Loading...

Justice Across Movements: Women’s Rights—Social, Racial And Economic Equity

/Justice Across Movements: Women’s Rights—Social, Racial And Economic Equity

 

24 08, 2022

Why Keeping Girls in School is a Good Strategy to Cope with Climate Change

2023-01-25T12:31:55-05:00Tags: |

This article spotlights Tawonga Zakeyo, an activist from Malawi who works for the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED). Having completed high school, college, and a study abroad program, she now works to ensure that more girls can have the same opportunities to learn. Girls’ education is one of the most important solutions to pressing global issues, as it is correlated to lower rates of child marriage, increased economic empowerment, and more political and social agency. If all girls worldwide had access to voluntary family planning programs as well as universal education, it could reduce carbon emissions by up to 68.9 gigatons before 2050. Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by natural disasters, but their resilience increases when they have knowledge about everything from understanding weather reports to building more durable homes. Through CAMFED, Zakeyo has been able to support young women farmers to practice sustainable agriculture and understand the changing climate. She emphasizes the importance of educating girls so they can be agents of change. Photo Credit: Hellenah Khunga

18 07, 2022

Pride Month Is Over. Now What? Lessons From LGBTQIA+ Environmentalists To Keep With Us Throughout The Year.

2023-02-01T22:54:45-05:00Tags: |

This article includes lessons from queer environmentalists to inform advocacy for human rights and environmental justice beyond Pride Month. It provides perspectives on achieving equity and inclusion within the environmental organizing community. Just as a species is stronger when it has more genetic diversity, or an ecosystem is healthier when it is more biodiverse, the environmental movement is more impactful when it celebrates human diversity and promotes inclusion. Intersectional advocacy is crucial, given that the climate crisis is a social justice issue that impacts women and people of color first and foremost.This article illuminates a variety of ways to meaningfully and consistently contribute to climate action and LGBTQ+ rights. Photo Credit: JD Reinbott

27 06, 2022

Redefining Gender In The Amazon

2023-02-01T23:05:45-05:00Tags: |

This article shares the story of Uýra Sodoma, the spirit of Indigenous trans nonbinary artist and biologist Emerson Pontes (she/they). Uýra speaks through Pontes in order to highlight the importance of protecting the Brazilian Amazon. A new documentary, Uýra: The Rising Forest, shows Emerson’s journey driving collective and educational experiences that engage communities in environmental justice activism. She has faced challenges not only from the mass deforestation of the Amazon, but also from Brazil’s homophobic and transphobic government policies. However, they have continued to use performances to bridge the movements for conservation and LGBTQ+ rights. They emphasize that the concept of the gender binary is a concept imposed by colonizers, using drag to connect with nature and the queer community. Photo Credit: Uýra: The Rising Forest    

26 05, 2022

The War On My Homeland Offers A Real Chance To Save the Planet

2023-02-01T23:08:02-05:00Tags: |

This article, written by Ukrainian climate advocate and environmental lawyer Svitlana Romanko, discusses how ending Putin’s “fossil-fueled war” in Ukraine can motivate a faster transition to green energy. Emphasizing how the Russian invasion is made possible by coal, oil, and gas industries, Romanko calls upon the international community to ban the import of all fossil fuels from Russia as a first step towards a global switch to renewable energy. She views the ongoing war as a decisive point in history: a chance to either embrace green technologies or perpetuate the harmful status quo. She also cautions against simply replacing fossil fuels from Russia with the same product from other countries, as this would only accelerate the climate crisis and fossil-fueled wars in other regions such as the Middle East. Romanko calls out the American oil companies that have used the war in Ukraine to increase their production and profits. Framing fossil fuels as weapons of mass destruction, Romanko connects the movement for peace with the movement for climate justice. Photo credit: Olga Gordeeva

15 02, 2022

Let’s Honor Hazel Johnson’s Environmental Justice Legacy During Black History Month

2023-02-02T15:40:02-05:00Tags: |

Executive Director of People for Community Recovery, Cheryl Johnson, honors the legacy of her mother: Hazel Johnson. As an organizer in the south side of Chicago, Hazel raised awareness about inequities at the intersection of socioeconomic, environmental, and public health factors. She fought against environmental racism, housing discrimination, and toxic waste. After her husband died from lung cancer, she began noticing the high cancer rates in her neighborhood, and she exposed the connection between pollution and health problems through community advocacy. The 17 Principles of Environmental Justice she formulated continue to motivate action today. In this article, Johnson commemorates her mother’s accomplishments as an early leader of the environmental justice movement, while emphasizing the importance of women’s contributions to grassroots initiatives. She also discusses recent efforts to recognize Hazel Johnson, including three federal bills that propose celebrating every April as environmental justice month in her name, creating a memorial postage stamp, and posthumously giving her a Congressional Gold Medal. Photo Credit: People for Community Recovery

2 02, 2022

Permanently Organized Communities.

2023-02-02T16:25:03-05:00Tags: |

In this article Movement Generation founder, Michelle Mascarenhas, details why we need place-based permanently organized communities. Specifically now, the Covid-19 pandemic has offered opportunities to build the types of local systems our movements need, including but not limited to: shifting labor to mutuality and care, creating mutual aid networks, resourcing mutual aid funds, and working towards self-governance. Photo Credit: Brooke Anderson

28 01, 2022

The Young Activist Fighting To ‘Change the Faces of Power’

2023-02-01T23:10:09-05:00Tags: |

Ilona Duverge, a housing justice activist from New York City, experienced housing insecurity as a college student and is now a movement leader for systemic and electoral change. Low-income and public housing, especially in formerly redlined areas, can be inadequate in the winter due to lack of insulation and sufficient heating but dangerous in the summer given suffocating heat. This is exacerbated by the issue of climate change. Duverge has worked at the intersection of these issues, first volunteering with local campaigns and later becoming the deputy organizing director for U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign. She is also the founder of Movement School, which trains working class activists on how they can run for office, as well as a housing and legal fellow who helps tenants of public housing learn their rights. Duverge’s advocacy for the NYC Housing Authority to upgrade their housing with climate action and clean energy in mind inspired Ocasio-Cortez to introduce the Green New Deal for Housing, which would invest in sustainable housing upgrades and create green jobs. Duverge’s vision of the climate-economy link has sparked powerful action against poverty and environmental racism. Photo Credit: Ilona Duverge  

1 01, 2022

Dolores Huerta: Workers Must Unite To Take On Climate

2023-02-02T15:42:00-05:00Tags: |

Yessenia Funes, the climate director of Atmos, interviews labor activist Dolores Huerta on how her fight for justice promotes environmental justice. Huerta discusses ways to unite labor and climate action movements, emphasizing that we need to facilitate a just transition to green jobs so oil workers have alternate employment that pays adequately while being better for the environment. She outlines suggestions for pressuring Congress and local legislatures, expanding labor unions through legal support and movement-building, and supporting workers who are transitioning industries. Above all, Huerta believes that the focus should be on supporting candidates at all levels who will be advocates for environmentally just labor policies.  Photo Credit: Brandon Barela

5 11, 2021

Female Equality Is Key to A Sustainable Future

2022-05-14T16:44:54-04:00Tags: |

Since women across Asia and Africa are often responsible for supplying their households with water, food and fuel, the path towards a sustainable world requires, in part, full gender equality. But the effects of climate change, in conjunction with natural disasters, make women’s lives that much harder. For instance, when Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, a result was the increased sexual exploitation of women and girls. After Hurricane Katrina struck the United States, violence against women increased by a factor of four in Mississippi and remained high years later. Women are however continuing to pursue the ideal of a sustainable world. In Kenya, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai initiated a massive tree-planting effort that became known as the Greenbelt Movement. More than 5,000 village women in Andra Pradesh, working with the Deccan Development Society, transitioned to organic farming, greatly reducing the carbon impact of agriculture. It is clear that empowering women is key to tackling climate change. Photo credit: Adam Jones

13 09, 2021

Stop Ignoring Mothering As Work

2023-02-02T16:26:11-05:00Tags: |

Writer Kimberly Seals Allers believes a major part of feminism is celebrating women as a whole, with mothering as a central and unique role that should be highly valued in society. Allers explores the alarming gender inequities ingrained in social and financial systems in the United States based on the undervaluation of maternal work alongside secular work which impacts women at all levels. She advocates for women to be honored and supported across society for their specific contributions as mothers, nurturers, educators, and other roles that extend far beyond the patriarchal confines of the ability to compete with men in professional roles. Photo credit: 10’000 Hours/Getting Images

13 09, 2021

Eat Your Ethics: Rallying For Food Justice In Supply Chains With Lauren Ornelas

2021-12-13T21:26:52-05:00Tags: |

In this episode of the Amplify Podcast, host Sanchi Singh speaks with food justice activist Lauren Ornelas. Founder of the food justice nonprofit, Food Empowerment Project, Ornelas discusses her path to activism, whiteness in the veganism movement, and the ways in which COVID19 has greatly impacted food labor. Singh and Ornelas discuss the specific impacts of COVID19 food system disruptions in relation to low-income communities in both India and the United States. Video Credit: Amplify Podcast

1 09, 2021

Aurora Castillo Activates East Lost Angeles Mothers For Social And Environmental Justice

2022-05-14T17:06:13-04:00Tags: |

Aurora  Castillo is a Mexican-American activist and one of the founders of The Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA). With organized action, she was able to stop the eighth prison of the East L.A. from being built, stop an oil pipeline from running through her community, stop a toxic waste incinerator that was being planned for the East L.A. city of Vernon, and  stop a hazardous waste treatment plant close to a high school. With MELA and her activism, companies were brought to justice, environmental responsibility encouraged and others grassroots groups were helped by a series of important legal precedents. Photo credit: Goldman Environmental Prize.

17 07, 2021

The Rebirth Of The Food Sovereignty Movement

2021-07-17T18:50:51-04:00Tags: |

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a wave of backyard food planting and production. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of their local and regional food systems, and are taking initiative to support local food sovereignty projects. Doria Robinson of the urban farming project, Urban Tilth, describes the importance of CSAs in this time. Debbie Harris of Urban Adamah in Berkeley, California, points out the vital sense community urban farms create and nurture throughout times of hardship. Food sovereignty activists hope the push for local and equitable food systems continue after the end of the global pandemic. Photo Credit: Wendy Becktold

17 07, 2021

Local Indigenous People Gather To Bring Back Food Sovereignty

2021-07-17T18:33:58-04:00Tags: |

In a recent screening of the documentary “Gather,” a film recounting Indigenous food sovereignty initiatives, members of the Narragansett and Wampanoag tribes described their own local food sovereignty struggles. Hosted by Rhode Island’s first food gleaning project, Hope Harvest Rhode Island, the event featured Narragansett-Niantic speaker Lorèn Spears, the executive director of the Tomaquag Museum. Alongside other tribal members, Spears emphasized the radical power of food sovereignty initiatives to resist oppression by the dominant society through the reclamation of intergenerational Indigenous knowledge. Photo Credit: Gather

6 07, 2021

Don’t Ignore the One Group That Can Make Climate Action Happen

2021-07-06T18:30:57-04:00Tags: |

The El Niño cycle is a global climate cycle that occurs every three to seven years with varying intensity. During 2016, this cycle was especially strong and, in combination with climate change, led to widespread drought and hunger for many states in Southern Africa. Women were particularly impacted. This was because they were forced to spend more time gathering scarce water as well as eat less themselves in order to prioritize the nutritional needs of men and children. Increased sex work and child marriages were also a result. And while Southern Africa is now on its way to recovery, building future resilience to climate change means addressing the special vulnerabilities of women as well as prioritizing their leadership. Photo credit: Ish Mafundikwa/IRIN  

6 07, 2021

A Call To Attention Liberation: To Build Abundant Justice, Let’s Focus On What Matters

2021-07-06T17:43:25-04:00Tags: |

Writer, speaker, and social justice advocate Adrienne Maree Brown discusses the power presence and attention as a force for change based on what individuals or groups choose to focus their limited energy on. She explores intentional mindset practices and group efforts that impact social justice work, including the concept of “principled struggle” that brings people closer together by fostering respectful conflict that is generative by nature. Brown also highlights “critical construction” as a key practice of co-creating thoughtful plans that build off of ideas from various perspectives provided within a coalition or group. These practices seek to reach beyond the pervasive mindset of scarcity that often dominates capitalist society to allow for collaborative, holistic methods to approach the fight for justice. Photo credit: Jeff Swensen / Getty Images

6 07, 2021

Women’s Voices Must Not Be Ignored in Business and Human Rights Talks

2021-07-06T17:22:42-04:00Tags: |

The article highlights the strong links between large corporations’ increasing hunger for land and resources in the global south and the violation of women’s rights. In recent years, there has been a surge in land-intensive transnational mining and agri-business projects. Oftentimes, they go hand in hand with forced evictions, loss of livelihoods and environmental degradation. Pre-existing gender discrimination exacerbates the impacts on women, as they are traditionally responsible for the provision of care, food and water and are oftentimes excluded from decision-making processes. Ambitious actions are needed from corporations, states and international bodies such as the UN in order to ensure human rights along global supply chains. Photo credit: Sarah Waiswa/Womankind Worldwide

6 07, 2021

Intersectionality: A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice

2021-07-06T17:19:22-04:00Tags: |

Intersectionality is an analytical tool for studying, understanding and responding to the ways in which gender intersects with other identities and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of oppression and privilege. It also helps in understanding how different identities impact on access to rights and opportunities and also links the grounds of discrimination (e.g. race, gender, etc.) to the social, economic, political and legal environment that contributes to discrimination. Most importantly, it highlights how globalization and economic change are impacting different people in different ways.

6 07, 2021

Women in the Water Sector: Working Together for the Future

2021-07-06T14:57:10-04:00Tags: |

Studies show that there is a lack of women working in the water sector, which includes a lack of women leaders. Specifically, less than twenty percent of water workers are women in the United States. But the water organizations that include female leadership tend to benefit—whether women are included in sustainability, community engagement or economic development roles. Keisha Brown, one such leader, has had extensive experience working in community-based partnerships to improve water quality while remaining accountable to the local communities the work is enacted in. According to her, the lens of social justice must be applied to the infrastructure industry and the impacts of infrastructure on people’s well-being should be carefully assessed. Photo Credit: Storm Water Solutions

13 04, 2021

Women Speak Out Against Criminalization Of Land Defenders, Water Protectors

2021-04-13T17:28:07-04:00Tags: |

This article highlights the issue of unjust criminalisation and disproportionate state violence against indigenous women water and land protectors. While indigenous people constitute about 4% of Canada’s population, they represent 27% of the incarcerated population in 2018. According to the Canada’s Correctional Investigator Indigenous, women constituted 37% of all women behind bars and 50% of all maximum security inmates in 2017. Mi’kmaw lawyer and academic Pam Palmater evokes the targeting and criminalisation of Indigenous women by Canadian state authorities as historically rooted in a colonising strategy, since they bear children who will carry on the culture and language of their nations. Pamela says that indigenous women’s perseverance and leadership should not be lost in the conversation and concludes that ‘even though Indigenous women have always been targeted, both in the law directly and indirectly, they continue to stand up for the land and for their children despite knowing what’s coming’. Photo Credit: Amber Bernard/APTN

9 04, 2021

Women’s Environmental Network – Environmental Justice Through Feminist Principles

2021-04-09T13:34:58-04:00Tags: |

The Women’s Environmental Network is a UK organisation working to make links between women health, wellbeing and environmental issues; and by broadening the latter’s scope to include menstrual health, real nappies and breast cancer. The aims are to raise awareness of the gender implication of climate change; promote environmental justice through feminist principles and gender equality; and involve and empower women in climate change decisions and solutions on the ground. Hence, WEN thinks globally and acts locally by sharing knowledge, resources and seeds through community organisation, events, training and grassroots projects in East London. Featured in this video are WEN co-director Kate Metcalf and former co-director Connie Hunter; as well as project participants such as Mina (“we help each other”); Silam (“this had helped me be more conscious about our environment”); Laura (“it has helped me be a happier person”); and Gubsie “it changes people, it makes such a difference”). Video Credit: WEN

9 04, 2021

4 Activists Explain Why Migrant Justice Is Climate Justice

2021-04-09T13:30:03-04:00Tags: |

With a surge in international migration in response to the climate crisis, it is imperative to recognize the intersection of Earth and migrant justice. Explore the links with young female activists Maya Menezes, Nayeli Jimenez, Niria Alicia, and Thanu Yakupitiyage. From COP25, to saving seeds, to taking on border imperialism, these activists are moving forward with solutions by acknowledging the relationship of climate and migration. Photo Credit: Getty Images

16 02, 2021

Get To The Bricks: The Experiences Of Black Women Foom New Orleans Public Housing After Hurricane Katrina

2021-02-16T20:43:53-05:00Tags: |

The report explores the experiences of almost 200 black women who were living in “The Big Four”- four large housing projects within the city of New Orleans - when Hurricane Katrina made landfall in 2005. They were displaced from their prior homes due to the hurricane and the closure and demolition of the public housing units. This case shows that the experiences of black women in public housing were not taken into consideration when developing a plan for post-Katrina recovery. U.S. policies were implemented in a manner that took away opportunities, supports, and infrastructures from low-income women and their families most in need of a reliable safety net as they sought to recover from a catastrophic set of disasters and endure the Great Recession. Including the various experiences and voices of these women in the policy discussion going forward will ensure that future disasters do not perpetuate the marginalization of the most disadvantaged members of our communities.

23 12, 2020

Going Viral

2023-02-02T16:00:47-05:00Tags: |

Environmental activist Leah Thomas discusses her experience going viral in May of 2020, when she posted on Instagram calling for solidarity between the environmental movement and Black Lives Matter. Her graphic outlined a vision of “Intersectional Environmentalism” – an approach to advocacy that centers people as well as the planet, acting upon the interconnectedness of injustice and confronting social inequity. Thomas reflects upon the post’s rapid virality and the power that social media has to build movements and motivate collective action. She emphasizes the potential for social media-driven knowledge and empowerment, while showing the power that individuals have to inspire change. Photo Credit: Cher Martinez

20 11, 2020

Portraying Women Leadership in Water Cooperation

2020-11-20T17:59:52-05:00Tags: |

Women For Water has compiled the audio- visuals of eight women who are conserving the water all over the world. These women Nomvula Mokonyane, Svitlana Slesarenok, Ursula Schaefer-Preuss, Rose Makunzo Mwangi, Ethne Davey, Dr. Deepthi Wickramasinghe, Patricia Wouters and Salamatu Garba. They have been bringing the best practices of women empowerment in water and sanitation projects and effective water governance at all levels.

9 09, 2020

Wildfire Smoke Threatens Air Quality Across The West

2020-09-09T22:13:58-04:00Tags: |

In this article, Bonnie Holmes-Gen, chief of the health and exposure assessment branch in the research division of the California Air Resources Board shares the links between health problems and wildfire smoke. During the COVID-19 pandemic, unhealthy air quality is a serious public health emergency. This summer, as California’s coronavirus cases continue to surge and the state struggles to implement safety measures, wildfire season is worsening air quality, complicating evacuation plans, perpetuating unjust impacts on Black, Brown, and Native communities, and further endanger those already at greatest risk of COVID-19.    

8 09, 2020

California Wildfires: Intersecting Crises & How To Respond

2020-09-09T22:23:23-04:00Tags: |

During a public health crisis centered around a respiratory disease, the last thing we need is more pollution that worsens respiratory problems and deepens already disproportionately higher risks of COVID-19 for Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities. While getting real about the root issues is urgently important, millions of Californians are being forced to deal with the immediate task of safety and survival. Greenpeace created a California Wildfire Crisis Emergency Response Guide to help communities stay safe and healthy during these uncertain times. Photo Credit: David McNew / Greenpeace

8 09, 2020

Solar Power Helps To Save The Lives of Mothers and Infants

2020-12-02T21:51:05-05:00Tags: |

Pregnant women in Kenya are at a high risk of maternal and infant mortality due to a lack of access to hospital care. Power outages in hospitals affect vaccine storage and prevent usage of the necessary technology to resuscitate newborns and provide other life-saving care that is tied to the grid. The Maternal and Newborn Improvement Project installed solar panels on 33 health care facilities to serve as backup power. Nurse Emily Wamalwa, in Bungoma County, is now able to use solar energy when the power goes out to keep incubators and fridges running, saving the lives of babies and mothers.  Photo Credit: Video Capture

3 09, 2020

What Should We Know About Wildfires In California

2020-09-09T22:57:12-04:00Tags: |

This Greenpeace article lists trends impacting the occurrence of both forest and wildland fires today and solutions to those trends. The climate crisis is fueling extreme weather events, including an exceptionally dry winter and record-breaking heat waves which leave more dried up wildland vegetation to kindle the fires.  Despite this, the Trump Administration and the logging industry regularly use wildfires as opportunities to make the case for more logging under the guise of fuels reduction and fire prevention. Photo Credit: 2016 Erskine Fire in Central California, © US Forest Service

24 08, 2020

Women Are More At Risk Due To The Pandemic And Climate Crisis. These Feminists Are Working To Change That.

2020-09-24T19:33:05-04:00Tags: |

Women activists around the world are standing up. To challenge the ways in which the global pandemic and climate change exacerbate inequalities, five young women share their stories about the intersections of environmental and social justice. Journey with Betty Barkha (Fiji), Meera Ghani (Pakistan), Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim (Chad), Maggie H. Mapondera (Zimbabwe), and Majandra Rodriguez Acha (Peru) to learn about their work and the ways that they are engaging in their local communities.

7 08, 2020

Strengthening Indigenous Rights And Leadership In The Face Of Global Challenges – COVID-19, Climate Change And Environmental Degradation

2020-09-18T18:00:21-04:00Tags: |

A global representation of indigenous peoples organizations along with the International Union for Conservation of Nature are working to address climate change through increased partnership and shared leadership. Ahead of the World Conservation Congress in January of 2021 the IUCN is making the decision to increase indigenous leadership positions and define key proposals around indigenous roles, rights and relationship to the environment. The IUCN is also calling for support from member states in indigenous stewardship of their lands, territories and seas especially by indigenous women. A new document produced through this collaboration aims to draw attention to solutions and challenges faced by indigenous peoples around Covid-19. Through increased sharing of proposals and techniques there is growing hope for indigenous resilience and the protection of their way of life under increasing threat from the pandemic along with the long-term challenges of climate change and environmental degradation. Photo credit: Asociacion Ak’Tenamit

10 07, 2020

Water Protectors Celebrate As Dakota Access Pipeline Ordered To Shut Down

2020-10-10T19:55:28-04:00Tags: |

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, an elder of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder of Sacred Stone Camp and Tara Houska, Ojibwe lawyer and founder of the Giniw Collective are interviewed by reporter Amy Goodman after the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is ordered to shut down by August 5, 2020. LaDonna Brave Bull Allard has opened her home in North Dakota to supporters from the beginning of the resistance in order to protect sacred sites, water sources, and the health of her community members. She has joined forces with Indigenous leaders and water protectors from around the world, many of whom have faced similar harms from extractive industry. Tara Houska asserts that the shutdown of this massive pipeline sends a critical message to the fossil fuel industry that these dangerous projects will not be tolerated and that a regenerative green economy is non-negotiable. Photo credit: Democracy Now! (video screenshot)

9 06, 2020

Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change

2023-02-02T16:20:34-05:00Tags: |

Elizabeth Yeampierre, the co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance, is an activist driving climate action that addresses racial and economic inequalities. In this interview, Yeampierre explains the direct link between the historic exploitation of people of color in the United States and the destruction of land and natural resources. She connects legacies of slavery and colonization to persistent environmental injustices, from the environmental health hazards that disproportionately affect Black communities to the devastating impacts of extreme weather on areas that have faced historic neglect and racism. Through examples of local-scale efforts in New York City and beyond, Yeampierre illuminates the importance of a just transition to renewable energy through actionable steps that center those most impacted by climate change. Photo Credit: David Goldman/AP Photos

29 05, 2020

Gardens Have Pulled America Out Of Some Of Its Darkest Times. We Need Another Revival

2021-02-16T20:31:45-05:00Tags: |

As the COVID-19 pandemic ravages the United States’ economy, issues of food security have been magnified. Consequently, the importance of local gardens have been emphasized. From Victory Gardens during the first and second world war, to the emergence of urban vegetable gardens throughout US cities in the 1970s and 1980s, the United States has a rich history of local gardening initiatives. The pandemic has forced Americans to re-evaluate the many way local gardens benefit a community. In Richmond, California, Doria Robinson of Urban Tilth provides 227 families with weekly CSA vegetable shares. Serving low-income residents in a city with only one grocery store per 100,000 residents, Robinson’s work at Urban Tilth makes a great difference in the local community, especially in light of COVID-19. Photo Credit: Karen Washington 

13 03, 2020

In Fiji, Lesbian Feminist Activist Noelene Nabulivou Strives For World ‘Liberated And Free’

2020-10-23T22:35:24-04:00Tags: |

Diverse Voices and Action for Equality (DIVA) was co-founded by Noelene Nabulivou with the aim to create an all inclusive peer support group of LGBT+ individuals and marginalized women in Fiji. The group gives a voice to all individuals who are victims to the widespread patriarchal power structures and homophobic attitudes in Fiji. Their work mainly focuses on activism, advocacy, policy and feminist knowledge sharing that targets all communities, but prioritises informal settlements, and women from rural and remote areas.  DIVA For Equality strongly advocates across genders and intersectional fields by tackling the interlink of LGBT+ and women rights with economic, ecological and climate justice. Having worked alongside regional and international organizations, DIVA for Equality aims to be an all inclusive voice in the global climate debate. Notably, the group initiated the regional coalition of ‘Pacific Partnerships on Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development’, which now has more than 50 island nations involved. Photo Credit: Reuters 

13 03, 2020

The Only Treatment for Coronavirus Is Solidarity

2020-03-22T21:52:47-04:00Tags: |

The pandemic, COVID-19, reveals a class system, where only the wealthy have the power to withdraw or shelter in place. Whereas, someone who lives paycheck to paycheck must continue to hustle every day to find work. This places poor people in a position between risking their health and economic survival. There is no choice but to make that choice. As long as this is true, the number of carriers will continue to grow. The only option is solidarity. Every country needs every other country to have an economy focused on health and social well-being. The coronavirus makes the slogan of solidarity literal: an injury to one is an injury to all. Photo Credit: Joseph Prezioso / AFP via Getty

3 07, 2019

Nurdle by Nurdle, Citizens Took on A Billion-Dollar Plastic Company — and Won

2020-11-20T17:34:49-05:00Tags: |

A federal judge recently ruled that Formosa Plastics, a petrochemical company outside Port Lavaca, Texas, can be held liable for violating state and federal water pollution laws. The company could face a penalty of up to $162 million. Thanks to data collected by resident volunteers, the nonprofit San Antonio Bay Estuarine Waterkeeper brought a lawsuit against the company in 2017. According to the lawsuit, the company violated its environmental permits for years, dumping millions of small plastic pellets - called nurdles - into Lavaca Bay. Among the volunteers is Diane Wilson, a retired shrimper who has been trying to get Formosa to stop dumping in the bay since the early ’90s. Since the trial started, pollution levels haven’t changed, so she keeps gathering evidence with her kayak. Giving up is not an option for her. Photo credit: Wikimedia

11 06, 2019

4 Activists Explain Why Migrant Justice Is Climate Justice

2020-12-02T20:13:50-05:00Tags: |

The four climate justice advocates Maya Menezes, Nayeli Jimenez, Niria Alicia and Thanu Yakupitiyage share their perspectives on the strong connections between the climate crisis and issues of migration and asylum. Drawing from different examples and experiences, they make a strong case to address the climate crisis in the broader framework of anti-capitalist and anti-colonial struggles and to stand in solidarity with movements to protect the rights of indigenous people, migrants and asylum seekers. Photo Credits: Getty Images

16 05, 2019

These Five Black LGBTQ+ Activists Are Literally Saving The Planet

2020-11-07T17:58:13-05:00Tags: |

Explore what the environmental justice movement looks like led by those most impacted. Meet 5 Black LGBTQ+ community organizers and activists Asha Carter (she/her), Dominique Hazzard (she/her), Dean Jackson (they/them), Jeaninne Kayembe (she/her,they/them), and  Rachel Stevens (she/her,they/them). Follow their stories of activism to learn how creative and impactful movements within their communities have responded to healing environmental racism. Photo Credit: Asha Carter

13 04, 2019

GirlTrek: When Black Women Walk, Things Change

2019-04-13T16:36:26-04:00Tags: |

Morgan Dixon is the co-founder of ‘GirlTrek’, a national help organization addressing the disproportionate effects of the current health crisis in African American women. Starting with 530 women in their first year, the organization has since grown to about 100,000 African American women who walk together every day. Together the women of ‘GirlTrek’ not only boost their own physical health, they also improve the health of their families and communities while reshaping the narrative around health for women of color. Video Credit: National Sierra Club

10 04, 2019

Ensuring Women’s Land Rights In Nigeria Can Mitigate Effects Of Climate Change

2020-10-05T17:02:40-04:00Tags: |

Africans and women will be some of the main groups hit the hardest by climate change, and it is becoming increasingly more important to protect women’s land in Nigeria to help mitigate these effects. Women are responsible for 70% to 80% of all agricultural labor in Nigeria, but only 10 percent of land owners in Nigeria are women. This is partly due to the customary laws and property ownership, which makes it extremely hard for women to inherit land. With decreasing amounts of arable land coupled with continued population growth in Nigeria, 70% of Africans who rely on the land are at risk as climate change worsens. Those affected the most in are the women who perform the majority of agricultural labor and have more intimate relationships with the land. Empowering women to own the land where they work will improve Nigerian communities’ climate resiliency, creating a more sustainable relationship between humans and the environment. Photo credit: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

9 04, 2019

What The Queer Community Brings To The Fight For Climate justice

2020-11-07T17:54:21-05:00Tags: |

To ensure the success of the climate justice movement is to ensure the liberation of Queer Communities. As we move forward in healing the climate crisis, the interconnectedness of Queer and Trans Communities with the Climate Jutsice movement must be realized. Many LGBTQ+ activists are lifting up the environmental movement with resilience and innovation while also participating in the divest movement and bringing equity policies to environmental organizations. Photo Credit: Dylan Comstock

4 04, 2019

How A Female Fast Food Worker Became An Activist

2020-11-20T17:32:47-05:00Tags: |

Shantel Walker is a manager within the fast food industry and an organizer for proper living wages in NYC. After working over two decades at Papa John’s Pizza where Walker was paid a minimum wage of $7.50, Walker started working with organizations such as the Fight for $15, and Fast Food Forward campaigns to champion the 3.7 million Americans working in Fast Food. Walkers advocacy also addresses the disparities in healthcare coverage, workplace and scheduling policies. Photo Credit: Alex Swerdloff

12 03, 2019

The Untold Story Of Women In The Zapatistas

2019-04-13T16:02:00-04:00Tags: |

Victoria Law is a journalist who spent 6 years with the Zapatista movement in Southern Mexico and published Compañeras: Zapatista Women’s Stories. She gives an overview of the Zapatistas, the influence women have in the movement and the impact the movement has had on their lives. The Zapatistas began organizing in the 80s and declared war on the state of Mexico in 1994, on the exact day the NATO the free trade agreement began.  Since then the movement is renowned for the peaceful protests, indigenous organization, and their autonomy. Women have played a key role in the Zapatista communities accomplishing a drastic reduction of violence against women, the prohibition of alcohol (connected to abuse), the freedom to participate and lead in politics, and autonomy over their lives. Victoria sheds light to many things that can be learned from the organization of the Zapatistas and the key role that women continue to play in their liberation and in the liberation of their people. Photo Credit: Mr. Thelkan

8 03, 2019

The Women Refusing To Let Palestine’s Farming Roots Die

2020-10-10T20:18:03-04:00Tags: |

The Palestinian Heirloom Library, in its efforts supporting a Palestinian agricultural scene, stands not only as an act of resistance to Israeli occupation but as a source of cultural tradition and hope in amongst climate change impacts and agribusiness take-over’s. The brainchild of Vivien Sansour, the Heirloom Library was inspired into creation by stories of the succulent watermelon Jadu’I that used to flourish in Jenin. The melon, once a significant cornerstone in the daily lives of Palestinians, suffered (as did much of Palestinian agriculture) after the Israeli occupation. The goal of the Library aims to preserve ancient seed types as well as traditional agricultural practices and revive the heirloom varieties in the fields of the farmers. The Art and Seeds space showcases indigenous seeds and serves to teach the public about long-standing Palestinian farming practices. Photo credit: Vivien Sansour.

28 02, 2019

Osprey Orielle Lake: Women Rising For The Earth

2020-04-24T16:36:50-04:00Tags: |

In this article, Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) executive director Osprey Orielle Lake reflects on the broad and interwoven relationship between women and climate change. Citing activists such as Phyllis Young and Dr. Vandana Shiva, Lake connects the experience of each activist to global climate justice trends and movements. Lake also discusses the climate crisis as it is linked to systems of oppression and patterns of abuse against women and nature. While they are among the most vulnerable populations affected by climate chaos, women also offer the most hope for the future. Photo Credit: Emily Arasim/WECAN

21 02, 2019

Afro-Ecuadorian Women As Carriers And Purveyors Of Traditional Medicine

2020-04-24T16:31:04-04:00Tags: |

Women in Afro-Ecuadorian communities are uniquely and historically responsible for traditional medical practices. Like Indigenous Ecuadorians, Afro-Ecuadorians have made the rich botanical resources of Equator the foundation of their medicinal treatments. Traditional medicines are often coupled with healing practices such as singing songs and saying prayers for spiritual ailments as well. However, women practicing Afro-Ecuadorian medicine are now facing threats to their traditional practices due to restrictive policies that label ancestral medicine as “alternative” and from increased pesticide use, and cheaper western healthcare services. Photo Credit: Raul Ceballos

28 01, 2019

How Three Black Women Use Food As Tools For Resistance

2019-04-13T16:33:22-04:00Tags: |

Monifa Dayo, Carrie Y.T. Kholi, and Binta Ayofemi are three women using food as a vehicle for social change. They are amongst a host of Black women exiting from the restaurant industry after experiencing racism and sexism in the workplace. Monifa Dayo runs her own supper club while consciously incorporating social justice into her business model. Similarly, Carrie Y.T. Kohli’s ‘Hella Black Brunch’ brings people together around food and the African diaspora experience. Binta Ayofemi’s ‘Soul Oakland’ focuses on Black urban sustenance and restoration. Each woman views herown work as a form of resistance to the current political climate, and seeks to inspire communities of color in doing so. Photo credit: Richard Lomibao

16 01, 2019

The Women Fighting A Pipeline That Could Destroy Precious Wildlife

2020-10-05T16:36:38-04:00Tags: |

In Louisiana, the indigenous-led resistance camp “L’Eau est la Vie” fights to put a stop to the construction of the Bayou Bridge pipeline, which is planned to connect the Dakota Access pipeline to a refinery in St. James. The region is known for its swamplands that offer a vast biodiversity, but also has a long history of forced evictions and environmental injustice ever since oil was discovered below a lake. To this day, the water protectors face intimidation tactics and in some cases acts of physical violence in response to their activism. Photo credit: Joe Whittle/The Guardian

21 12, 2018

Overfishing Threatens Malawi’s Blue Economy

2020-10-05T17:08:23-04:00Tags: |

Despite once providing bustling profits for fishing families, Lake Malawi — one of Africa’s largest lakes — suffers from overfishing and women in Malawi are feeling the brunt of this. The fishing industry employs close to 300,000 Malawi workers and fishers, but fish are no longer being found in abundance. Stiff competition from fishermen is drastically depleting fish levels. The fish that are now being found are smaller and priced higher, reducing the profitability of a market that used to flourish in the past. Women who used to buy fish cheaply and trade it for more, are then forced to buy from fishermen, who have also been pushed out of business, at increased prices. Moreover, they are no longer able to provide local fish as a cheap protein to their families because overfishing has left women under tight restraint. Thankfully successful community efforts have been rallied around creating bylaws that would close down the lake for a temporary amount of time to promote lake health. And it appears these laws put in place were working — a man was hit with a hefty fine for fishing on the lake when it was close. Photo credit: Mabvuto Banda

4 12, 2018

The Co-op That’s Keeping Community Money Out Of Big Banks

2023-02-02T16:02:50-05:00Tags: |

Me’Lea Connelly is the founder of Blexit, a nonprofit that facilitates boycotts of extractive financial systems that have profited from exploiting Black communities. She also developed the Village Financial Cooperative, a Black-owned credit union that specializes in “regenerative finance,” which gives marginalized groups access to and control of capital. Connelly was inspired by her experiences living in Minnesota, which is the second-most racially unequal state in the United States. She aims to address the economic inequities that have resulted from oppression and help families accumulate generational wealth. The Village Financial Cooperative collaborates with other organizations including the Climate Justice Alliance for its justice-oriented financial services. It also aims to improve financial literacy in Black communities. Photo Credit: N/A

20 11, 2018

The White Man Stole The Weather

2020-11-20T17:21:30-05:00Tags: |

In this Mothers of Invention podcast, former Irish president Mary Robinson and New-York-based Irish-born comedian Maeve Higgins focus on money and climate change. This episode specifically addresses climate change as a human rights, justice and climate issue; and highlights the importance of divesting from the carbon economy to invest into renewable energy, the green economy and jobs of the future. Divestment, from fossil fuel, pipelines, oppressive systems etc. is powerful and effective as ‘it speaks to people’s pockets’. The podcast features female activists’ experiences and campaigns from South Africa and the US. Yvette Abrahams is a former apartheid activist and Commission for Gender Equality. May Boeve is an an American environmental activist, organiser and Executive Director of 350.org, a global grassroots climate movement. Tara Houska is a Couchiching First Nation citizen; a tribal rights US attorney, environmental and indigenous rights advocate, and the National Campaigns Director of Honor the Earth. Photo Credit: Unknown

18 10, 2018

Climate Displacement Pushes Girls Into Prostitution

2020-12-02T20:17:41-05:00Tags: |

Bangladesh is very susceptible to climate change due to the country’s low elevation, high population density and inadequate infrastructure. As extreme weather conditions are being exacerbated by climate change, the people of Bangladesh are being displaced out of their homes. Most climate migration occurs to the capital, Dhaka, where they find themselves living in peripheral urban slums characterized by inadequate housing conditions, overcrowding and poor sanitation. The women of Bangladesh are among the first to face the impacts of climate change, and they are disproportionately affected. Women account for the vast majority of mortality as a result of natural disasters, for example, 90% of those who died as a result of the 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone were women. The inordinate impact is driven by women’s impaired access to land and resources, lower employment opportunities and decision-making compared to men. Moreover, women who migrate are often pushed to join the sex industry as it is one of the few ways they are able to support their families. Photo Credit: Reuters

18 10, 2018

Why A Farmworker’s Daughter Interrupted Governor Brown At The Global Climate Action Summit

2019-04-13T16:39:10-04:00Tags: |

At the 2018 Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco California, Niria Alicia stood up and sang out in protest to Governor Jerry Brown’s refusal to take action against oil and gas companies. In this piece, Niria describes why she joined eight other young people in singing the Women’s Warrior Song as an act of resistance at the summit. Niria sites her own identity as an Indigenous woman, and daughter of a farmworker to poignantly explain the consequences of fossil fuel divestment. Photo credit: Niria Alicia

16 10, 2018

Gender Equality In The Cocoa Trade: Two Female Farmers From Cote d’Ivoire Readdress The Balance

2020-10-06T23:33:28-04:00Tags: |

Aminata Bamba and Traore Awa are two women leading the charge on gender equality in the cocoa industry in Western Africa. Both with senior positions in their cocoa cooperatives, Ecookim and CAYAT cocoa cooperative respectively, and having returned from a Fairtrade Conference, they defy the traditional gender roles prevalent in their country and help lift the taboo on women leadership. In a community where unpaid labour often mean that women working throughout the production chain are often not recognised and gender expectations result in a male-dominated industry, the Fairtrade Women’s School of Leadership is working to empower women to take the lead and has trained 413 women in Awa’s community. Their program provides guidance and business support and last year’s conference tackled the future of trade and systemic issues in supply chains. Photo credit: Tony Myers.

15 10, 2018

Be The Hummingbird, Be The Bear

2020-12-15T21:40:17-05:00Tags: |

In this essay published in the Earth Island Journal, philosopher, writer and climate activist Kathleen Dean Moore calls to action the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, godmothers and all those who love the children. From her cabin in Alaska, she witnessed her a hummingbird saving her nestlings from a squirrel, and a bear saving her cub from wolves. She highlights the power of love, ferocity and responsibility of mothers and grandmothers protecting children and the planet against global warming and ecosystem collapse. She evokes grandmothers Annette Klapstein and her friend Emily Johnston, who shut off the flow of Canadian tar-sands oil by cutting the chain on an oil-pipeline valve in Minnesota. She relates the work of Leatra Harper and Jill Antares Hunker, mothers who devise strategies against fracking from their kitchen tables. This eloquent piece is illustrated by Lisa Vanin, whose work focuses on the magic and mystery of nature. Illustration Credit: Lisa Vanin

15 10, 2018

Women Authors Missing In IPCC Report

2020-10-13T20:32:35-04:00Tags: |

A new assessment report released last week (8 October) by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlighted the importance of raising the capacity of least developed countries (LDCs) and small island developing states (SIDS) in climate management and the special role of women as a group vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. According to a February 2018 study published in the PNAS, the proportion of female IPCC authors increased from less than five per cent in 1990, when the first report was published, to slightly more than 20 per cent in the more recent assessment reports. For instance, 75% perceived weak command of the English language as a barrier to participation, while 30% saw race as an obstacle. Chandni Singh, a climate change researcher from India and a lead author for the IPCC’s, has seen women face barriers to their participation, including overt discrimination and insufficient childcare facilities at meetings. Acknowledging the barriers women face, the scientific body decided in March to establish a gender task group, now being co-chaired by Patricia Nying'uro from Kenya and Markku Rummukainen from Sweden. Joy Pereira, a professor at the Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (SEADPRI-UKM) and a vice-chair of the IPCC’s Working Group 2, tells SciDev.Net that the scientific body should ask their hosts to ensure greater participation of women. Photo Credit: Chris Stowers/Panos

15 10, 2018

The Power of Rural Women To Reduce Global Food Insecurity And Cut Emissions

2020-11-20T17:58:24-05:00Tags: |

Santona Rani, President of the Rajpur Women’s Federation, is working to increase climate and community resilience in her flood-prone area of Tajpur, Lalmonirhat in northern Bangladesh. Climate change is increasing the detrimental effects on crops and productivity. Her organisation is made up of twenty groups that work to assist 500 vulnerable and marginalized women. It works alongside ActionAid’s Promoting Opportunities for Women Empowerment and Rights (POWER) to boost independence through sustainable agriculture that fosters climate resilience. They also work to address the unjust gender roles that exist within the society; aiming to increase income and recognise the amount of work women do, provide training around leadership, women’s rights, financial aspects, sustainable farming and communication skills, as well as endeavour to prevent violence against women. Their work is community based, and involves interactive theatre shows, informative leaflets, and a seed bank and grain store that protects against the damages of flooding or natural disasters. Photo credit: ActionAid.

5 10, 2018

Women In The US Food System Are Speaking Up About Domestic Abuse

2020-10-05T21:50:51-04:00Tags: |

From female farmers to female restaurant workers, women are consistently subject to sexual harassment at every level of the US Food System. Mostly depending on immigrant labor, the US Food System workforce is the lowest-paid and most exploited workforce in the country. The workers have little legal protections that are rarely enforced. For women, especially immigrant women, this means that sexual harrasment and unequal treatment on the basis of sex prevail. In recent years, initiatives such as the #MeToo movement, the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and the Fair Food Movement, support and encourage women to fight against the patriarchal oppression they face. Photo Credit: Donald Lee Pardue

3 10, 2018

Hamari Roti, Hamari Aazadi Our Bread, Our Freedom: Diverse Women Of The World Resolve To Defend Biological And Cultural Diversity, Through Non-violence, Love And Friendship

2020-11-07T17:26:57-05:00Tags: |

Women in India have re-initiated a movement called ‘Our Bread, Our Freedom’ (Hamari Roti, Hamari Azaadi), in efforts to counter the corporate food system driven by new East India Companies which has led to an epidemic of farmer suicides and varying health issues.  Diverse Women for Diversity aim to reveal the pseudo food safety regulations and fake knowledge surrounding nutritionally empty and toxic food. The movement builds alternatives to the monoculture of chemical farming and through bread, reclaim not only their freedom but also their historical and cultural knowledge in producing diverse foods. In Doon Valley on the 2nd of October 2018 women gathered from 25 regions in India to cook breads typical to their state, including roti from Uttarakhand, Sathuu from Bihar and rice flour chila from Chhatisgarh. They pledge to rejuvenate their local cultures, cleanse from within as well as keep clean their external environment, spread food and nutrition literacy, and build sustainable food economies grounded in social justice, non-violence, and love. Photo Credit: Unknown

2 10, 2018

Ouch! Yes, That Glass Ceiling Still Exists In The Environmental Movement

2023-02-02T16:08:36-05:00Tags: |

This op-ed by Zoe Loftus-Farren, the managing editor of Earth Island Journal, discusses the absence of women at the helm of environmental nonprofit organizations. Loftu-Farren argues that women, especially women of color, are at the frontlines of the climate crisis but often trapped behind glass ceilings in the environmental movement. Although women comprise over half the workforce in the field, they are underrepresented in key decision-making roles and often passed over for promotions. By presenting statistics along with observations from her own experiences in nonprofit work, Loftus-Farren makes the case that the environmental movement must undergo reforms related to board selection, employee retention efforts, and policies for equity and inclusion. She also emphasizes the tangible and intangible benefits of women’s leadership in the workplace.

2 10, 2018

Women Rising For The Earth

2023-02-02T15:44:37-05:00Tags: |

Across the world, women are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. They comprise 80 percent of global climate refugees, face sexual violence from fossil fuel and mining workers, and are often attacked for speaking out about environmental injustice. At the same time, women bring critical contributions and perspectives to our societies. They are more likely to lead on climate and social policy, shape environmentally-conscious industries, and dictate sustainable consumer preferences. Marginalized women are at the helm of the climate movement, particularly Indigenous land defenders and Black women impacted by environmental racism, natural disasters, and fossil fuel expansion. This article explores the interconnectedness of gender, race, and climate, making the case for intersectional action to dismantle patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism. It also emphasizes the importance of women’s spiritual and emotional intelligence when dealing with global crises. Photo credit: Emily Arasim/Women's Earth and Climate Action Network

28 09, 2018

Olympia Auset Is Tackling Systemic Racism, One Vegetable At A Time

2020-10-10T19:27:42-04:00Tags: |

Olympia Auset is the founder of SÜPERMARKT, a low cost, organic pop-up grocery store which is addressing food inequality in southern Los Angeles. Auset sees food as a tool for liberation and seeks to free her own community from identifying as a food desert where people statistically live 10 years less than wealthier white communities. This reality steams from a history of white flight after slavery became illegal. Auset’s SUPERMARKT  is changing the local narrative and has plans to expand given her success and demand. Her model is also being replicated in food deserts across the country. Photo Credit: Sara Harrison

28 09, 2018

Olympia Auset is Tackling Systemic Racism, One Vegetable at a Time

2023-02-02T16:18:00-05:00Tags: |

Olympia Auset is the founder of pop-up grocery store SÜPRMARKT, which offers affordable and organic food to the South Los Angeles community. Although California is a major food-producing state, many of its residents live in food “deserts,” where fresh produce is expensive and difficult to access. Noticing that food insecurity persists because of structural racism in local policies, Auset established a supermarket that collaborates with local farms, buys wholesale, offers produce delivery, and regularly pops up in community centers and parks across underserved areas. With a team of local volunteers, Auset is transforming the neighborhood’s food landscape through social entrepreneurship and a community-based model, as well as a 501(c)3 nonprofit called SÜPRSEED that raises awareness about food injustice and raises donations to sustain the pop-up supermarket. Photo Credit: Civil Eats

18 09, 2018

Ecofeminism: Fueling the Journey to Energy Democracy

2023-02-02T16:15:39-05:00Tags: |

In 2018, hundreds of women gathered for a strike in Bilbao, Spain to advocate for an ecofeminist energy transition: one that has both the planet’s survival and women’s rights in mind. Their calls to action highlighted the sexism, classism, and racism behind profit-driven energy industries. Worldwide, women are more at risk of experiencing energy poverty, yet they also take on a disproportionate amount of unpaid household responsibilities that rely on electricity and heating. At the same time, most energy corporations and policymaking organizations have men at the helm. This gendered division of labor means that the use of electricity often perpetuates both capitalism and the patriarchy. This article examines inequalities in energy policy, analyzes gendered usage of electricity, and proposes a new energy model that centers the needs and labor of women so we can achieve a just transition to renewables. Photo Credit: Adolfo Lujan

12 09, 2018

Ecofeminism: Spanish Women Fueling The Journey To Energy Democracy

2020-10-10T19:38:21-04:00Tags: |

Women in Spain are striking and petitioning for a new energy model that contrasts the current patriarchal, capitalist model. In recognizing that women are most adversely affected by the current climate model, they are calling for a just transition which overhauls the systematic sexism, racism, and classism to achieve a truly fair energy policy. Part of the solution they say, is changing the male dominated environments where energy policies are written and discussed. Across the country women are tightening the conversation and successfully making gains such as Law 24/2-15 which indicate a future for more progressive ecofeminists policies in the future. Photo Credit: Adolfo Lujan

1 09, 2018

The Environmental Movement Can Learn From #TimesUp

2019-03-04T01:37:29-05:00Tags: |

Greenpeace USA Executive Director, Annie Leonard traces the intersections between the environmental movement and the #TimesUp and #MeToo movements, calling for more diversity. As more women name their harassers and seek justice, the environmental movement needs to reckon with the growing spotlight on power imbalances across gender, race, and class lines. Leonard, a white woman, writes how these movements have made her reexamine her own privileges and responsibilities within a movement that has been historically dominated by White men. Knowing that the best solutions come from those most affected, she calls for greater representation and meaningful spaces for often marginalized voices to be heard—not to achieve a diversity quota but to ensure deep, lasting change. Photo credit: Tim Aubry/Greenpeace

22 08, 2018

As Climate Scientists Speak Out, Sexist Attacks Are On The Rise

2020-04-24T16:45:46-04:00Tags: |

Female climate scientists face a disproportionate amount of gender-based abuse in comparison to their male counterparts. Through social media, email, and direct telephone calls, women climate scientists report numerous violent threats including rape and death threats from disproportionately male attackers. Although the threats remain written or verbal, many women fear for their physical safety and have taken precautions to reduce their exposure in the media. This form of gender discrimination is one of many on the rise since the 2016 election of Donald Trump, which effectively institutionalized climate denial as well as misogyny. The Climate Science Legal Defense Fund was founded in 2011 to combat harassment against climate researchers, seeing a need to update current laws to protect women in science and academia in particular. Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan

22 08, 2018

As Climate Scientists Speak Out, Sexist Attacks Are On The Rise

2023-02-02T15:55:03-05:00Tags: |

Women in climate science face a dangerous combination of climate denial and misogyny, with many receiving death threats, facing sexual assault, and enduring verbal harrassment. Often, these threats and insults are highly gendered yet anonymous, triggering concerns about safety both in and out of the workplace. This compounds existing pressure that climate scientists face for speaking out about a field of study that is frequently politicized. In this article, women in environmental science-related careers share their stories of harassment, their coping mechanisms and concerns, and their experiences navigating the overlapping challenges they face. They also emphasize the importance of public awareness about sexism in climate science spaces, urging male colleagues to call out discrimination and harassment when they see it. Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan, Getty Images

24 07, 2018

A Mohawk Midwife’s Birth Stories

2018-12-19T17:40:15-05:00Tags: |

Katsi Cook, founder of the first school of Indigenous midwifery, traces the trajectory of her life and explains how the traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities is helping to conserve  moral values and the environment. Her interest in environmental health was inspired by her experience delivering babies as a midwife, when a mother asked a simple question: “Is it safe to breastfeed?” Her research led to the first human health study at a superfund site, which revealed that Mohawk indigenous women are disproportionately affected by the nearby industrialization of the Great Lakes basin. Their breastmilk has been contaminated with harmful chemicals that in turn impacts their offspring. Cook shares the stories of her ancestors which are helpful for her to empower her fellow women. Photo Credit: Yes Magazine

21 07, 2018

‘A Hitman Could Come And Kill Me’: The Fight For Indigenous Land Rights In Mexico

2020-10-10T20:29:50-04:00Tags: |

Isela Gonzalez, director of Alianza Sierra Madre, uses civic activism to fight for political change as a way to confront the vested economic interests of not only big corporations, but also narco-gangs and corrupt politicians, that violate indigenous land rights. In a country that is painted in violence, with assassinations as an answer to those who have a different vision than governmental or corporate agendas, standing up for environmental and social causes come with serious risks. Often facing threats to her life, which has resulted in armed guards, panic buttons and crisis training, Gonzalez is staunch in her battle to defend the Tarahumara’s rights. The three tribes who live among the pine-oak forests of the Sierra Madre have a worldview that sees themselves as part of the land and it was this, as well as their way of life, that inspired her to refocus the direction of Alianza Sierra Madre on indigenous rights as the frontline for environmental protection. Photo credit: Thom Pierce for The Guardian.

13 07, 2018

These Young Climate Justice Advocates Say It’s Time For A Revolution

2020-10-23T23:31:05-04:00Tags: |

Youth activists Jamie Margolin and Nadia Nazar mobilised a youth march in Washington DC on 07/21/20 and co-founded Zero Hour, a volunteer-based organisation focused on climate change. With a diverse group of students, they created a platform highlighting the relationship between climate change, consumerism and systems of oppression, and their adverse impact on the natural world, animals and marginalized communities (indigenous, homeless, LGBTQ, different abilities and people of color communities). The organization is part of a global youth movement actively marching, lobbying, suing and engaging with local communities and state officials to find climate solutions. Zero Hour advocates for the power of young people to act, generate human change and cultural shifts without delay. As 350.org’s executive director May Boeve stated, we have the responsibility to stand with the youth fighting to protect our collective future whose voice should be at the center of the global conversation. Photo CHERYL DIAZ MEYER FOR HUFFPOST

10 07, 2018

This Indigenous Tribe In Colombia Is Run Solely By Women

2018-11-25T12:20:04-05:00Tags: |

Neris Uriana, the first female chieftain of Wayuu tribe in La Guajira, was elected in 2015. She had tremendous support from her husband Jorge Uriana who thinks the future is female. Jorge was the previous community leader and decided women should participate in decision making and worked to dismantle machismo culture. After becoming chieftain, Neris has introduced sustainable agriculture methods to her tribe and collaborated with other communities to improve irrigation, crop cycles, and land use. Neris has successfully created many women leaders in her tribe, such as Pushaina, who is growing the crops with minimum water supply. Photo Credit: Lucy Sherriff/PRI

27 06, 2018

Kill Patriarchy, Save the Womb

2023-02-01T22:57:37-05:00Tags: |

The modern menstrual product industry is harmful for the human body and for the land. Most menstrual products are single-use, coming in plastic packaging that is among the most common items found in landfills. Tampons are made from synthetic fibers that are directly linked to toxic shock syndrome, while pads are often bleached white with dioxins – carcinogenic chemicals linked to endometriosis and decreased fertility. In addition, menstrual product companies often use body shaming as a marketing tool, creating a taboo around openly discussing menstruation, and perpetuating the myth that menstrual products are the only way people can maintain their “hygiene” while on their period. This article proposes sustainable menstrual products that keep planetary and personal health in mind, such as reusable tampons, menstrual cups, and cloth pads. It also proposes Indigenous options including sea sponges, cliff rose, cattail, and moss. These alternatives avoid the harmful effects of toxins in mainstream products, prevent further plastic pollution, offer less expensive options for menstruators, and create better relationships with our bodies and the Earth. Photo Credit: Orlando Begaye  

27 06, 2018

Women And The Feminine Hygiene Myth

2020-10-10T19:32:57-04:00Tags: |

The feminine hygiene industry markets products that are manufactured with dangerous chemicals and which perpetuate harmful myths around period bleeding. Much of the marketing languages capitalizes on the notion that bleeding is shameful and should be hidden or kept from public discourse. Further, women and girls are often encouraged to use mainstream products such as bleached tampons and pads that threaten their health. This article encourages women to explore reusable, and non manufactured alternatives to managing their periods. Photo Credit: Orlando Begaye AKA Treeman

15 06, 2018

Immigrant Women Are Providing A Taste Of Oaxaca In California’s Central Valley

2020-10-05T16:55:59-04:00Tags: |

In Madera, California, Sylvia Rojas and Rosa Hernandez own Colectivo Sabor a Mi Tierra, a restaurant that offers traditional Oaxacan dishes such as tamales, picaditas, pozole, and mole. Many of these dishes have indigenous roots and reflect the migration from indigenous Mexican communities to the United States. Formerly farmworkers, Hernandez and Rojas opened up the restaurant with support from organizations such as the Pan Valley Institute, a group that focuses on uplifting women and building inter-ethnic relationships amongst rural Californian farming communities in the Central Valley. Photo Credit: Lisa Morehouse

5 06, 2018

Agricultural Diversification: Empowering Women In Cambodia With ‘Wild Gardens’

2020-10-06T23:24:51-04:00Tags: |

A group of US and Cambodian Scholars from Pennsylvania State University have created the multidisciplinary project, “Women in Agriculture Network (WAgN): Cambodia” to teach Cambodian women farmers how to change their farming techniques for more beneficial outcomes. The project places particular value on native Cambodian plants that thrive throughout the year, even during wet- and dry-season food gaps.  WAgN also analyses Cambodian women’s roles in agriculture, and the notion that the “feminization” of agriculture does not coincide with an improved quality of life for Cambodian women.  Researchers at WAgN believe that their project has the potential to augment the societal status of Combodian women and improve their quality of life. Photo Credit: Penn State

4 06, 2018

A Woman’s Reparations Map For Farmers Of Color Seeks To Right Historical Wrongs

2020-04-24T16:12:49-04:00Tags: |

Leah Penniman and her organization Soul Fire Farm have developed a new mapping and reparations resource for black and brown farmers. Launched via Google Maps, the reparations map identifies over 52 organizations, their needs, and how to contact each farming operation. The project is an extension of a global movement for food justice, and the return of stolen lands and resources to Indigenous and black farmers. Consequently, the project directly addresses the significant wealth gap between farmers of color and white farmers. The site has had over 53,000 visitors to date. Photo Credit: Jonah Vitale-Wolff

4 06, 2018

A Reparations Map for Farmers of Color May Help Right Historical Wrongs

2023-02-02T16:10:54-05:00Tags: |

Leah Penniman is the founder of Soul Fire Farm in New York, which aims to dismantle racism and injustice in the food system not only through sustainable farming, but also through reparations. Centuries of slavery and racism left many Black Americans uncompensated for their agricultural labor, and this is directly connected to the persistent racial wealth gap we see today. Penniman has created an online mapping tool to connect donors with farmers of color who seek financial payments to compensate for past and present inequities. She is also training farmers to speak up through advocacy and storytelling, while writing a “Definitive Guide to Liberation on Land.” This article delves into the history of the movement for reparations, which dates back to the Civil War, and the work Penniman is doing to advocate for system and policy change. Photo Credit: Soul Fire Farm

30 05, 2018

Executed, Disappeared, Tortured: The Risks Of Defending Human Rights

2021-02-16T20:36:14-05:00Tags: |

In this 20-minute Guardian podcast, journalist Lucy Lamble talks to Fund for Global Human Rights program officer Ana Paula Hernández about her work supporting campaigners fighting to protect native lands. The conversation covers the brutal murder of Honduran activist Berta Cáceres, an ‘incredible leader in the social and human rights movement’. Fund for Global Human Rights supported Berta since 2013 when she had been criminalised and threatened to stop her organising work for the defence of nature. Despite her international recognition and the protection afforded by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Berta was shot for opposing the dam construction on the Gualcarque River. Since, her daughter Berta Isabel Bertha Isabel Zúniga Cáceres and co-founder of COPINH have claimed small victories with the withdrawal of European funders suspending development on the dam project. Ana Paula also mentions digital security and technology as allies in the protection of human rights defenders. Photo Credit: The Fund for Global Human Rights

30 05, 2018

Mother Justice Is Environmental Justice

2019-04-13T15:42:56-04:00Tags: |

Low to moderate income families and families of color often take on a disproportionate energy burden, sacrificing funds that would otherwise be used on food or medical expenses, to pay for utility bills. Energy companies do little to nothing to help ease this burden. And more time than not, these communities are in areas that are poorly maintained and plagued by pollution. In fact, studies have shown that 71% of African Americans live in counties with federal air violations, compared to 56% of the overall population. 70% of African Americans live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant, which generated 30% of the U.S. electricity in 2016 and discharged millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment. African Americans face the brunt of the health impacts associated with long-time exposure to toxins emitted at plants; children and the elderly are especially sensitive to such risks. These long lasting impacts take many forms, resulting in emotional, psychological and economic costs for these communities. Photo Credit: NAACP

23 05, 2018

Data At The Intersections: Advancing Environmental And Climate Justice Using A Human Rights Lens

2021-02-16T20:47:00-05:00Tags: |

Trends in human rights funding have shifted in the recent years. Currently, seven percent of all humans rights funding from foundations is earmarked for Environmental Justices and Resource Rights (EJ&RR). This indicates a 145 percent increase in EJ&RR funding between the years 2011 and 2015. However, funding peaked in 2014 and has since been declining, due to a few major foundations discontinuing their work. Another change has been the shift towards awarding smaller grants to smaller groups, in contrast to the historical practice of awarding large funds to established organizations. Thirdly, funding for human rights defenders increased 133% between 2011 and 2015 though the amount provided remains small. On the other hand, funding for Indigenous Peoples decreased to $15 million from $40 million during this time. Funding Indigenous Peoples is a crucial part of climate justice and particularly needed in our current state. Photo Credit: Human Rights Funders Network.  

21 05, 2018

Meet the Farmworkers Leading the #MeToo Fight For Workers Everywhere

2023-02-01T23:00:05-05:00Tags: |

In the United States, an estimated 500,000 women labor in the fields, where sexual violence is a prevalent concern. Nearly 4 out of 5 female farmworkers experience coercion, assault, catcalling, or other forms of sexual harassment. Unequal power relations complicate their ability to pursue justice and accountability, as authorities and managers are frequently male. Eradicating gender-based violence in U.S. agriculture is one of the key aims of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an alliance of farmers and agricultural workers based in Florida. This immigrant worker-led human rights organization has created a Fair Food Workers program that aims to secure workers’ rights through legal action. It has pioneered a model for protecting human rights known as “worker-driven social responsibility,” which was recognized by the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights and received a 2015 Presidential Medal from President Obama. By addressing the structural issues enabling and perpetuating sexual violence, the Coalition is dismantling unjust labor systems. It has also served as a blueprint for change in other areas, like the dairy and fashion industries. Photo credit: Coalition of Immokalee Workers    

21 05, 2018

Female Farmworkers Leading The #MeToo Fight For Workers Everywhere

2020-10-10T19:20:50-04:00Tags: |

Daughters of field workers are participating in a five day “Freedom Fast”, and joining the Time’s Up Wendy’s March in Manhattan. Their demonstration calls upon Wendy’s to sign onto the Fair Food Program which addresses many of the structural issues enabling sexual harassment in the workplace. The demonstration is taking place alongside the Time’s Up and #MeToo movement which has drawn global attention to the treatment of all women in the workforce. Women working in agriculture are strong voice in this movement as they report especially high rates of sexual assault in the workplace. So far the women’s efforts to suede Wendy’s have been unsuccessful. Photo Credit: Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW)

18 05, 2018