Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Book Club: The Intersectional Environmentalist (Part 1)

Transcript

Book Club: The Intersectional Environmentalist (Part 1) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stepan
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: Never Told You Protection of I Heart Radio. And it's
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: time for another edition of spenty book Club. And this
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: is a special one because it is a book we
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: mentioned in one of our Women Around the World episodes
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: that we chose in honor of Earth Day because we
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: thought of Aliyah Thomas's newly published book, The Intersectional Environmentalists. Uh,
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: we thought it would be a perfect fit and it was.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: It's excellent. Go look it up, read it so good. Uh.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: It just came out in March and we couldn't wait
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: to get our hands on it. We have a lot
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: of ground to cover, so this one is going to
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: be a two parter, two parter m hmmm, so be
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: on the lookout for part two. But yeah, honestly, it's
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: just truly inspiring. It's very thoughtful, it's very educational as
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: a lot of resources, really helpful resources, discussion questions. Yes,
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: I mean it's perfect if you need something for a
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: book club, but this is it. This is what you
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: need for a book club because it kind of lays
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: it out for you and it has all of like
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: addendums and added on added on add ons that you
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: might even want for more resources. So it's beautiful. And
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: not only that, one of the best things about this
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: is it tells you who to follow and to see
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: when it comes to leading this movement. And I already
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: fantastic and I already followed a few people on TikTok
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: and it's amazing. And I know we're gonna talk a
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: little bit about later because I want to talk about
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: this as a separate episode, but it really does a
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: good job encountering what we are hearing of climate doom.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: Uh is um. I guess that's happening a lot right now,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: and that is not the narrative we want to spread.
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: We want to spread hope, but not only hope. We're
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: not trying to be dismissive and say, oh it's fine. No,
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: we're talking about being active and not giving up. And
• 2:04
  Speaker 1: she does an amazing job and not only helping you
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: to think this through and think of it on multi levels,
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: but she yeah, kind of how we've talked about when
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: people do activism like this and talk about intersectionality, they
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: have She's done the labor. Not that it's easy, but
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: it's there and it's wide open, and it's here for us.
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: To consume and really bring in. We love it. I
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: love this book and it's so short, I was. I
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: was surprised how short it was, but it's compacted with
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: so much accomplished, so much. So we talked about Thomas's
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: advocacy and activism and accomplishments in the episode we did
• 2:41
  Speaker 1: highlighting the work of some amazing black women in the US.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: And she calls herself an eco communicator and coined the
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: term intersectional environmentalism on viral Instagram post in twenty and
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: it has blown up obviously to do this book, and
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: I really hope it makes it on the bestseller list
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: because it deserves it. It absolutely does, because yeah it does.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: It covers a lot of ground, providing history and context
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: things like intersectionality, massage, noir, making space, which Thomas does
• 3:12
  Speaker 1: an excellent job of in this work, Like there's little
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: breakouts of asking people from different spaces about these issues
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: UM critical race theory, eco feminism, history, environmental justice, interviews
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: with other leaders in the movement, privilege, food justice, food apartide,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: eco able is um fashion, energy, veganism, with plenty of
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: examples and data to back up her points. Honestly, it
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: was a real hard thing to just like not read
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: the whole book on air because it's so useful. It's
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: so good um, and it does have this kind of
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: toolkit with resources. It also comes with interactive things like
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: pledges and questions about how you personally can contribute to
• 3:51
  Speaker 1: the movement in a meaningful way, or just like asking yourself,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: I don't know, just like okay, where am I this?
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: How can I help? Um? Which is it's extremely useful.
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: It opens with the forward written by Gloria Walton, the
• 4:07
  Speaker 1: president and CEO of the Solutions Project. Quote. My grandmother,
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: a farmer and descendant of people enslaved in the United States,
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: was one of my greatest teachers, instilling in me foundational
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: values of dignity, community, and love. I remember walking with
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: her as a small child and her saying, with the
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: sweetest southern charm, walk in front of me, honey, put
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: your head up, rollo shoulders back, swing those arms, smile
• 4:30
  Speaker 1: and walk with purpose, baby, And I did. She, alongside
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: my mother and the matriarchs in her neighborhood, taught me
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: that dignity comes from within, from the love I have
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: for myself and my community. I was born into poverty,
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: but I was raised by proud, resourceful Black women who
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: took care of themselves, their people, and the land. I
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: remember vividly how concepts like conservation and sustainable living were
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: not theoretical to us, nor were they burdens to our
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: way of life. They were how we got by, how
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: we flowed in relationship to one another and our environment.
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: We practiced the models that were passed down from generations
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: before us, and we integrated our own experiences into lessons
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: for the future. Right. And I do love how Thomas does.
• 5:14
  Speaker 1: We've in a lot of tradition with what is needed today,
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: and so she really brings it back because for me,
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: growing up in the South Uh in a very country
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: and rural area, this sounds familiar ish and that we
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: get passed down from that generation. Of course, I say
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: familiar ish because I am not from the black community
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: and it was not raised by black people. But in general,
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: just that layer of this is our land, we must
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: take care of it. There was that pride in and
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: loving the land, and I think having that generational love
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: takes on a lot. And when it comes to the
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: Bipop community, that is something that they bring in and
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: that that's the layer that has a deeper meaning that
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: is so often ignored. Yeah yeah, So moving on with
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: another fantastic quote. Intersectionality is one of those breakthrough academic concepts,
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: this one coined by the inimitable Kimberly Crenshaw that, for
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: millions of people, including black women like her and like
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: me and Leah, is simply how we live justice. Kimberly
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Crenshaw's own lived experience gave rise to this foundational framework
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: of critical race theory. Her story and scholarship have offered
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: the world a glimpse into our daily reality. Seeing how
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: we as black women can transmute terror and trauma into
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: a vision for something beautiful, collective, and strong is what
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: makes intersectionality so critical to solving the global climate crisis.
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: It is also what makes critical race theory so scary
• 6:43
  Speaker 1: to those clean onto treacherous power. Because if we can
• 6:46
  Speaker 1: create the future we want despite the realities of not
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: only racism, but also sexism, poverty, and other oppressive systems,
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: imagine what all of us can do and be when
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: those systems crumble and we are all free. Oh and
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: we definitely talked about this in the conversation of intersectionality,
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: that when black women are free and I actually cared
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: for and loved. Everyone has freedom and that it has
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: to start there because that is where we downfall. Just
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: because one system maybe better doesn't mean it's better for everyone,
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: and that makes no one it's free. Yeah, And I
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: We've had so many discussions about all of this when
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: it comes to the environment and how important it is,
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: and uh, we're gonna we're gonna dig into these those
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: issues throughout these uh two part this two part book
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: club episode. But it's just so much like it's so
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: much to unpack and and this is all like we're
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: still on the forward. This is all a forward uh
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: coming and talking about celebrating Leah's book. Uh and as
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: I feel like I don't think we can say this
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: enough about how things like this as we see it happening.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: The reason that I'm so excited that we're talking about
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: this is because it isn't a release and we're not
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: talking about it twenty years down the road when we're
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: fighting about something about the same things. UM, so sorry,
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: I can really quin Shaw off for the fight that
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: you've had to do, even though you've already had this
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: fight twenty years ago. But you know, stuff like this,
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: it's like we're actually here in the present and being
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: able to celebrate it and and just being able to
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: lift it up, feeling like we're contributing just a small
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: bit and opening up those voices. So I get excited
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: when I see things like this because it's so passionate
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: about the things that people do and she's changing things.
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: Oh my god, I love it. Yes, I do too.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: We have one more quote from the forward by Walton,
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: intersectional focus organizations working for climate equity and justice still
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: receive less than five percent, by the most generous accounting
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: of the total two point four billion dollars granted annually
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: for the environment. Within that, an even smaller fraction goes
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: to nonprofits led by black people, Indigenous people, immigrants, and
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: other people of color. Women of color receive just point
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: six percent of total philanthropic benefit in the United States
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: across all issue areas, despite being the backbones of most communities.
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: And yes, that is like the thesis statement of this
• 9:13
  Speaker 1: of why that is a huge problem, which it is,
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: and why it's important that we changed that, very very important.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: So speaking of thesis statements, moving into the themes, One
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: of the big themes that this book opens with is
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: why an intersectional approach is critical to environmental protection and
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: that discussion at large, um quote, the Earth shouldn't be
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: taken for granted, nor should its people, and the drivers
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: of this exploitation, greed, racism, capitalism, and other systems of
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: oppression should be rejected and dismantled. If we combine social
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: justice efforts with environmental awareness efforts, we will harness enough power, representation,
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: and momentum to have a shot at protecting our planet
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: and creating equity at the same time. So this is
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: we're out of the forward. These are Thomas's words, and
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: again like right away she's she's hooking here. She's like
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: so important and here is why, and she gives so
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: many good examples as we get into it, but yeah,
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: she does. She starts at the beginning of like this
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: is what it should be, and this is what we
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: need to look at, and this can't be forgotten and
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: that's something that's so important. And again, as a person
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: who has not who has not grown up in a
• 10:38
  Speaker 1: world where recycling and being environmental cautious was advantageous or
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: even able to, like growing in rural mountains of Georgia,
• 10:47
  Speaker 1: not having access to being able to recycle or understand
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: it that's even accessible, getting like having to pay to
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: do any of these things, as that was something that
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: was like nonfeasible. It wasn't important in my life. But
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: because of that, I thought that was not necessary, which
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: again this is my own ignorance, but not didn't realize
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: how necessary it was and how it does play when
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: it comes to racial, social, and feminist justice, like these
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: are all things that do pile on each other. She
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: just says it at point blanks, like nah, you need
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: to know this, um, this is why it's important. So
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: again like a few sentenzis, but it already starts with
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: like oh wow, okay, let's pay attention. So moving on
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: with Thomas's words. When I studied environmental science and policy
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: as an undergrad at a predominantly white institution or p
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: w I, social issues were perpetually separated from environmentalism, sustainability,
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: and conservation. Learning about environmental justice wasn't mandatory in my
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: liberal arts education, nor did I ever have a professor
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: who looked like me. Start contrast to the equity and
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: liberation centered environment intertwined in curriculums that many historically black
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: colleges and universities and yeah, I think as a social worker,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: I don't think I had any of that. And for
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: obviously social justice social welfare was a huge part of
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: why I wanted to be a social worker and advocacy.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: We never talked about environmental justice and that's concerning, Yeah, yeah,
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: because it just impacts so many in fact, so many
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: aspects of all our lives, and it is something that
• 12:22
  Speaker 1: is so it can be such a privilege, and you
• 12:26
  Speaker 1: won't if you're not talking about it, then maybe you
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: can just surpass like, oh, yeah, it's fine for me,
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: but it's not fine for a lot of people. And
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: ultimately it's not fine for any of us because we're
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: not talking about it. We're not talking about it in
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: a way that is intersectional and that takes into account
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: all of these things, and it's just hugely important and
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: I think it is a real big misstep in our education.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Well that's kind of that conversation about healthy eating, clean eating,
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: all of these things. I was like, that's a really
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: privileged conversation when we talk about it. But as a
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: social worker, you know, our concerns were they getting food?
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: How are they getting food? We didn't care, but did
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: we get reports from people when they weren't clean enough,
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: when they weren't eating healthy enough, when they weren't wearing
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: matching clothes. Yes we did. And as in fact, like
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: mislabeling that as poverty and not seeing it as an
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: environmental crisis as well, like they weren't getting sustainable things
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: or clean water as part of that. That's a huge misstep.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: And it's taking me like to this point of like, oh, yes,
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: it's intersectional. We just labeled it at one thing, but
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: it's all these things. But yes, going back to her words,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: because y'all again this is I had to do this
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: as I was listening reading, like pause, what applying it
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: to myself? Here we go and she goes. As a
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: black student in STEM, I had to search beyond the
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: classroom to learn about the contributions of people of color
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: to sustainability, and I had to conduct independent research projects
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: to explore the social determinants that caused environmental injustice along racial, class,
• 13:57
  Speaker 1: and gender lines. This became increasing frustrating over time, because
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: I knew that my identity informed the way I cared
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: for the world, from the cultural traditions passed down by
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: my family to the realities of living in a country
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: built from systemic oppression. I knew, even if I wasn't
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: acknowledged that the overwhelmingly white and middle class identities of
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: my peers, professors and textbook authors influence both what they
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: prioritize as the most quote urgent issues facing the planet
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: and what solutions they proposed. They often excluded the advocacy
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: of racial equality. The lack of representation of black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian,
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: low income l g B t Q plus, disabled, and
• 14:37
  Speaker 1: other marginalized voices has led to an ineffective form of
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: mainstream environmentalism that doesn't truly stand for the liberation for
• 14:46
  Speaker 1: all people and the planet. If it did, environmental injustices
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: outcomes wouldn't be so closely linked to different identity aspects,
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: as will explore in this book. From the data, it
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: is evident that social justice and o mentalism are deeply intertwined,
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: and that addressing this interconnection is crucial for attaining justice
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: for both people and planet. Again so much, And you know,
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: as I'm I don't know, maybe I just got caught
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: up in the climate TikTok. All of a sudden, climate
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: activists TikTok, and all of a sudden, I've already been
• 15:20
  Speaker 1: a part of the black activists TikTok um. And when
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I say black activists, I'm talking about the black women
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: who are activists and you just watch, don't comment, move on,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: and you know that's the engagement support move on. But
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: there has been this conversation and I think I mentioned
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: it earlier or maybe on another episode. I don't even remember.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: Everything is blurring about this whole doomist idea when it
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: comes to climate activism, and a majority of young white
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: activists are like, just quit, it's over and having this
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: doomsday idea and really parking on the fact that there's
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: nothing else we can do. Um. But it's the bipoc
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: act to us who are like wait, wait, wait, And
• 16:01
  Speaker 1: I've seen a lot of indigenous and also indigenous creators
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: who are like, stop, We've been doing this work. Nothing's changed,
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: as in fact, people are hearing more about it. And
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: this is why you feel doomed, because we're actually listening
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: or we're actually hearing about all the bad things that
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: are happening, as opposed to people ignoring it. Now is
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: the time to act. We don't need to be backing down.
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: And so many cries about the fact that y'all have
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: been able to ignore it. But those of us who
• 16:25
  Speaker 1: have been in this place, Indigenous people who have been
• 16:28
  Speaker 1: changing themselves to get clean water, we know Flint, Michigan
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: had its own thing, and it had a bigger outcry
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: after so long, and it took lawsuit after lawsuit, after
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: they've been living up years off of bottled water, which
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: they cannot afford oftentimes, to finally get any kind of
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: uh conversation happening. And I know, I don't know what's
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: happening somewhere in New Jersey. I think there's like a
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: group of young children who are now like young adults
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: coming out with brain cancers. And I don't know the
• 16:58
  Speaker 1: linkage to that, but they had something obviously has something
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: to do with that as well, type of like environmental
• 17:03
  Speaker 1: crisis up there. There's so many things that have happening
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: that is just now being really spoken about and people
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: are truly listening, and so those who have not been
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: a part of it are in the dune. Oh my god,
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: this is the worst apocalypstic world. And everybody's like, no,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the bipop communities like we've been fighting this, please stop
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: doing that and join Well. That's also like the frustrating
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: part that we've heard a lot and in past research
• 17:33
  Speaker 1: we've done of what Thomas says. I like having to
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: do this extra work to find people like her in
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: the space, even though like, yes, people of color are
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: doing the majority of net work. It's just they're not
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: being highlighted or talked about in educational spaces. And I
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: know we're going to talk about this later, but I
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: do feel like it's complicated but kind of simplifying. I
• 18:01
  Speaker 1: feel like Earth Day, as so many other things, are
• 18:05
  Speaker 1: just you know, environmentalism in general, as so many other
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: things that we talked about, became co opted by companies
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: and like well off white people who are like for
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: this one day, I'm gonna recycle this. I've done my
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: bitch goodbye, just to go thing um again. This reminds
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: me of the thirty Rock episode in which NBC slash
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Ge go in and make money off of this idea
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: by selling their products that will break, and they have
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: used like they make a joke like it'll break in
• 18:37
  Speaker 1: five years, what you'll thank you for helping the world,
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: But the next one you're about a dump more plastic byproducts.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: But it was like this joke, but it was real.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: It was absolutely real and what's happening we know that
• 18:51
  Speaker 1: when let's just I saw this today. So there is
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: an activist who's been around, she's been on Twitter. She
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: I think it goes by crutches and spice Monty Barbara
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: and who has been doing this work for disabled communities
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: and climate activism. And someone posted a video and there's
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: a mill white scientist who changed himself to a bank
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: talking about the effects of what they how much they
• 19:16
  Speaker 1: pay into oil rigs and all of that oil lines
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: as such, and has kind of come up in popularity
• 19:22
  Speaker 1: and people are praising him for the work that he's doing.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: And you know, and apparently like they got arrested by
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: a whole mob of cops because they were scientists standing
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: in front of the door, essentially disrupting a little bit
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: of business. But and it is good that he's doing that,
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: and he and his his fellow scientists are bringing attention
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: to it and talking about who is actually making the
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: money and who is the cause of these problems instead
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: of just yes, that's throwing away plastic is bad, but
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: let's be honest, who is the real effect? And they're
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: praising him and what he's doing, and he's doing good work,
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: but ignoring the fact that someone has already people have
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: been doing this work. And typically once again, and this
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: is the Bipuck women and her name Amanty Barbara and
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: who is crutches and by some beliefs, both on TikTok
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: and all of that, who has amazing videos. If y'all
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: haven't aren't following her, you should um. But she talks
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: about this, She's like, hello, we're here. Why do you refuse?
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: And why do you always have to erase us in
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: order to get anything done? And wait until all these
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: white men stand up, they're like, oh now I have
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: to pay attention, like it's so dismissive. And again he's
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: also ignoring who was being ignored in this situation by yes,
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: we're talking about like targeting that, but not only are
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: we talking about targeting them because they are doing something
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: bad for the environment, but they've always been bad for
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: the Bipop community. They've always gone after and taken advantage
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: of the Bipop community. Again, it kind of comes to
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: line about who is being seen and who isn't and
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: who is being activists and the Bipop community saw the
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: very beginning who was being treated like and who was
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: being taken advantage of and who was doing it, and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: they've been calling it out from jump And it's really
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: interesting because her whole narre of like, we're so frustrated
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: that this is what we see, and this is what
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: it takes for y'all to see, and the world years
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: and years of labor that we have put in y'all
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: easily dismiss yes. And Thomas does such a good job
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: of explaining the intersectionality within that of like why uh
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: for people of color, perhaps such a protest like that
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: of changing yourself to building or whatever it is, is
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: not the safest thing to do. Um, So we have
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: to quote about that today and the largest environmental movements
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: in the US and worldwide, issues of race have been
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: met with hostility, downplayed, questioned, and placed on the back
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: burner because environmental justice activists who are primarily black, Latin X, Indigenous,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: and people of color haven't been given the support from
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: the global environmental community they deserve. We are still fighting
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: for climate justice all these years, and then continues did
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: the environmental leaders I follow understand the gravity of risk
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: associated black citizens across the world who faced violence for
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: public demonstration? Did they understand the fear that I felt
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: that every protest I've attended since, watching non violent protesters
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: and Ferguson be beaten, maced and terrorized and black reporters
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: harassed and jailed, this disconnect was isolating. I watched predominantly
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: white environmental protesters chained themselves to buildings illegally to face
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: property trespass and flaunt their arrest on camera during their protests,
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: and I started to wonder how when non violent protesters
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: are innocent, Black, Indigenous, Latino and Asian citizens are met
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: with injustice for smaller infractions such as existing. I had
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: to ask how privileged must one be to so boldly
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: participate in theatrical protest right? And when we've talked about
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: women around the world and environmental activism, we talked about
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: specific countries who were killing people um in their activism
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: and just happening like there that we were getting um
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: innesty International and Human Rights Watch giving us reports about
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: how many people have been dying per year as of
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: this year, as of last year, or for their activists
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: and nothing more than calling out the government to say
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: this are killing your people for money? Why are you
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: doing this? And then they become missing. I know we're
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: gonna talk about. She gives me more examples of that.
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: And when it comes to the indigenous community, we know
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: many people go missing. We don't know how many, we
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: don't have numbers, and no one will actually talk about
• 23:18
  Speaker 1: the fact that it's become a huge problem that they
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: are at the most risk, and they are the ones
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: that are trying to be the loudest to talk about
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: it because no one else will do it for them.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Like there's so many things here that, like, uh, are frustrating.
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, again, she does such a
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: good job. Leah does it such a great job, and
• 23:42
  Speaker 1: having this conversation she does brings in so many different
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: voices for us to hear what is happening. But she
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: also brings in solutions. And that's the big part that
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: we keep talking about that I keep talking about when
• 23:53
  Speaker 1: I say she's done this work. She's done this work,
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: so all we need to do is pick it up
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: and let's act on it. Anyway, being on, I'm gonna
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: probably say that ten more times as we keep going.
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: But while this book is an argument for the need
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: for intersectional environmentalism, it's truly my biggest hope that one
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: day in the future, we won't need to preface environmentalism
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: with the word intersectional. I think that's the dream, right,
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: we won't need to create separate safe spaces and it's
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: curriculum sex sate to be inclusive. One day. I hope
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: that when people think of environmentalists, they will automatically envision
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: a person who cares very deeply about both people and planet.
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: I hope that one day environmental programs will reflect all
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: of the world's people and uplift their stories. Yeah, So,
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: like as you were saying, it's a very it's a
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: hopeful take with solutions and actionable things you can do
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: on something that is quite dire and unfortunately just has
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: at large been ignored, even though we've had these activists
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: like screaming right, this is a huge problem. There is
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: that hopeful and I hope so too, because it is
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: it's truly intersectional in the I hope one day it's
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: not like people like Thomas coming up in school have
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: to search out people of color in the curriculum. That
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: it's just included because it should be. It should be,
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: it should an automatic. So this is the conversation we
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: continue to have when we say why things like black
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: History Month's important. Why things like Women's History Month is
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: important a p I Because if we could just acknowledge
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: it and truly be equal and put on an equitable plane,
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: then yeah, we don't have to have this conversation. And
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: by the way, I know I'm speaking to the choir,
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: and I say this, just because we're ignoring something doesn't
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: mean that it's fixed. Uh yeah, yeah, nice, thank you,
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: thank you. But here's another growth. As we dive into
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: what intersectionality means, it's important to note that this theory
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: stems from the thoughts, experiences, and emotional labor of black women.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: It may evolve and take shape in different ways past
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: its original intent, as with environmentalism, but this theory, defined
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: by Kimberly Williams Crenshaw, is rooted in the duality of
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: her experience as both black and a woman. Any advancement
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: are more broad adoption of intersectional theory should start with
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: the fact it was bred from the black experience and
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: was developed as a tool to help black women feel seen, heard,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: and validated in their everyday lives. And I just think
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: that's so important. You should always give credit Tracy back,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: make sure and that's here's the other part of this again,
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: I'm bringing back to TikTok. I'm going to stop a promise.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: But there there's a few Korean creators that I have
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: followed because they do some really great Korean recipes and
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: easy Korean recipes that I can get on board with,
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: and that's been kind of my venture recently. It's like
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: getting onto my culture by food. I have a lot
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: of trickery sensors when it comes to food. I know
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: we've talked about this before, um, but there's been a
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: lot of non Korean creators, typically white women, who come
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: in and do these dishes that are traditional Korean dishes
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: and then give it a fancy name, like I think
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: one was like my awesome, addictive cucumber salad was one
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: of them, and it was obviously like a cucumber kimchie,
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: which we all know is a bon chan um and
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: I've had it for years even like I still have
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: this memory of those tastes that are like, oh, I
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: know what this is, and then trying to make money
• 27:41
  Speaker 1: off of it because they were influencers and they are
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: like foodie people and they they got it blasted. They're like,
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: this is a Korean dish. We understand if you want
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: to share it with your people, but at least don't
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: act like you invented this. Don't don't do that. Um.
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: And then people coming back to the Korean content creates
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: like you're gate keeping Korean food while you just let enjoy.
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: Do you credit all your food? I'm like, well, calling
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: it by its name is giving it credit in the story.
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: So I think one of the things where like pizza,
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: and people like do you credit the Italians? Like, well,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: calling it pizza is crediting the origination of this food.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: So yeah, so do we did? They want a history lesson? No,
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: but don't whitewash it and say that it's something you created. Um.
• 28:26
  Speaker 1: And essentially that's kind of coming back to like the
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: identity of understanding why it's important we credit people with
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: what they are due because the racer is so easy,
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and when we erase people, then they lose out and
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: being people lose out in the origination and the origination
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: of the content, which is what happens, and then it
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: gets taken over and weaponized. Yeah, it's very harmful. It's
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: very very harmful. And there's a whole chapter dedicated to this.
• 28:55
  Speaker 1: So I really appreciated that. Um, here's another quote from Thomas,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: protecting aspect their theories. Um, they're being Black women here
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: and their profound resiliency. Know that even in their struggle,
• 29:07
  Speaker 1: black women have given their knowledge to us to grow
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: and advance society. It is an immense privilege to create
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: space for and hold a piece of their magic and legacies.
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: Every time the word intersectionality is said or written down,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: so don't use it lightly and please don't dilute its origins. Right.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: We had this conversation with bridget about the term woke,
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: Um about like that being in critical race theory. They
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: have now been weaponized against people it and again like
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: when I said that, and I meant it when I
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: said that, like the origination of woke was created by
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: the black community to kind of give credit to non
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: black people to understand, you're getting it, You're getting what
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: we're talking about, your woke. And now it's become a negative,
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: taken on by white supremacies saying oh that's fake, and
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: it's become this whole thing that this is now a
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: negative because people want to use that in such a
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: way and it it has become harmful and and become weaponized
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: against the black community so often, and it's kind of like, wow,
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: how did this get flipped on its head? So it
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: is because it's been used so quickly and it was
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: co opted so quickly by the non black community that
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: it has become diluted and I hate that. I hate that.
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: And and to the point intersectionality almost is it hasn't
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: become diluted, and it hasn't become quite weaponized, but when
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: it comes to turfs, when it comes to that, it
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: kind of has. It has become a whole thing of
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: like mm hmm again what culture. Yeah, And I hate that.
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm so. But that's thing is that it
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: should be protected. It really should be a conversation. And
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: if we normalize that to what it meant about what
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: it needs to be or what it should be and
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: what it was intended, then it would be a whole
• 30:55
  Speaker 1: different story. And that's where we need to go. And
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: thank you for bringing that up and bringing that out,
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: and we're going on with her her quotes. Um she says, Unfortunately,
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: some early feminists had clear biases and chose to act
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: only in their own best interests. And we talked about
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: this before. Disregarding the concerns of women of color and
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: queer women, because they felt that these topics weren't related,
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: they didn't care, or they thought the inclusion of anti
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: racism or anti homophobia would complicate the matter. For white feminists,
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: the prevailing attitude was that perhaps, after their own liberation,
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: they would create space for other people and causes, which
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: is the bullsh trickle down theory in feminism. Yeah, that's
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: so though, she's so right that like, you wait your turn,
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: you wait your turn. Even though God, we talked about
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: that so much and we can talk about it so
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: much more. Right, it's just harmful at large because it
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: was just like white women like, I want to work
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: and then that's it, that's it, and they're like, wait,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: we can't. Yeah, we've always worked. We want equal help
• 32:03
  Speaker 1: and what are you talking about We've always had to
• 32:06
  Speaker 1: work what, which is hilarious, but yeah, no, it's the
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: same thing in that this h level of conversation. Of course,
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: we talked about the stuff ragets and how racist they
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: were in their movement was it's about us because black
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: men just got the vote, so why should white whiten.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: Why shouldn't white women. It's not about black women. We
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: don't care about you. You're you know, all of that
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: conversation is that same play, is that same tone, And
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: and let's talk about the fact that we have to
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: make movements palatable, which is that whole centrist idea. And yes,
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: you know, like we've had this conversation of choosing the
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: lesser evil. We have to make things palatable to reject men.
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: We've talked about this in bad dating. We have to
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: make things palatable to talk about anti uh supremast ideas.
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: We have to make things palatable to talk about classes ideas.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: Like it's such a sad conversation when they have to
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: do that, and it gets so tiresome for those two
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: always tiptoe and just being able to live, yeah, to exist.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: And we're going on critical race theory CRT asserts that
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: race is a social construct and that assigning societal values
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: and authority to different races is what upholds systemic inequality.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: Contrary to polarize interpretations of both CRT and the term
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: identity politics, these theories are rooted in the desire to
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: dismantle unequal power dynamics. Um, oh my god, I just
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: want that to be on a giant like billboard, just
• 33:40
  Speaker 1: so they understand what CRT is and A is not taught.
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Get over yourself. History is taught with some conversations of
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: what small things happen in history and not the big things.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: And y'all want to ignore that. I'm sorry, I want
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: to say, y'all, and I'm talking about the people who
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: want to talk about c R two as CRT as
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: if we're talking about a propaganda, which is not what
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: it is. Yeah. Yeah, it's such a hot button issue
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: right now. We wanted to include that quote, and she
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: does go in more detail into it, um, but yeah,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: it's incredibly frustrating, as you said in a recent episode,
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: the whole education system right now, it's just a hotbed
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: of fury that the world. I think I said that
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: that's good though. I like that. That's yeah, I say
• 34:30
  Speaker 1: we co signed on it. Another very important theme in
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: this book is eco feminism. Uh so, here's a quote.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: The exploration of the feminine in connection with nature dates
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: back centuries to early philosophical, spiritual, or religious context and
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: creation theories. In Greek mythology, Gaia or Gaia is seen
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: as the first mother goddess and a personification of earth.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: Before her, there was just chaos other cultures have their
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: own versions of Earth goddesses as well. I just love this,
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: like his drink that adds. I love all of this
• 35:02
  Speaker 1: context that's there. That again, she does so quickly, like
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: she accomplishes so much she does. Her post went viral
• 35:10
  Speaker 1: because she knew what she was saying that she said
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: it in such a nuanced way that it was quick
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: and like understandable and relatable, like, oh, I get it, Okay,
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: there it is um and she does. Yeah. I also
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: like that because we've talked about the history of the
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: goddess in the matriarch and how important it used to
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: be once upon a time, and how it got flipped
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: when it came to power money a different conversation and
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: going on about eco feminism, she says eco feminism is
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: both a philosophy and a movement that exposes the dual
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: oppressions of women and the environment as rooted in patriarchal structures.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: It is a movement and sees a connection between the
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: exploitation and degradation of the natural world and the subordination
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: and oppression of women right Mary Mailer in feminism and ecology,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: eco feminists argue that the treatment of women in society
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: is a likely indicator of the treatment of the earth
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: and vice verse, so that because we live in a
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: capitalist and patriarchal or male centered society, the oppression of
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: women in the destruction of nature are natural consequence. Huh.
• 36:09
  Speaker 1: That's a big statement. Yeah, And we've talked about that
• 36:13
  Speaker 1: before too, um and a lot of wide variety of topics.
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: I feel like we just talked about that of women
• 36:20
  Speaker 1: in Sault in our last book club kind of like
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: that nature and women and and her like really defending
• 36:25
  Speaker 1: the land type of thing and understanding the land. Mm hmm, yeah,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: depressingly enough. We also talked about it in like why
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: Women Recycle More? But yes, here's another quote. Eco feminism
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: was born out of the feminist and environmental movements of
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies and eighties, but many credit in Ester
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: King and I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly for popularizing
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: the term with her nineteen eighties Seven Nation article what
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: is eco Feminism? In this article, King asked readers to
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: look inward and evaluate how their beliefs is to as
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: informed by society, contributed to the negative treatment of both
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: women and the environment. This piece led to widespread awareness
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: of the concept. And we definitely talked about this in
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: the feminism of environmental activism and like women and recycling,
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: because yeah, for some reason, caring about the environment is girly. Yeah,
• 37:22
  Speaker 1: unless you're doing it to like hunt things, right, and
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: then that's manly. But it's weird. It's it's like again,
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: I don't know why we have to gender every freaking thing, right,
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: I mean, the only places that you don't see a
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: gendered as the indigenous people, Like they are the ones
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: who really don't they understand the level and the following
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: suit like they understand how detrimental it is thinking it
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: that way. Of course, the Native Indigenous communities I think
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: have a better hold on feminism honestly in some ways.
• 37:58
  Speaker 1: So that's a whole from conversation in itself. Um And
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: and Thomas continues, there are interlocking systems of oppression when
• 38:06
  Speaker 1: it comes to feminism. Without an intersectional approach, BIPOC, LGBTQ
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: plus and other underrepresented women may be left out, erased,
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: not advocated for. Within Western interpretations of eco feminism. Cultural
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: eco feminist beliefs are deeply rooted in biology and gender roles,
• 38:23
  Speaker 1: which can lead to the invalidation and exclusion of non binary,
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: trans and queer people from eco feminism. This is why
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: to truly stand for justice for all and the planet,
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: eco feminism must also be intersectional. Many practitioners do have
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: an intersectional approach, whether they classify it as that or not.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: While eco feminism was advanced by women of color like
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Vendonna Shiva, my experience as a student and an activist
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: is that it has often lacked representation of Black, Latin X,
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: Indigenous and Asian perspective. At times, I have also witnessed
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: eco feminists appropriate Eastern religious and indigenous traditions without proper credit,
• 38:59
  Speaker 1: a knowledgement, or representation. It's important to make strives to
• 39:03
  Speaker 1: be inclusive of all women and not just their ancestral theories,
• 39:07
  Speaker 1: religious practices and beliefs. And oh my god, that's kind
• 39:10
  Speaker 1: of where I was coming with that food TikTok is
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: that it is a disrespect of these beliefs and you
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: want to hone in and capitalize on something and take
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: away from someone else. Um Appropriation versus appreciation are two
• 39:24
  Speaker 1: different things, and it needs to be acknowledged that we
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: want to normalize different cultural ideas. That's the thing I know,
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: that's kind of that when I had kimchi and my
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: my adoptive parents try to allow that for me to
• 39:37
  Speaker 1: have as to normalize into a new world. But it
• 39:41
  Speaker 1: smelled of the kitchen and everybody complained about it, all
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: my siblings in and I never saw it again, and
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: so I became ashamed of eating kimchi like that was like,
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: oh God, I can't like it because my white siblings
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: don't like it. So having that shame factor and then
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: coming in and saying like, oh, look, guys, we're bringing
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: the new fan of kimchi and acting like they invented.
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: It's so insulting and triggering for a lot of people
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: who are refugees and immigrants coming into a country trying
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: to acclimate but being told they don't belong. There's so
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: many levels to that, and it comes to the same
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: thing with the religious practices and beliefs, like understanding. It
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: took me a long time and I've never saged anything,
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: but before I did, I did read about it and
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this is not appropriate. I can't
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: do this, and you know, holding off without it, and
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing the actual practices like really burying it is
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: something seen as respectful because it is important of why
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: we need to respect this To truly understand and appreciate,
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: you need to understand and respect the traditions as is,
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: and if you're being called out, follow through with what
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: they're calling you out on. Yeah, And I think to
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: everything you just said that, there's just there's an environmental
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: impact to all that stuff. So like the sage for example,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: when people were people who didn't do their research and
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: we're just doing it, there was an environmental impact that
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: are to the people who that is their culture, in
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: the tradition and their history. Um, so it's just you
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: can't separate out the environmental bit of all of this.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: So that's why I think this book is so perfect
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: and tent and necessary in this And I absolutely agreed
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: like it wasn't until social media and made digging that
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: we got to acknowledge who has been at front and center.
• 41:26
  Speaker 1: And it has been the indigenous community that I've seen
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: that's been front and center, especially in the US and
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: of course in the in the black community, who has
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: been a part of this, but seeing where they are
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: and how long they've been working in the conversations because
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: it's truly impacted, like their lands have been taken away
• 41:41
  Speaker 1: and poisoned essentially because we were not able to see that.
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: In feminists were not acknowledging that. M h. Well, this
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: brings us to the intersectional environmentalism kind of definition chapter
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: of the book. So here's a quote. I define intersectional
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: environmentalism i E as an inclusive approach to environmentalism that
• 42:06
  Speaker 1: advocates for the protection of both people and the planet.
• 42:09
  Speaker 1: I E argues that social and environmental justice are intertwined,
• 42:12
  Speaker 1: in that environmental advocacy that disregards this connection is harmful
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: and incomplete. I E focuses on achieving climate justice, amplifying
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: historically excluded voices, and approaching environmental education, policy and activism
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: with equity, inclusion and restorative justice in mind. And I
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: just think that's so, that's so important. I love the
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: people and planet. You cannot separate. We have to be inclusive.
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: We have to have these things in mind, or else
• 42:37
  Speaker 1: it's not working right and continue long. I E is
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: informed by intersectional approaches to ecofeminism, but also explores additional
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: intersections of overlapping identities like religion, race, sexuality, age ability,
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: and class. Intersectional environmentalism acknowledges how social justice and environmentalism
• 42:58
  Speaker 1: are intrinsically linked, and how both must be considered to
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: achieve environmental justice. And yeah, that's that part. Is that
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: justice part yep yep um. And here's one more quote
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: to finish up part one. I E also aims to
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: create space for more complete and inclusive retelling of environmental
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: or natural history, one that embraces all cultural contributors to
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: sustainability and environmentalism. Many indigenous people's worldwide have been better
• 43:24
  Speaker 1: protectors and cares up the planet for thousands of years.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Colonization and industrialization rooted in capitalism or direct attacks on
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: both people and planet, and are responsible for the climate
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: crisis we are in. It is more important now than
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: ever that we validate indigenous wisdom, credit its origins, and
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: fuse it into environmental education and fully embrace different cultural
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: values that exist as the blueprint to what is now
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: known as sustainability. Well before that terminology existed, right and
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: now has been co opted by corporations. As you was said, Yes, no,
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: I think that's that's one of the things that's so
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: frustrating because again, like definitely personal responsibility, look up these activists,
• 44:07
  Speaker 1: look up the history, do what you can, but Ultimately,
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: these companies are the ones, right that are really making
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: the biggest impacts. And then they're like, here's our sustainable bottle.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: If you don't use it, then that's on you. And
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: how sustainable is that bottles? I mean it comes down
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: to who is doing what, what policies are being allowed,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: and you know what the policies are really lading for corporations.
• 44:31
  Speaker 1: We know this, Yes they are. It's incredibly frustrating. But yeah,
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: there's there's also that like accessibility and price point that
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: I think is so important to always bring up. But yes,
• 44:43
  Speaker 1: clearly we have a lot to say about this book.
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: If you haven't picked it up, go pick it up.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: It's really really just such a good read and so informative.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: But we do have a part two. This is the
• 44:55
  Speaker 1: end of part one, but we got a part two coming,
• 44:57
  Speaker 1: So if you haven't gotten the book now you can
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: go get read this part and then catch up with
• 45:03
  Speaker 1: us so you can help me. You know what we're
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: talking about, and you'll be like, yeah, I read that
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: part and loved it too. Because that's my favor. We
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: can have like a virtual you'll be sitting around like yes,
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: from here in my sie I love it. I love
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: it and if you have those thoughts you want to
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: send them to us, we would love to get them.
• 45:18
  Speaker 1: You can email us at steph Idia mom Stuff at
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: i heeart media dot com. You can find us on
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: Twitter at mom Stuff Podcasts or Instagram at Stuff I've
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: Never Told You. Thanks as always to our super producer Christina,
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: thank you, and thanks to you for listening Stuff Whenever
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: Told you his protection of I Heart Radio. For more
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: podcast on I Heart Radio, visit at radio app Apple
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: podcast Radio listening to your favorite shows