Environmental Justice...Discussion Forum Post #1

As I post things for the discussion forum in my environmental justice class, I plan to repost them here. Expect something weekly!

(It should also be noted that I just got back from another fabulous weekend in Boston in which we embarked on the subject of urban environmental history. This trip involved a visit with the city's archaeologist at a burial ground from the 1600s. It is currently located in the middle of Roxbury. It was once located at the base of a peninsula, surrounded in ocean water. WHAT?! Not knowing ANYTHING about Boston's history makes these classes so much more fun. Who knew that the "Back Bay" is actually a FILLED IN BAY?! When you run out of land, I guess society's solution is to just build more. I actually read in "Something New Under the Sun" that, in total, man has "made land" approximately equivalent to the land area of Spain. Why didn't I realize this happens...? Midwestern biases...?

Also, for my environmental history class, I am currently creating a poster and a paper on the history of the Chicago River, and conducting interviews to document the history of C3. Fun, fun, fun. I am such a nerd.)

This week's EJ post:

I spent some time this evening perusing the Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) website. While I am very impressed by their work and efforts, I also find myself feeling overwhelmed. This group is well-organized into subcommittees and smaller groups (e.g., youth leadership, transit justice, legal services, etc.), but the over-arching theme goes against my "focused take home message" nature. They state their mission as "[to build] the power of communities of color and lower income communities in New England to eradicate environmental racism and classism and achieve environmental justice." WOW. Talk about lofty goals. I find that any ONE of their initiatives probably justifies an organization unto itself, yet they seem to be tackling every issue simultaneously.

I think this is, personally, my greatest challenge in approaching "environmental justice issues." The problem is so massive and systemic...where do you begin and where do you end? To "eradicate environmental racism" requires change on so many levels, and many of them aren't even directly addressing environmental issues, but those of policy, education, health, etc. What I wonder is, by trying to tackle all of these issues at once, are organizations like ACE actually diluting their impact? Would they be better off focusing on one issue (e.g., transit justice) and making measurable progress in that arena? Or, by working with everything at the same time, are they building a cycle of change that perpetuates itself?

I realize that all of these issues eventually need to be addressed (you can't really break them apart from one another), but I think my confusion/concern arises in thinking about thematic messaging. After looking at ACE's website, I know they are an "environmental justice organization," but I'm not entirely sure what they focus on or why. For example, when you go the the "Take Action" part of their webpage, they are currently asking people to lobby for youth jobs. That is a VERY important aspect of keeping youth off of the streets and in positive environments...but how does it fit in with the rest of the work ACE is doing? Would ACE obtain youth employees through that funding? Is it an issue of concern identified by the community? How will citizen action in that realm help ACE reach its goals?

I will be interested in learning more about other EJ organizations and their role within communities. Do most organizations tackle it all in response to communities' needs and interests? Or do they recognize their limits and really key on the "most significant issue" in their communities? Hmm...