that
23:10
Speaker 1: they have created. And I love these movements. And yeah,
23:13
Speaker 1: as we even talk about in our Women around the world,
23:16
Speaker 1: we're often talking about the younger generation really spearheading this movement.
23:20
Speaker 1: And I love it. I love it for us. I
23:22
Speaker 1: love to see that it's happening. I'm sad that it's
23:25
Speaker 1: taken this long, but yeah, but both of those big movements,
23:29
Speaker 1: all these movements are really happening on a whole different scale.
23:33
Speaker 1: I know we can talk about social media being at
23:36
Speaker 1: the front forefront of it too, but also that these
23:38
Speaker 1: are amazing women and girls who are creating these movements.
23:44
Speaker 1: And we've talked about it before. It really is a
23:47
Speaker 1: difference when you have these level of activists ready to
23:52
Speaker 1: just stand up and have a conversation um. And oftentimes
23:57
Speaker 1: we see that it is squashed or nor for so long.
24:01
Speaker 1: And when you get enough people enough attention that you
24:04
Speaker 1: have to at least have a conversation about it, which
24:07
Speaker 1: is the smallest step that you could truly take. But
24:11
Speaker 1: as it's at least beginning something. Yes, yes, And one
24:15
Speaker 1: of the other things I really loved about this book is, uh,
24:19
Speaker 1: the nuance all these things were given. Um, the nuance
24:22
Speaker 1: that it deserves because I think, um, a lot of
24:26
Speaker 1: times there's like terms like wish cycling are you know,
24:30
Speaker 1: like a lot of times we do like one good thing,
24:32
Speaker 1: like I'm doing this for the earth, But you really
24:34
Speaker 1: have to look into that, like it's way more than
24:38
Speaker 1: just that, and there can be a dark side to
24:40
Speaker 1: some of these things, right, which we're going to talk
24:42
Speaker 1: about towards the end. But before we get to that,
24:46
Speaker 1: we did want to talk about privilege, because there's a
24:48
Speaker 1: whole chapter about that in the book. Here's a quote.
24:52
Speaker 1: We all have parts of our identities that shape how
24:54
Speaker 1: we relate to the world and how the world relates
24:56
Speaker 1: to us. The smallest things, some freckles on our faces,
24:59
Speaker 1: to the tons of our voices can influence how we're
25:01
Speaker 1: perceived by others and ultimately how they might treat us.
25:04
Speaker 1: These personal perceptions can lead to an accumulation of assumptions
25:07
Speaker 1: that become societal perceptions or biases that can be positive, neutral,
25:11
Speaker 1: or negative. Privilege is a set of unearned advantages positive
25:15
Speaker 1: Again that this is just such a huge important piece
25:19
Speaker 1: of like all conversations, but in this one, and when
25:22
Speaker 1: it comes to environmentalism, as we've just been talking about
25:27
Speaker 1: this whole time. It's you have to acknowledge it. It
25:30
Speaker 1: is so important, right, um. And also where you can
25:33
Speaker 1: do these things. So we talked about activism what after uh,
25:37
Speaker 1: the largest typhoon that happened, and the people who are
25:40
Speaker 1: trying to really talk about, hey, this is killing our community.
25:43
Speaker 1: Not only is it killing our way we're living, but
25:45
Speaker 1: our way of life. Like fishermen who are trying to
25:48
Speaker 1: make a living, they're dying because they're getting capsized and drowning,
25:51
Speaker 1: like all of these things. And these are conversations about
25:53
Speaker 1: the way things are built, the types of constructions that
25:56
Speaker 1: are happening, all of these things, and people were being
25:59
Speaker 1: murdered for just saying it, um. And that's what the
26:02
Speaker 1: biggest thing is like for the upper class white citizens,
26:05
Speaker 1: that is not as huge a threat as those indigenous
26:08
Speaker 1: in our communities who have disappeared. They have disappeared in
26:11
Speaker 1: their activism and it is still happening. There are conversations
26:14
Speaker 1: and questions where we're like, wait, we also know that
26:17
Speaker 1: a lot of indigenous activists have been actually arrested h
26:22
Speaker 1: and are still locked up, and there's conversations about that.
26:25
Speaker 1: So that is a privilege being able to protest without
26:28
Speaker 1: being marked as in being endangered for your protests is
26:32
Speaker 1: a huge privilege, and we see that more often than
26:36
Speaker 1: not that when they are in these marginalized communities, they
26:39
Speaker 1: are targeted in a dangerous and violent way. And that's
26:44
Speaker 1: a big part of that privilege. Let's keep talking about it,
26:46
Speaker 1: because she talks about it, and we need more conversations
26:48
Speaker 1: on it. So Leah says, social constructs are beliefs that
26:51
Speaker 1: members of society hold an assigned meaning and value to.
26:55
Speaker 1: For example, a common argument is that race is a
26:58
Speaker 1: social construct. That doesn't mean that there aren't different ethnicities
27:02
Speaker 1: of people, but that assigning value and meaning to a
27:05
Speaker 1: different racial group in a society is a social construct.
27:09
Speaker 1: When people use racism as a justification for the mistreatment
27:12
Speaker 1: of other people, they are playing off a social construct
27:15
Speaker 1: that race inherently makes humans different from one another. When
27:19
Speaker 1: there's no factual or scientific basis for this. Stereotypes are
27:23
Speaker 1: born out of social constructs. Feel like, that's pretty pretty
27:29
Speaker 1: self explanatory, which, by the way, has been weaponized against people,
27:34
Speaker 1: which is what we know the white sis heteronormative community
27:40
Speaker 1: are using. Saying, you're you're creating this, not us, which
27:45
Speaker 1: is a different conversation we're not going to get into,
27:48
Speaker 1: but you know, being aware of that as well. And
27:51
Speaker 1: she continues on, when we hold the belief that anyone
27:54
Speaker 1: can succeed if they just set their mind to it,
27:56
Speaker 1: we also give credits to the flip side of that
27:58
Speaker 1: myth that those who don't succeed aren't quote trying hard enough. Uh.
28:03
Speaker 1: This places the blame solely on the individuals and need
28:06
Speaker 1: rather than on the system of power supporting the barriers
28:10
Speaker 1: and disadvantages that oppressed them no matter how hard they
28:14
Speaker 1: work or try. And that's the big like. She does
28:17
Speaker 1: such a great job in breaking that down about what
28:21
Speaker 1: that looks like. Um, that bootstrapping theory should have been
28:25
Speaker 1: dismissed so long ago. Maybe it could have worked for
28:27
Speaker 1: one point in time for the lower middle class, lower
28:29
Speaker 1: class white people that worked but that still had a
28:33
Speaker 1: system of favor. Whether it's someone like them that pulled
28:37
Speaker 1: them up, whether it was a family member that eventually
28:40
Speaker 1: like their networking is a whole different conversation. Um. As
28:44
Speaker 1: well as that word oppressed or oppression, someone has to
28:48
Speaker 1: be the one that gains from that, and it's typically
28:50
Speaker 1: always those in power, right and I just but I
28:54
Speaker 1: think this point is so so important because it's been
28:57
Speaker 1: part of our national is those for so long, that idea,
29:02
Speaker 1: and now it's kind of been repackaged until like you
29:05
Speaker 1: gotta hustle, you gotta do that hustle out of your
29:06
Speaker 1: side hustle. But there are these systems in place, like
29:10
Speaker 1: you can work as hard, I mean, you can have
29:13
Speaker 1: like three part time jobs and not barely make a living,
29:16
Speaker 1: like you're working so hard. But they're all of these things,
29:20
Speaker 1: all these obstacles and systems that are preventing you from
29:24
Speaker 1: living a half the happy, healthy life right where you
29:28
Speaker 1: can yeah, where you do have room to grow our
29:32
Speaker 1: uh give whatever job you want or whatever life that
29:36
Speaker 1: you want. Um yeah, it's not just like, oh, you
29:40
Speaker 1: didn't work hard enough for so ready to turn it
29:42
Speaker 1: around and blame it on people who are working so
29:47
Speaker 1: hard and like running their bodies into the ground, right,
29:52
Speaker 1: And the level of that is that example of having
29:56
Speaker 1: a full time job too, part time jobs, those things,
29:59
Speaker 1: which I was one of those people. Um, and don't
30:02
Speaker 1: get me wrong, I definitely was faring better than most.
30:06
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is I was privileged
30:09
Speaker 1: enough to know people to put me in positions to
30:11
Speaker 1: get those extra jobs, um to make that work for myself.
30:15
Speaker 1: But on top of that, I did barely get enough
30:17
Speaker 1: to live on my own. This did not push me
30:21
Speaker 1: to be so rich. It literally was Wow, I can
30:26
Speaker 1: actually afford to go and be with my friends today
30:30
Speaker 1: and not have to worry about whether or not this
30:32
Speaker 1: car is going to go through, which I've had manion times,
30:34
Speaker 1: like to be declined and having that panic attack about
30:37
Speaker 1: being behind. And the way I'm saying this is obviously
30:39
Speaker 1: very privileged because I was single and did not have
30:42
Speaker 1: children to worry for that I didn't have go to
30:44
Speaker 1: a grocery store and hoping that I would it would
30:46
Speaker 1: clear to buy soup for my family, and or not
30:49
Speaker 1: seeing my family or trying to figure out how to
30:51
Speaker 1: decide whether we're gonna have food or daycare so I
30:53
Speaker 1: can go to these set jobs. There's so many things
30:55
Speaker 1: to this that's a whole different level of conversation. UM.
30:59
Speaker 1: And for those I know, many of those who are
31:02
Speaker 1: affected by this type of environmental injustices don't have time
31:07
Speaker 1: to advocate for themselves because they're working and just trying
31:12
Speaker 1: to survive that way in order to get those foods
31:15
Speaker 1: so they can't be activists for themselves. So there's just
31:18
Speaker 1: a whole line of conversation about who was able to
31:22
Speaker 1: be activists. And that's why we see probably a larger
31:25
Speaker 1: number of very privileged white people being able to do
31:27
Speaker 1: this because they have the time and they have extra
31:31
Speaker 1: income that they can take time off to do. So. Yeah,
31:34
Speaker 1: and that's part of like the the cycle we need
31:37
Speaker 1: to break out of with this because again like going
31:40
Speaker 1: back to the point of never seeing anyone like her
31:42
Speaker 1: at these things. But yeah, it's just all it's all connected.
32:00
Speaker 1: Here's another quote going back to the earlier statistic of
32:03
Speaker 1: lower funding and BIPAC schools versus primarily white schools. This
32:07
Speaker 1: funding gap also exists in community resources like parks, community gardens,
32:10
Speaker 1: and green spaces, meaning that access to these resources also
32:13
Speaker 1: varies along racial lines. Systemic housing discrimination practices like redlining
32:19
Speaker 1: the refusal to ensure mortgages in and near black neighborhoods
32:22
Speaker 1: have added to the climate burden by silo and communities
32:25
Speaker 1: of color in areas that are more likely to be
32:27
Speaker 1: plagued by environmental injustice. Black and Latin X people in
32:30
Speaker 1: the US experience in quote air pollution burden, in which
32:33
Speaker 1: they are exposed to fifty six per cent and more
32:36
Speaker 1: pollution than is caused by their consumption, and which is
32:39
Speaker 1: linked to higher rates of cardiovascular and respiratory issues. The
32:43
Speaker 1: opposite is true for white Americans who experience a pollution advantage,
32:47
Speaker 1: which they breathe in less air pollution than they cause.
32:51
Speaker 1: So that's also yeah, key part of this too is
32:54
Speaker 1: that you know who's causing the most damage and who's
32:57
Speaker 1: the most impactful. Right, Well, that's the other part of
33:00
Speaker 1: this because I think about the Clean Air Act um
33:03
Speaker 1: and one of the things that came out of the
33:04
Speaker 1: Clean Air Act was things like emission testing. Great idea,
33:08
Speaker 1: but as someone who was earning a year UM trying
33:15
Speaker 1: to live in Atlanta, which the cost of living is
33:17
Speaker 1: significantly higher, that has an emissions test that you have
33:20
Speaker 1: to do and if you do not pass it, you
33:22
Speaker 1: cannot get attack for your car and you're penalized beyond whatever.
33:29
Speaker 1: At one point in time, my catalytic converter went out.
33:32
Speaker 1: All of these things are so bad for the environment.
33:34
Speaker 1: I get air quality, everybody should do their part, but
33:38
Speaker 1: I don't have hundred dollars to fix my car. But
33:42
Speaker 1: I have to have a car to go to my job,
33:44
Speaker 1: what do I do? There's so many things about who
33:48
Speaker 1: is really punishing more so than anyone else. And if
33:51
Speaker 1: you have a brand new car, you're fine. You're fine
33:53
Speaker 1: for the first two or three years. Who gets brand
33:56
Speaker 1: new cars not those who can't afford it obviously, So
33:59
Speaker 1: there's just so many conversation about who are they actually
34:01
Speaker 1: making money off of and who is it actually going after? Um.
34:05
Speaker 1: And those are big conversations that we need to have
34:08
Speaker 1: about providing services, and then also talking about public transportation
34:12
Speaker 1: not being accessible to many of people or being really
34:16
Speaker 1: dangerous because people are not really checking in on the
34:19
Speaker 1: safety and the real concerns for those who are using
34:21
Speaker 1: public transport and who has accessibility to it. Um. There's
34:25
Speaker 1: so many conversations to this, and then when we look
34:28
Speaker 1: at it, when you break it down, yes, we want
34:30
Speaker 1: to definitely stop with the cars. Let's get more probably transit.
34:33
Speaker 1: But people are so opposed to it because they're like
34:35
Speaker 1: it's going to bring in those urban people, which is
34:38
Speaker 1: very coded language and when we know exactly what they mean, um,
34:42
Speaker 1: and so therefore it cuts access. But then we have
34:45
Speaker 1: more admissions and the corporations are not even turning an
34:48
Speaker 1: eye when one giant building, one corporation gives so much more,
34:54
Speaker 1: kills off so much more of the quality of air
34:57
Speaker 1: and causing more problems and pollutions which are most likely
35:00
Speaker 1: going to be in areas that are again, uh lower
35:04
Speaker 1: socioeconomic living areas, because people are like, oh, we don't
35:07
Speaker 1: want to live by this, No one does, but I
35:10
Speaker 1: can't afford to not live there, so who has There's
35:13
Speaker 1: so many conversations to this that is completely layered about privilege. Um,
35:17
Speaker 1: but yeah, I really the Clean Air Act good intentions
35:21
Speaker 1: for those who can afford it. Yeah, I mean it,
35:23
Speaker 1: say another example of like clearly didn't ask the people
35:27
Speaker 1: who would be impacted the most. And as as we said,
35:30
Speaker 1: we are going to talk some more about some of
35:32
Speaker 1: the things that fall under that as well. Yes, um
35:35
Speaker 1: and yeah. Going on. In addition to environmental injustices, living
35:39
Speaker 1: sustainably can be a matter of privilege. Single use items
35:42
Speaker 1: are more expensive, and plastics is found at a higher
35:45
Speaker 1: rates in communities of color. Living on a plant based
35:49
Speaker 1: diet and eating regenerative and organically grown products is nearly
35:53
Speaker 1: impossible in a state of food apartheid, in which communities
35:57
Speaker 1: of color are more likely to be found so when
36:00
Speaker 1: educating others about sustainability, made sure to think about intersectionality
36:05
Speaker 1: and privilege. First, refrain from the shaming those who are
36:09
Speaker 1: faced with systemic barriers to living low waist and sustainably.
36:14
Speaker 1: Um and we had a giant example of that, I
36:16
Speaker 1: think we we did an ad read about paper plates,
36:19
Speaker 1: and we got a couple of emails like, hey, how
36:22
Speaker 1: dare you? This is awful for the world and whatever whatnot.
36:25
Speaker 1: And my first response was, I get what you're saying.
36:29
Speaker 1: But for a lot of those who are working constant jobs,
36:33
Speaker 1: have three or four children, have constant usage, and this
36:37
Speaker 1: is not as accessible as you think it is. This
36:40
Speaker 1: is a cheap alternative for people trying to save time
36:43
Speaker 1: and trying to have their kids be a part of
36:46
Speaker 1: the family. So when a single mom or a single
36:48
Speaker 1: father or a single parent caregiver is there, they're working
36:52
Speaker 1: two jobs and they have a twelve year old sitting
36:55
Speaker 1: in for a couple of hours feeding each other, it's
36:59
Speaker 1: not as easy as you think. Um And I say
37:01
Speaker 1: this as I would grow up UH in an area
37:04
Speaker 1: once again where we didn't have recyclables, and sure we
37:08
Speaker 1: wanted to UH use replace and such, but when you
37:12
Speaker 1: have four kids, trying to do all those dishes, caring
37:14
Speaker 1: for yourselves, trying to care for others. It's a little
37:17
Speaker 1: harder than you think. Um, And don't get me wrong,
37:20
Speaker 1: do I use paper place? No? But am I privileged
37:23
Speaker 1: enough to have just me, myself and I as part
37:27
Speaker 1: of the thing. Yes, you may think it's not that hard,
37:29
Speaker 1: but it does build up on time. And there's this
37:31
Speaker 1: level of shaming that we really need to get away
37:33
Speaker 1: from because that doesn't do what you think it does. No,
37:37
Speaker 1: And I think that this is such a good reminder
37:39
Speaker 1: of again, like nothing is that clear cut, right, Nothing
37:44
Speaker 1: in life is that clear cut. There's always something to consider,
37:48
Speaker 1: and especially around accessibility, because I've seen similar arguments around
37:53
Speaker 1: it's sort of different but related, but around like pre
37:56
Speaker 1: cut food and people be like the Wells people so lazy.
38:00
Speaker 1: Not everybody, I guess, you know, if some people can't
38:04
Speaker 1: cut up like time wise and maybe they have a
38:06
Speaker 1: disability or something, you should just make sure. Let's let's
38:10
Speaker 1: let's stop. And that's the whole conversation about for those
38:13
Speaker 1: who can't afford it, that's wonderful. Let's not have shame food,
38:16
Speaker 1: shame people. It just got into the last five years
38:19
Speaker 1: when people are all like, oh, food stamps are for
38:23
Speaker 1: those who really are trying to feed everyone on a budget.
38:28
Speaker 1: And I've already explained this a couple of times. To
38:30
Speaker 1: qualify for a food stamp, it's pretty difficult, and to
38:33
Speaker 1: lose it is really easy. Like I had to sit
38:35
Speaker 1: and sit with my clients to try to fill these out,
38:38
Speaker 1: and I'm like, what the hell are these forms? And
38:42
Speaker 1: how quickly you can lose It is so easy. It's
38:45
Speaker 1: so easy to lose. But all of that to say,
38:47
Speaker 1: it just got to the point that it's like, oh,
38:49
Speaker 1: they don't want just milk and cheese and bread. You
38:53
Speaker 1: can't like just you can have fruit, but it costs
38:56
Speaker 1: so much that it's not cost efficient. And then people
39:00
Speaker 1: shaming people for buying something that's not on the list
39:02
Speaker 1: and having a food stamp. That's such an odd state
39:05
Speaker 1: as to have to have against people who have food
39:09
Speaker 1: stamps allowed them to have a treat having ice cream.
39:12
Speaker 1: How dare you? How dare you were on food stamps? What? Like?
39:16
Speaker 1: There's so many levels, And to the fact that finally,
39:19
Speaker 1: I think in the last five years, community gardens, farmers,
39:22
Speaker 1: marketers have been like, oh, it would be nice to
39:24
Speaker 1: be accessible for these fresh fruits and good foods and
39:28
Speaker 1: actually giving like double the value. Yes, please, let's let's
39:32
Speaker 1: let's do that. That's called carrying and actually doing some
39:34
Speaker 1: type of activism right and and we won't get into
39:38
Speaker 1: this now, but that's also related to the fat shaming
39:40
Speaker 1: we see of oh, well they eat at McDonald's all
39:43
Speaker 1: the time or whatever it is. But that again a
39:47
Speaker 1: lot of times and affordability like what can I afford
39:50
Speaker 1: to our time thing, especially if you're working like three jobs. Um,
39:53
Speaker 1: and then we have the health crisis and we as
39:56
Speaker 1: a country seemed to blame we're ready to blame all Amazon.
40:00
Speaker 1: You should not do that all the time, could be
40:03
Speaker 1: only what they could get their hands on or and
40:07
Speaker 1: that's again I think we need to have a lot
40:09
Speaker 1: more compassion because I know there's a lot of foodie
40:12
Speaker 1: bloggers parent bloggers have that have all these privilege who
40:17
Speaker 1: do shame about food and saying don't feed us to
40:20
Speaker 1: your kids. It's really really cute and easy and if
40:23
Speaker 1: you're able to do that, fantastic go you. Um, no
40:26
Speaker 1: shame to that, but this shouldn't be the narrative that
40:28
Speaker 1: you've put a stance on you really need to calm
40:30
Speaker 1: down and really think about who you're talking to and
40:34
Speaker 1: why this kuld be really really damaging in so many ways.
40:39
Speaker 1: Exactly exactly. Thomas also does a great job. She goes
40:55
Speaker 1: into the history of enslavement and disregarding the lives of
40:58
Speaker 1: black people and how historically that's we're still seeing that
41:02
Speaker 1: going on, and how that is involved in this conversation. Um.
41:06
Speaker 1: Here's another quote. In a two thousand nine USC study
41:09
Speaker 1: the Climate Gap, Inequalities and how Climate Change Hurts Americans
41:12
Speaker 1: and how to close the gap, researchers found that quote,
41:14
Speaker 1: African Americans, on average omit nearly less greenhouse gases than
41:18
Speaker 1: non Hispanic whites for capita. Though less responsible for climate change,
41:21
Speaker 1: African Americans are significantly more vulnerable to its effects than
41:25
Speaker 1: non Hispanic whites. This is a recurring theme we'll see
41:28
Speaker 1: throughout this chapter. Those who are at least responsible for
41:31
Speaker 1: the climate crisis are often the most impacted and burdened
41:34
Speaker 1: by it. So yes, again that um, and then there
41:37
Speaker 1: is great numbers breakdown on how environmental injustices impact the Black,
41:42
Speaker 1: Latin x A, a p I, and Indigenous communities, with
41:45
Speaker 1: notes on people with disabilities and queer folks. There's international examples,
41:50
Speaker 1: so like how the US was shipping waste to other
41:55
Speaker 1: countries and how that impacted health, sea level rise and
41:59
Speaker 1: how that packs certain countries like way more than other countries. Um.
42:05
Speaker 1: And then as I mentioned, um, there is these everyday examples.
42:08
Speaker 1: She goes over. So one being fast fashion, Um, the
42:12
Speaker 1: waste involved, the human rights violations, the cost of entry,
42:16
Speaker 1: accessibility for slow fashion. So again, like nothing is clear cut.
42:21
Speaker 1: Can't just say like this is good or bad, but
42:23
Speaker 1: it has all of these pieces and we need to
42:24
Speaker 1: talk about it. Another one is the green energy UM.
42:29
Speaker 1: The lack of inclusion and decision making when it comes
42:31
Speaker 1: to indigenous people causing harm. We're not done with an
42:34
Speaker 1: intersectionality in mind. So yeah, again like that sounds great,
42:38
Speaker 1: but we have to talk to the people it's going
42:40
Speaker 1: to impact. We have to involve them in it, right,
42:43
Speaker 1: because it can. She gives examples of when it's harmed communities. Right. Also,
42:48
Speaker 1: let's just talk about the fact that it's not affordable.
42:50
Speaker 1: Most of the time, these options are not affordable and
42:53
Speaker 1: the company is doing this on purpose. We know this.
42:56
Speaker 1: But yeah, when it sounds like a great idea, I
42:59
Speaker 1: don't want to do it, and in the end it
43:01
Speaker 1: may save you money, but at the beginning most people
43:04
Speaker 1: can't afford it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Um, but this is
43:08
Speaker 1: sort of what I was mentioning earlier, that I feel
43:12
Speaker 1: that a lot of people like to make themselves feel
43:14
Speaker 1: better without doing the researchers. Oh, this looks good where
43:17
Speaker 1: they're on a company level, because companies definitely do it too,
43:20
Speaker 1: or on just our own personal levels. All right, So
43:23
Speaker 1: she continues and writes, the global transition to green energy
43:26
Speaker 1: should not come at the expense of the safety of
43:29
Speaker 1: indigenous peoples. We urgently need to face out our reliance
43:32
Speaker 1: on non renewable resources, and green tech should be highly
43:36
Speaker 1: prioritized as a solution. However, within an intersectional approach to environmentalism,
43:42
Speaker 1: we must acknowledge the dark side of green energy and
43:45
Speaker 1: the harm that these initiatives have caused to marginalize communities.
43:49
Speaker 1: We must also ensure that future projects take the protection
43:52
Speaker 1: of all people into considerations. We don't have to choose
43:56
Speaker 1: between justice for people and the planet. Social justice and
44:00
Speaker 1: a green economy can and should coexist. Yes enough said, yes, yes, yes.
44:06
Speaker 1: And then also another kind of daily example. She she
44:09
Speaker 1: went over with veganism and plant based living, and she
44:13
Speaker 1: goes up very like the huge environmental impact of eating
44:15
Speaker 1: meat increase in veganism, but again like the lack of
44:18
Speaker 1: representation when it comes to people of color. Right today,
44:21
Speaker 1: I had an amazing video pop up from an I
44:26
Speaker 1: believe a Middle Eastern activist who was talking about the
44:30
Speaker 1: fact that Western culture has kind of demonized vegan veganism
44:34
Speaker 1: in a way that or sensationalized one of the two
44:37
Speaker 1: is it's very it's according to who you talk to
44:39
Speaker 1: about veganism, and using tofu as a primary example, about
44:43
Speaker 1: the fact that tofu is a classic dish within Asian cultures.
44:47
Speaker 1: I've seen it all throughout, whether it's a part of
44:49
Speaker 1: Korean food, uh, Korean Indian food, but it's just an
44:54
Speaker 1: automatic part of it and it just happens to things
44:56
Speaker 1: like especially Indian cuisine leans a little more to vegetari
45:00
Speaker 1: in eating and the fact that it's just their lifestyle,
45:03
Speaker 1: and how the Western culture has taking that in either
45:06
Speaker 1: sensationalized that to a point that has become so expensive
45:09
Speaker 1: and over the top, and or mocking it saying it's
45:12
Speaker 1: a fruit fruit food. It's such an odd stance to
45:15
Speaker 1: take that when I started thinking about It's like, yeah,
45:17
Speaker 1: it really is. Had I been raised in Korea, it
45:20
Speaker 1: would just been naturally part of all of my dishes
45:23
Speaker 1: and I would have not thought about it. As in fact,
45:25
Speaker 1: when I get these Korean dishes, I don't think about it.
45:27
Speaker 1: I just like, oh, this is good. It's just a
45:29
Speaker 1: part of this dish. And coming into the US cultural
45:32
Speaker 1: ideas about this being like this is for oh, you're
45:35
Speaker 1: a hippie or what are those things? Or or you're
45:37
Speaker 1: trying to do these things and it's seemingly exotic foods
45:41
Speaker 1: quote unquote, and that battle in itself and being like well,
45:45
Speaker 1: eating tofu, eating no meat one day, it's not that
45:49
Speaker 1: big of a deal. Why do we make it seem
45:51
Speaker 1: like we have fallen into a cultural stance and or
45:56
Speaker 1: political stance in doing so. It shouldn't be. Yeah, it's
46:00
Speaker 1: definitely been highly politicized. And I think another great reminder
46:05
Speaker 1: throughout um and then with this as well, is like
46:09
Speaker 1: you know, kind of well off white people pretending like
46:12
Speaker 1: there's no history, like they've discovered veganism, right, But there's
46:17
Speaker 1: like you said, like cultures that this is long been
46:20
Speaker 1: part of their history. People have been doing it forever, um,
46:24
Speaker 1: So do your research right and again representation is really important, um.
46:30
Speaker 1: And making sure that we understand, oh yeah, this is
46:33
Speaker 1: a cultural part of this and it's okay, And to
46:36
Speaker 1: give credit to where it came from exactly. Be also
46:39
Speaker 1: understanding that everybody can do this. Again, for still is
46:43
Speaker 1: fresh vegetables. For the most part, fresh fruit are expensive
46:46
Speaker 1: and they quickly quickly die, quickly, go back. I'm gonna
46:50
Speaker 1: have to learn a place you do, and that's privileged.
46:54
Speaker 1: That's privileged to know that you can get all these things.
46:56
Speaker 1: It was a privilege growing up. My parents would bring
46:59
Speaker 1: me fruit, but it had to be on sale, um,
47:02
Speaker 1: and I loved it, but also sparsing it out so
47:05
Speaker 1: I didn't just eat it all, but then also didn't
47:07
Speaker 1: wait too long. Such a thing. But for all these things,
47:10
Speaker 1: it is a privilege and we have to understand that.
47:12
Speaker 1: And this is why I can goods and all that
47:14
Speaker 1: came into play, and why we need to talk about
47:16
Speaker 1: once again affordability. But ahead, yes, yes, well this brings
47:21
Speaker 1: us to our concluding quote. UM, So think about your
47:26
Speaker 1: special skills and apply them to the movements you care about.
47:28
Speaker 1: Even though I'm anxious and don't always feel comfortable holding
47:31
Speaker 1: a megaphone. I have found that writing and digital media
47:33
Speaker 1: are ways for me to contribute my unique skills to environmentalism.
47:36
Speaker 1: Your activism may not look like mine or like the
47:39
Speaker 1: next persons, but all of our strengths are pieces of
47:41
Speaker 1: the puzzle. A mentor of mine once said, even the
47:44
Speaker 1: revolution needs accountants. This made me laugh, but it's true.
47:49
Speaker 1: We can each contribute our skills in some way. So
47:51
Speaker 1: I'll leave you with this. I hope you understand how
47:53
Speaker 1: powerful you are. Please do share and amplify the messages
47:57
Speaker 1: you believe the world needs to hear. Take a leap
47:59
Speaker 1: of faith and attend to local protests if you can
48:02
Speaker 1: raise your hand to introduce an intersectional perspective where it
48:05
Speaker 1: needs to be heard. Stand up for what's right, and
48:07
Speaker 1: don't back down even when it's difficult, even when you
48:10
Speaker 1: might feel alone, because trust me, we're out there. There
48:13
Speaker 1: are generations of intersexual environmentalists in the field and a
48:16
Speaker 1: community that's ready to embrace you with support. Together, we
48:19
Speaker 1: can transform the future of environmentalism, and with collective action,
48:23
Speaker 1: spread our message across the globe and change enough hearts
48:25
Speaker 1: and minds to positively alter the future. The future is
48:29
Speaker 1: intersectional point blank. Yes, yes, um, I love that. That
48:35
Speaker 1: was the kind of inspiring message she ends this book with.
48:39
Speaker 1: And then as we said, there's all these really helpful resources,
48:43
Speaker 1: so I just we can't recommend it enough. It is
48:45
Speaker 1: really really great, really quick read. It's informative. It has those,
48:49
Speaker 1: like we said, kind of like questions to ask yourself
48:52
Speaker 1: and think about, and action items which I love, um
48:56
Speaker 1: to get involved in and responsible, intersectional, respectful way. Yes. Uh.
49:01
Speaker 1: And this is why we also wanted to put this
49:03
Speaker 1: in our book club because it is a really good
49:06
Speaker 1: book club read that. It is interactive and you can
49:08
Speaker 1: do discussions as she has all of the added addendums
49:12
Speaker 1: to it. Um. She brings in so many activists that
49:15
Speaker 1: she knows into the book, bringing quotes in little interviews
49:19
Speaker 1: and tells you where to follow them. I followed a few,
49:21
Speaker 1: and I was like, way, I followed it. We followed
49:23
Speaker 1: a few before realizing they were all connected, Like look
49:25
Speaker 1: at that. Loving it. She has an amazing amount of resources.
49:29
Speaker 1: She does a great job in tapping in on the
49:31
Speaker 1: different communities, really making sure that we are appreciating and
49:35
Speaker 1: acknowledging the indigenous community who have been at the forefront
49:38
Speaker 1: of this conversation because it is so directly impacted them
49:42
Speaker 1: and continues to harm them today, which we need to
49:44
Speaker 1: keep talking about forever out always, And she does an
49:48
Speaker 1: amazing job and making it seem attainable, like these goals
49:52
Speaker 1: are attainable. Yeah, it's it's fantastic. Um, go check it
49:57
Speaker 1: out if you haven't already. In the meantime, as always,
50:00
Speaker 1: if you have a book you would like to suggest,
50:03
Speaker 1: we would love to hear it. You can email us
50:04
Speaker 1: at stuff India, mom Stuff at iHeart media dot com.
50:07
Speaker 1: You can find us on Twitter at mom stub podcast
50:09
Speaker 1: or on Instagram at stuff I Never Told You Things.
50:10
Speaker 1: It's always to have super producer Christina. Thank you and
50:14
Speaker 1: thanks to you for listening Stuff I Never Told You
50:16
Speaker 1: his protection of I High Radio more podcast on my
50:18
Speaker 1: Heart Radio because at the Heart Radio app, Apple Podcast,
50:20
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite ships.