Seemingly, there are two major movements active right now. The first, “Black Lives Matter” (BLM), highlights the grave injustices that people of color have endured for several centuries and still endure. The second, environmentalism (aka, the Environmental Movement (EM)), demands that humans stem the violence against all forms of life (e.g., the bees, the bats, the gorillas, the whales, the polar bears, etc.) and begin to live with nature, not in domination of nature. How does one reconcile these two important struggles? Do these movements have anything in common? Must they work in separate domains? Are they mutually exclusive? Does one have to take precedence in order to make real progress?
These two movements are actually very connected and interwoven. Once we realize this, they can more clearly work cohesively and in solidarity.
A little history can serve us in understanding these two movements. Recall the “Civil Rights Movement” (CRM), which lasted from the mid-1950s through the 1960s? Recall, when the first Earth Day occurred and the Environmental Protection Agency was launched—in the early 1970s. Yes, the CRM laid the ground work the environmental movement (as well as other key movements—women’s and GLBT)! These two huge movements are, thus, integrally connected.
But, aren’t nearly all environmentalists “White” and well-off and most BLM activists, people of color (POC)? “Not at all,” says research into these questions (see Poon, 2018). In fact, since POC bear the brunt of the worst of environmental degradation (especially globally), it is no surprise many POC care deeply about environmental issues and express this concern through demonstrable action. And as anyone who has been to a BLM event can tell you, there are many Caucasians who are advocates for the justice that BLM demands (though there is obvious some frustration over who is leading the cause, see Mann & Baker, 2020). Stereotypes and preconceptions are sometimes hard to overcome.
But, hold on, “The BLM folks are calling for justice for victims of police brutality and environmentalists are protesting for new energy reform to avert catastrophic climate change (C3). Their causes cannot appear more dissimilar.” But are they really? Actually, they are very similar. Both demand justice. Both demand action, swift and decisive. Both recognize that current economic and political practices must be modified and reimagined. Both want all of us (humans, animals, and plants) to flourish. In particular, both emphasize that the physical and mental welfare of humans matters a great deal.
We can see the overlap and interconnection between BLM and EM most vividly perhaps by considering another movement, the environmental justice (EJ) one. EJ (or Environmental Racism (ER) as it is often referred to) is a fast growing component of mainstream environmentalism. Yet it owns its origin to POC who, in the early 1980s, used non-violent direct action to protest the dumping of PCBs in a rural (minority) community of North Carolina. More recent examples of EJ (or ER) struggles can be found in Flint, Michigan (water contamination) and New Orleans, Louisiana (climate justice).
Additionally, some of the most prominent environmentalists are POC as well. Robert Bullard, the most prolific author in the EJ arena, is an African-American who grew up in rural Alabama. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Hispanic Congresswoman, is one of the most aggressive promoters of the Green New Deal. David Suzuki, one of the most famous environmentalists and author of more than a dozen books, is Asian-Canadian. Winona LaDuke, who ran for U.S. Vice President twice, works tirelessly for many environmental causes (Honor the Earth and the White Earth Land Recovery Project) and is an Ojibwe Native American living in Minnesota. Globally, obviously, most environmental work is performed by POC—Wangari Maathai (Kenya), Ken Saro-Wiwa (Nigeria), and Vandana Shiva (India) quickly come to mind. Each of these amazing humans (and there are many, many more—see the long list of international Goldman Prize recipients, for example) understands the interconnected nature of humans as well as the critical importance of human rights as a foundation for the well-being of all life forms.
In the end, struggles to bring justice and equality are indelibly part of the same whole. The sooner we come to understand this, BLM and EM advocates can more explicitly connect their struggles and bring actual peace and sustainability into a nascent LM movement (i.e., LM = Life Matters).
Yet, this combined effort must recognize one very important point. Our political economy must serve humanity (rather than the other way around). We cannot continually privatize essential services and resources (be they police or tap water). Much of our current economy is based on “exchange value” which holds that something’s value equates to what it can be exchanged for. But in this system what is the value afforded a battered citizen (physically or emotionally) or a dolphin caught as bycatch? The human or biological system collapses at some point and neither can be replaced (some changes are irreversible; for more on human crashes due to our economic system, see Wolff, 2020). Thus, both BLM and EM must fully embrace this realization as they move forward and build alliances and coalitions in the LM struggle.
References
Mann, B. & E. Baker. (2020) “Black Protest Leaders to White Allies: ‘It’s Our Turn To Lead Our Own Fight.” NPR. September 22. https://www.npr.org/2020/09/22/913094440/black-protest-leaders-to-white-allies-it-s-our-turn-to-lead-our-own-fight
Poon, L. (2018) “‘Environmentalist’ Doesn’t Just Mean White and Wealthy.” Bloomberg CityLab. November 2. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-11-02/who-is-an-environmentalist-study-refutes-stereotypes
Wolff, R. D. (2020) “The champions of capitalism are rushing into disaster and refusing to admit their ideology has failed.” Independent Media Institute. April 3. https://www.alternet.org/2020/04/the-champions-of-capitalism-are-rushing-into-disaster-and-refusing-to-admit-their-ideology-has-failed/
Hmmm, “LM” reads too much like All Lives Matter; I’m surprised you don’t have pushback on that already. For some of us in environmentalism, it isn’t traditional lives that are of primary concern, it’s the planet, the living green-brown-blue-white orb on which lives and more (think viruses) depend. While I truly like AOC and her Green New Deal, I would rather see it analyzed realistically before being promoted as if it hold no consequence. Fossil fuel use causes global warming, but it isn’t feasible to mine and smelt and refine and manufacture the parts that go into ‘green infrastructure’ without using fossil fuels, or worse, nuclear energy. And without creating non-recyclable — or fuel-intensive recyclable — waste, when the parts wear out. I would love to see a discussion of this.
Beyond this, and the fact I’m sad to see that movements like BLM and environmentalism have to be carefully linked for people to see the connections. Of course EJ is where they interlock, and brink down people of Color first, and all of us because we are linked on a finite planet. Thank you for bringing this up.