Resources

Can Native Americans Protect their Land if They’re not Recognized by the Federal Government

This article discusses the challenges that non-federally recognized Native American tribes face in trying to preserve their native lands using examples in California. The author explores the history of how the US government terminated their recognition of 109 recognized tribes in the 1950s and the effect of this policy on the present. They also provide examples of how tribes have negotiated land agreements with the California state government to create land trusts to preserve their land. For more read here.

What is Decolonization and Why Does it Matter?

This articles defines decolonization as a goal of moving towards a tangible unknown through everyday acts of decolonization. The author provides examples of decolonization efforts, such as Indigenous resistance of oil pipelines, and examples of colonialism, such as the appropriation of Indigeneity within North American activism. For more read here.

Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education and Society

This journal has a number of publications, creative writing pieces and articles on the many aspects of decolonization work. For more read here.

This is not a Diversity Report

The company Tala, which offers access to loans in the developing world, published this letter as an type of internal diversity report and a public-facing effort to improve equity within their company. This offers a helpful framework for how companies can think about presenting their own DEI efforts using a growth mindset. For more read here.

Beyond the Trend of Decolonizing Science

This webinar explores what it means to “decolonize science” in a discussion led by Indigenous and Black scholars. They use the Thirty Meter Telescope and the mountain of Mauna Kea as a case study of colonialism in science. For more watch here.

Solutions Privilege: How privilege shapes the expectations of solutions, and why it’s bad for our work addressing systemic injustice

This blog post discusses the phenomenon of “solutions privilege”, in which people with positions of power and privilege criticize presentations about inequities as not being “solutions-oriented”. It provides examples of how people ignore solutions that are presented that involve resource redistribution, infantilize people of color and look to them to provide solutions rather than take on the challenging work themselves. For more read here.

White People: We Don’t Have Solutions for You

This blog post discusses how there is no easy solution to equity work and it necessarily requires white people to be entangled in often messy and challenging work. It also offers a critique of white people who really solely on people of color for equity solutions, without being willing to engage in the challenging work themselves. For more read here.

Systemic Racism Explained

This video provides a brief, but effective explanation of how systemic racism impacts people of color in the US today by exploring the history of residential segregation and other forms of segregation limited people of color’s access to wealth. It also discusses how systemic racism is perpetuated by implicit bias. For more watch here.

Designing for access in outdoor spaces doesn’t mean paving pathways

This article discusses considerations for designing accessible outdoor spaces for people with disabilities, drawing on examples from projects making mountain bike trails, hunting land and hiking trails wheelchair-accessible in Montana. People involved in those projects emphasize that small considerations, such as the size of gates and switchbacks on trails can make a significant difference in physical access. They also challenge the notion that physically disabled people want access to a different style of recreation and say that access should not be limited to paving paths. For more read here.

‘Environmentalist’ Doesn’t Just Mean White and Wealthy

This article discusses a study on perceptions of environmentalists and concern about the environment that challenges stereotypical notions of environmentalists. The study found that while the most common image of an environmentalist is a wealthy, college-educated white person, people of color and people from low-income backgrounds express a higher level of concern for the environment. They go on to discuss a need for the environmental movement to move towards environmental justice and become more inclusive. For more read here.

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