Thursday, 24 Oct 2002
WASHINGTON, D.C.
It is day two of the Second National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, and I already feel like I have been here all week. The agenda is action-packed. And the people have come. They are multiracial and multiethnic. They come from big cities and small towns, from rural areas, from Native American reservations and territories. They are all here with their minds "stayed on justice," all yearning to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and ensure that their children can make mud pies in their backyards without fear of exposure to toxic contamination. They are standing in solidarity with workers who labor in sweatshops and modern-day plantations for non-livable wages, only to be exposed to environmental and occupational hazards. They are a beautiful collection of freedom fighters and justice seekers, and they are here to celebrate their progress and to reaffirm the role that grassroots organizations must play in leading the environmental justice movement.
The people gathered here have expressed over and over again the same sentiments that were aired at the first summit: "We must speak for ourselves," and "let the people who are affected by environmental racism and injustice make the key decisions." They speak from a position of strength and confidence, and they refuse to have their voices stifled or to have their movement co-opted by opportunists who are lining their pockets at the expense of people, their communities, and the grassroots organizations they form.
Yesterday's panel discussion on the role that mainstream green groups can play in building alliances with grassroots environmental justice organizations was quite interesting and thought-provoking. The green groups represented at the panel seemed to have made notable progress in the last 10 years in terms of having people of color on staff and on their boards of directors. They have even expanded their programmatic work to include environmental justice issues. And in many cases, they have created environmental justice programs. Yet it was clear that mainstream environmental groups still have a great deal to learn about collaboration with grassroots environmental justice organizations.
I have long recognized a few of the points that grassroots organizations emphasized to mainstream environmental groups during the panel discussion. These points include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Process is just as important as results;
- Collaborative work requires that decision-making be collective, not unilateral;
- Credit for victories must be shared;
- True collaboration includes collaborative fundraising; and
- Collaborative work includes all parties coming to the table as equal partners.
There has been some progress made in these areas, but there are many more miles to go before we sleep.
On a different note, my roommate at the summit is an amazing woman from Baton Rouge, La., where I spent part of my childhood. She got interested in the environmental justice movement through her work as a tenants' rights organizer in a public housing facility. Her initial concerns were not environmental justice per se, but rather quality of life and healthy and safe living conditions. She became a part of the movement 10 years ago, after an environmental justice organizer came to her community several times and exposed her to others who were organizing their communities around environmental justice issues.
We stayed up late last night to share our experiences and stories with one another. I am encouraged by the story of her struggle -- both its challenges and its triumphs. This is what drew me to the summit: the opportunity to be strengthened by stories of other oppressed people rising up to challenge racism, classism, globalization, and injustice of all sorts. I need to hear these stories to broaden the context of my organizing and increase my understanding of the issues. I need to hear these stories so that I might go back home and inspire hope in others. I need to hear these stories so that I can be a better agent of change. I need to hear these stories because the victories ahead for my community just might depend on them!
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