race

Identity signs

This activity is designed to get participants thinking about their own identities in relation to systems of power and privilege, as well as understand how others’ identities are influenced by power and privilege.

In/Out of the Box

This is an activity that allows students to discuss how society assumes different qualities regarding different identities and then how they or other people they know transcend those imposed qualities.

Tierra y Vida: Chicanos and the Environmental Justice Movement

José Gonzalez outlines important concepts and histories regarding Chicanos’ involvement in the environmental justice movement. He discusses environmental issues that have disproportionately impacted the Latino community and how the Chicano community has responded. Read here.

White privilege and experiential education: A critical reflection

Jeff Rose and Karen Paisley outline how white privilege is embedded in experiential education (and specifically outdoor education) through assumptions about how students should experience experiential education and the environment. In academic terms, Rose and Paisely argue that experiential education is a privileged pedagogy.

Read here.

The Freeland Project

Fair warning: this is actually not free, but a great resource if you have the capacity to buy it. Ariel Luckey, a performance artist, puts on a one person show that describes his very personal journey to understanding how colonialism shaped the West and impacted his life as a white man. He investigates both historical land politics and current land politics in his home, the Bay Area. You can purchase the DVD of the performance and the curriculum guide.
Access here.

In Light of Reverence

This film tells three stories about land disputes between indigenous communities and outdoor reactionists and/or mining companies. It highlights how different groups and cultures understand and experience land. The film is available for purchase or available to rent on Netflix. The film also comes with a lesson plan, available here.
Read the summary here.

Colors of Nature: Teaching Guide

Colors of Nature is an anthology of writing that links place and culture together, from a diverse group of writers and thinkers. The book is accompanied by a robust teaching guide. Access here.

Review: Dispossessing the Wilderness

A review of Mark David Spence’s, “Dispossessing the Wilderness,” which provides a history of how Yosemite, Glacier, and Yellowstone National Parks were predicated upon the forcible removal of indigenous people from their land through physical violence, broken treaties, and unequal partnerships. Spence’s work is recommended reading for anyone who wants to understand the American wilderness through an important lens.
Read here.

How to tell someone they sound racist

Jay Smooth instructs on how to have a productive conversation with someone who just may have said something racist. While he focuses on race here, his tactics apply to addressing any difficult or sticky conversation, especially around identity, power, and oppression.
Watch here.

Black Girl Dangerous Podcast

Mia McKenzie of Black Girl Dangerous invites various guests to talk about current events, pop culture, politics, and much more from a radical feminist of color perspective.
Listen here.

What Riding My Bike Has Taught Me About White Privilege

Yet another blog post analogizing white privilege to something more accessible in order to drive home the concept. Though we are not fans of glossing over White Privilege with superficial analogies and metaphors, we realize there is real value for some folks in reading articles that talk about this challenging concept in a way that resonates with them. For some, this could be the aha! piece.
Read here.

“Why don’t black people go camping…?” Critical Whiteness Studies in Environmental Education

Breeze discusses the racialization of the wilderness and its impact on perceptions of wilderness within black communities through the term and “racialized ecological identity.” The article also challenges the concept of colorblindness and ultimately, how to transform environmental education to be more culturally responsive to different ecological identities.
Read here. (July 17, 2009)