reading
Hiring a Chief Diversity Officer Won’t Fix Your Racist Company Culture
This article discusses how while diversity, equity and inclusion are becoming parts of the mission statements of companies across America, many companies are failing or unwilling to address deeper issues of racist culture. Through a series of examples, the author exposes how people of color are often hired by companies to “solve their racism problem”, but are prevented from doing substantive work. For more read here.
Allies and Microaggressions
This article from an advice column provides suggestions on how to be an ally when you are in a space where a microaggression occurs. The authors describes the cumulative impact of microaggressions for their own mental health and provides a framework to engage in “microresistance” to microaggressions. For more read here.
Greening Without Gentrification
This article discusses how the development of parks in low-income neighborhoods can accelerate or begin the process of gentrification and contribute the displacement of low-income residents. The authors discuss the results of a study on “parks-related anti-displacement strategies” and provide examples of how those engaged in park development are trying to prevent displacement of vulnerable groups. For more read here.
Decolonization and anti-racism: a reading list
This is a reading list put together by Verso Books. In their words, this is a list of “books that challenge the notion of empire and offer a history of anti-colonial, anti-racist struggle.” To explore these book suggestions, read more here.
Land-grab universities: Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system
This article provides an in-depth look at how the redistribution of stolen Indigenous land through the Morrill Act of 1862 was used by American universities to fund their endowments. The article includes an interactive database that shows all of the plots of land that each university benefitted from, their tribal affiliation, how much tribes were paid for the land, and how much universities received through the land’s sale. They also explore ideas for how universities can begin to make amends for profiting of of stolen land that move beyond land acknowledgments. For more read here.
“Why I use the pronouns ‘ki’ and ‘kin'”
This article discusses how using ‘ki’ and ‘kin’ pronouns when referring to the environment, rather than “it”, breaks down a human-centric world view and can prevent environmental exploitation. For more read here
What indigenous communities are teaching scientists about nature
This article discusses how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) has been historically devalued in favor of Western science. It explores examples of partnerships between indigenous peoples across the world and Western scientists as case studies of how to braid TEK into ecological decisionmaking. For more read here.
Solutions Privilege: How privilege shapes the expectations of solutions, and why it’s bad for our work addressing systemic injustice
This article examines the phenomenon of “solutions privilege,” which Le defines as “the privilege of expecting easy and instant solutions that would align with one’s worldview and not challenge one’s privilege.” For more read here.
Let’s Get Real About Why Women of Color Are So Tired: Playing by the rules in capitalist America comes at the cost of our mental, physical, and emotional health
This honest article by a woman of color examines why women of color experience actual trauma and suffering working in majority-white nonprofits. Specifically, the article addresses the scarcity mentality and a culture of celebrity and competition that underpin the culture of most nonprofits, including in the environmental and conservation sector. For more read here.
WHITE MALE WORKERS RESPOND POORLY TO WOMEN AND RACIAL MINORITIES IN POWER AND TAKE IT OUT ON COLLEAGUES: REPORT
This article begins “How do white male executives handle it when a woman or person of color become CEOs of their company? Not well, a new study from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business suggests.” We like this article because though many conservation, outdoor, and environmental organizations may be succeeding in recruiting, hiring, and promoting women and BIPOC, these employees will still struggle without concerted efforts to address unconscious bias on the part of their peers. Read more here.
TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism
From a book review: “Julia Watson’s lush and meticulous new book, Lo—TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism, provides a blueprint for sustainable architecture in the 21st century. For designers of the built environment, it is a first-ever compendium of overlooked design technologies from indigenous groups around the world. For the intrepid traveler or curious citizen, it is an invitation to know millennia-old societies thriving in symbiosis with nature thanks to local ingenuity, creativity, spirituality, and resourcefulness. For the indigenous groups represented, it is a source of satisfaction from seeing contemporary design scholarship catch up with their time-tested practices.” Read the book review here.
Colonialism, The Hidden Cause Of Our Environmental Crisis
The article takes up one of the arguments of de-colonial environmentalism: that the climate crisis is linked to the history of slavery and colonialism by the Western powers. It’s a great way to connect the dots between colonialism and white supremacy, no the one hand, and the history and current efforts of environmental and conservation groups, on the other hand. Read it here.