Environmental Justice for All
Antonio Diaz, environmental-justice advocate, answers readers' questions
22 Jun 2007
Antonio Diaz, director of environmental-justice organization PODER.
Climate Dialogues is a grassroots coalition organizing around climate and just beginning to do outreach to Latino, immigrant, and related communities. Do you have suggestions for the best way to make the linkages between climate and more immediate issues in order to build these alliances? -- Phil Mitchell, Seattle, Wash.
A key principle in organizing is relationship building. People are interested in engaging with others if they know one another, have built trust, and recognize that they are all working for similar goals that benefit everyone.I say that because I think that it's important to get a sense of who's already doing work in your area with Latinos, immigrants, and other related communities. Get to know what issues they are interested in and how they intersect with what you're doing. Strategize together on how to make those connections.
Yes, it takes time, energy, and commitment to do this, but this is a crucial approach in order to avoid token-izing other communities or expecting them to jump on your issues without them getting something in return. Good luck!
For many years, the Spanish saying, "No hay mal que por bien no venga" has impressed me. It is very difficult to translate, but means something like, "There is no evil which does not come for good." Is the calm, patient, faith-filled confidence that that suggests to be found at all among the immigrants that you know? Does it inspire a kind of creativity which perhaps is foreign to us Anglo-Americans? Or, put another way: Is there a special kind of wisdom that Latino immigrants have to teach us regarding conservation and living well with nature? -- Marcus Stephanus, New York, N.Y.
Sure, I think that there is something that we could learn from immigrants regarding "living well with nature," as you say -- especially those that come from rural and indigenous backgrounds. However, I wouldn't want to essentialize the Latino immigrant experience by saying that immigrants have that specific wisdom. The immigrant families that I've worked with have very distinct experiences based on the countries they come from, whether they are from rural vs. urban areas, etc. You can't get more urban or citified than Mexico City, for example.
I do think, though, that many immigrants do have a different mind-set than Anglo-Americans because of the dire economic conditions that many come from. Someone once said that the first recyclers were poor people. Obviously, when you have less, you learn how to do more with what you have.
Do you see any one organization that has succeeded in engaging the Latino community in environmental activism nationally? Clearly you have succeeded in your community, but is there anyone on the national level who is succeeding in engaging communities across the country? Are any of the national Spanish-language networks making any effort to make this a priority for the national arena? -- Leah Holmes-Bonilla, Arlington, Va.
No, offhand I can't think of any national organizations that are engaging Latinos on environmental-justice issues or environmental activism. Instead, what is happening is a lot of local work in Latino communities throughout the country in both urban and rural areas. There are also organizations such as the Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice, a multiracial and binational network based in Albuquerque, N.M., that is comprised of many Latino organizations and has a national presence on the environmental-justice front.On the one hand, I don't think that not having a national organization is necessarily a bad thing. As we've seen, having an office in D.C. or in a state capital is no guarantee that our policy goals will be achieved or implemented.
On the other hand, there is a lack of a consistent, trusted voice at the national level addressing these concerns.
On the positive tip, I know of organizations in different parts of the country, including here in California, that are working together to impact policy at the regional and state level. As a firm believer in a bottom-up approach, I believe these efforts are creating a path to achieve systemic change at the national level.
At last October's Bioneers conference in San Rafael, Calif., Paul Hawken urged the green audience to really engage the social-justice movement. He said "the environmental movement really needs to get on the social-justice bus" -- not the other way around. The two movements united would be a much stronger force for change. I'm a white nature lover who is happiest out in open space. I live in the mountains up here in Trinity County, Calif. I get passionate about logging, salmon, bears, and gardening. Can you help me get more fired up about why I should be equally concerned for social-justice issues, racism, the plight of the urban poor, etc? Please help me see how your issues matter as much as my issues. -- Neil Harvey, Hyampom, Calif.
I don't think that it's a matter of convincing one another of the importance of my issues vs. yours. It's crucial to understand how the work we're all doing is needed to bring about the paradigmatic shift for a healthy, sustainable world. That's why I think that the United States Social Forum happening later this month, that I mentioned previously, is so important. It will provide an opportunity for organizations and people working on domestic and global justice to come together to develop leadership, learn from each other, and strategize. It's a great opportunity to think beyond the "my issues vs. your issues" approach.
However, I do agree with Hawken's point about the need for the environmental movement to "get on the social-justice bus." At this critical moment, any movement that wants to make a difference needs to address the issues of race, class, and power in a substantive way.
The top 3 percent wealthiest people control 84 percent of all world resources. Therefore, they are the biggest CO2 producers of all. Cannot the rest of us create an international class-action suit and normalize resources among all people? -- John Bailo, Kent, Wash.
Well, we could if justice was actually blind and not blindfolded by the 3 percent.
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