Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Climate Rage is Sexy

'Tis the season, with Earth Day having just happened and while still being able to see it here on our April calendars, for heightened awareness on all things Mother Earth. 

I ran across a Substack post by Amy Westervelt entitled "Climate Rage is Sexy." Interesting timing given we just had Women's History month and I also recently finished the book Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly. Rage apparently is all the rage. With good reason! With our "sheltering in place" this last year due to Covid, it gave us grand opportunity to be captive audience to the heightened awareness on racial and social injustice over the past year. Add in a rather contentious election in 2020, a lot of "-isms" have been in the forefront of all our minds. Media and social media screamed all of the above this past year.

Even Mother Earth seems a tad pissed off when you look at our rising climate issues, the wild fires of the past 18 months, the pandemic, the melting of polar ice sheets, growing food waste and plastic pollution, biodiversity degradation....the list goes on. So, yes, Amy Westervelt is right, and the rage is on when it comes to climate change.

Here are some visuals, created from Amy's "Climate Rage is Sexy" text that I found at Future Earth's Facebook Page. Just like Saroya Chemaly wrote in the above-mentioned book, "When a girl or woman is angry she is saying 'What I'm feeling, thinking, and saying matters.'.... We are living in what feels like an age of pronounced rage and near-constant outrage." [Locations 188 & 208 in the Kindle version.]

I think it's time for us all to embrace our climate rage--for it is through doing so that we will take action. The time is now for doing so!





Images from https://www.facebook.com/futureearthcatalog/posts/921697871909203 and credited to Credit: “Climate Rage is Sexy” by @amywestervelt via Hot Take

Saturday, April 24, 2021

9 Gen-Z Eco Activists

One of the many treasures in the book No Planet B: The Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis (Edited by Lucy Diavolo, 2021) is the chapter in the Activist Section titled "Nine Teen Climate Activists Fighting For the Future of the Planet." Like much of the book, it's from environmental articles posted in Teen Vogue--this one by Marilyn La Jeunesse, published in the magazine on July 24, 2019. In her article/chapter, she highlights 9 Generation Z activists making bold moves to make a difference in our world.

Here's what these young activists are known for, their age as of this writing, and where you can go to find out more about them!

Greta Thunberg, 18
Perhaps the most well-known on this list, Greta has received numerous awards and recognition (including her Nobel Peace prize nomination in 2019) for her school strikes on climate justice and is an avid spokesperson on this issues in many global forums. You can see her timeline of her activism on this website and she is active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Katie Eder, 21
As a Stanford student, the Executive Director of Future Coalition (a youth activist organization), and an avid environmentalist since 6th grade, Katie probably never gets bored. She's organized climate strikes, 50 Miles More (to promote the end of gun violence) and helped from the #AllEyesOnJuliana campaign in June 1, 2019 day off press conferences(when she was approximately 18/19 years), which supported the climate lawsuit Juliana vs. the United States government.

Jamie Margolin, 19
Jamie is the cofounder and co-executive director of Zero Hour, another activist group for our Generation Z'ers on climate change and justice. She's a plaintiff on the climate lawsuit in Washington state of Our Children's Trusts' Youth v. Gov. She is also the author of Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It (2020). She is also open about her experience as an LGBT person. You can find her at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Nadia Nazar, 19
Nadia joins Jamie as cofounder, co-executive director, and art director of Zero Hour. With these pursuits she has also organized the DC Youth Climate Strike and the lead from Maryland for the U.S. Climate Strikes. She testified in front of Congressional committee on climate change in February of 2019, and she is also a student at Maryland Institute College of Art. You can find her on Twitter or on her art-inspired website.

Isra Hirsi, 18
She and Haven Coleman co-founded (and are co-executive directors of) the U.S. Youth Climate Strike in 2019. She is also the daughter of U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She was active this election to help educate voters on the presidential candidates' views on climate change. She is also a Foodprints for the Future Ambassador for Earthday.org. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Alexandria Villaseñor, 16
Alexandria began her activist career following Greta Thunberg and the school strikes. Alexandria is the founder of the climate change organization Earth Uprising and is also involved in the U.S. Youth Climate Strike. You can find her at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Haven Coleman, 15
She and Isra Hirsi co-founded (and are co-executive directors of) the U.S. Youth Climate Strike in 2019. She founded the ARID Agency for climate and social justice in 2020. She's also been very active speaking about, promoting, organizing, and leading climate events. You can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, 20 (bday may 9)
As an Indigenous climate activist, Xiuhtezcatl began speaking out at climate summits back when he was 6 years old. He's the Youth Director of Earth Guardians, author of We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet, and a hip hop artist with an environmental slant. He is also a plaintive in Juliana v. the U.S lawsuit. You can find him on Facebook and his website.

Jayden Foytlin, 17
Jayden also is an Indigenous (and Cajun) climate activist and one of the 22 plaintiffs in Juliana v. U.S. She is also an avid protestor of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline which would cary oil from the Dakota Access Pipeline to Louisiana. 



Images from:
Graphic created at www.canva.com using photos from the following:
6. Alexandria Villaseñor: https://twitter.com/alexandriav2005
7. Haven Coleman: https://havencoleman.com

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Earth Day 2021: Restore Our Earth

Earth Day is officially April 22nd. However, this year, with the 2021 theme being "Restore Our Earth," those at EarthDay.org are combining with leaders at Education International, Hip Hop Caucus, and Earth Uprising to create a 3-day Call to Action: April 20--22nd. Given that, we are right in the thick of things, and I'm posting a bit early so you can take full advantage of what is morphing into Earth Week.

All 4 of these organizations are creating 3 parallel climate action summits set to happen two days prior (on April 20th & 21st) as a lead in to Biden's global leaders climate summit on Earth Day. Topics of these summits will be climate literacy, environmental justice, and youth-centric environmental issues. Activists will come in all forms: educators, artists, musicians, researchers, and it will become an official "Second Annual Earth Day Live." If 2020 showed us nothing, it's that we can do a whole lot of learning via zoom!

The Timeline:

April 20th:  A 4-hour digital summit with plenty of the leading young climate activists will stream. Leaders like Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor (Founder of Earth Uprising), Licypriya Kangujam (9-year-old Climate & Environmental Activist), and many more will voice what they hope Biden will address at his climate summit. This level of listening from top presidential leadership is new.

April 20th evening:   The Hip Hop Caucus (and partners) will hold their "We Shall Breathe" virtual summit, looking at environmental justice through the lens of the pandemic and racial justice. 

April 21:  Education International's "Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit" will be held virutally with a variety of activists from across the globe. Their focus will be on environmental education, especially as it is tied to addressing climate change.

April 22nd: Running congruently to the Biden administration global climate summit will be the live Earth Day digital event sponsored by Earthday.org. Livestream will happen starting at noon Eastern time with a variety of workshops, discussions, and performances all centered around this year's theme. 

Anytime:  For 51 ways you can do something today, tomorrow, or any day, check out Earthday.org's list!

Watch. Take part. Learn. Do something. Make a difference. Restore our Earth. Celebrate Earth Day.

Saturday, April 17, 2021

John Kerry, Al Gore, TED Talks Daily, & The Paris Climate Agreement

About a year and a half ago, back before there was a global pandemic, I was gifted tickets to see John Kerry at the Baltimore Speaker Series on Sept. 24, 2019. The Myerhoff Symphony Hall was a dynamic setting to see this former US Secretary of State, Vietnam Veteran (with multiple awards including 3 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, and a Bronze Star Medal), former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, US Senator, author, and the 2004 Democratic nominee for President of the US (who lost to George W. Bush). He spoke so eloquently and intelligently on many of his past experiences as well as on climate change.  It was a refreshing and rewarding evening hearing his thoughts on so many poignant topics we were facing in 2019.

I happened upon John Kerry again about a month ago on one of my new favorite podcasts: TED Talks Daily. He was featured with Al Gore in a longer than typical TED Talks Daily episode. The reason? It was February 2021 and as the US had just rejoined the Paris Agreement. Yay! As Biden's choice for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate he was having a sit down with former Vice President and climate expert, advocate, and Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the return and all that's at stake with climate change here in 2021 and. going forward. 

Again, it was a refreshing and rewarding conversation, and just perfect to pay attention to here in the pre-season of Earth Day ahead! You can watch below, at TED, or find it through Apple Podcasts. 

Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Earth Day Bitmoji Board o' Books

bean bag chair chill

Anyone who has been hanging around for any amount of time over here knows that I am a major fan of Bitmoji Boards as an edtech way of sharing resources.

Here is a great that I ran across for Earth Day, created by @MissHecht. You can find this and approximately 80 more of her Bitmoji creations at her LinkTree Account. She has one on Recycling, Biomes, and Animal Adaptations too, which might also serve your environmental needs here this Earth Day. You can also buy her (aka Bridgette) a cup of tea as a way of saying thanks, or follow her Creative Teaching with Miss Hecht page on Facebook.

 
Bitmoji Boards created by @MissHecht and you can find them to make a copy of her amazing boards at https://linktr.ee/misshecht

Saturday, April 10, 2021

Environmental Justice Resources


From the EPA website, "environmental justice" is not as simple as a Websters definition. In fact, it has 3 defining points:


Sadly, over the eras, many of our black, brown, indigenous, and impoverished people have been living in the places where most of our environmental hazards have occurred. Some are due to bad luck and poor living conditions. Some are due to white communities adopting a NIMBY attitude (aka: "Not In My Backyard"). And sadly some have been purposeful governmental choices... making injustice far from a coincidence and rather by design. Due to this, environmental racism is a real thing.

A lot of conversations have been happening over the last year or so particularly centered around racism. Nationally, it certainly came forefront to us all as we sat at home, gazing at our televisions and the news as there wasn't much else to do in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic and we saw the stories of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor surface. Likewise, we have also been talking about a lot of diversity, equity, and inclusivity issues at my school--more this year, but it's been a growing conversation over the last several. Books like Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho (and his YouTube videos), White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, and How To Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi have been on my reading list over the last two years.

Given all of that, I was particularly struck when I ran across this extensive compilation of anti-racist resources for nature lovers. That was a thing? Why yes, it is--because of environmental justice (and injustice). Compiled by Wilder Child (a great website and now one of my new favorites to follow on Facebook as well), the resource list is entitled "Decolonizing Nature Connection: Resources for Raising Anti-Racist Nature Lovers." In addition to environmental justice by way of everything mentioned above, interestingly enough, nature is not necessarily as accessible as one would imagine! Environmental injustice has made being out in the great outdoors a more "white thing" than I ever thought. I mean, nature is free, right. And yet, I'm learning, it's not as free as I thought it would be.

The resources are plentiful and all through the lens of environmentalism. It provides a lot of interesting choices for my 52 Weeks/52 Books goal this year. In fact, my next book ready to read in my Kindle app is J. Drew Lanham's book The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature, one from the "Decolonizing Nature Connection" list. I'll be reporting back later on that read after I finish it.

If all of this leaves you wanting to dig more than into Wilder Child's growing list and you find yourself interested in doing a deeper dive into the conceptual background of Environmental Justice, check out these two articles:
Collage created on Canvas.com using pictures fromhttps://images.app.goo.gl/fbEiM9kfthK3Q6FHAhttps://www.teatown.org/what-is-environmental-justice/, and https://comingcleaninc.org/environmental-justice, definition of Environmental Justice is a screenshot from https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/learn-about-environmental-justice, Dr. Robert Bullard quote image created on canvas.com, screenshot of "Decolonizing Nature Connections" by Wilder Child from https://docs.google.com/document/d/18-D6-ZZA5rmgiapiokAFMte3isYK8dVqXswE8d16xlQ/edit?fbclid=IwAR3LHO0HsmE0trGYJ9PYUsooCPu2GcJdiTUs3wXS-prKv98Gs9nOyLAG1Sc

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Nature Is Part of Our Nature: A Reminder of the Benefits of Being Outdoors



Spring has sprung and the weather is warming. Thank the Lord almighty! The long winter with the Covid connection on top was getting to be too much. 

I'm gleefully ready to move on from the winter blues (made worse this year from the pandemic) and and probably an inkling of seasonal affective disorder. Spring is the perfect time to reset our internal clocks and sync them with the biorhythm of our circadian clocks. We finally get to feel the sun on our faces, warmth rewarded with short sleeves, and I'm finding myself outside and writing in a state of supreme bliss in my favorite office!

I often find myself circling back to this topic of the therapeutic nature of nature. Where we get our Vitamin D from more sun than our vitamin bottles, and we can rejoice in Vitamin N: Nature. 

Yes, theoretically we can do this in the winter too, but I am indeed a winter wimp, smiling more in the sunshine and warmth.

Nature certainly is part of our nature. This image showcasing a slice of a tree stump and a fingerprint really does put the finger on the pulse (pun intended).

These articles highlight the multitude of ways 4 mentally, physically... of ways being out in nature can "do a body good" psychologically, spiritually, physically, mentally, "decompressionally," educationally, developmentally, with your sleep health, and more 

And just a few from the GTG Archives:

So do yourself a favor: Find a nice healthy snack, a lovely lemonade, a tasty green tea, or just a big thermos of water and go find yourself some nature. Maybe a hike, a picnic, a sit spot, or a lounge chair. Soak up the sun, watch some birds, listen to the pounding of woodpeckers and other bird calls, watch some scampering squirrels or chipmunks, marvel at the glistening of sun on a body of water....and bask in the benefits of being outdoors. 

Images from: May you find yourself: https://www.facebook.com/chelsey.bahe/posts/10164989735150581Tree seasons from http://www.felicia-levy.com/2017/10/14/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/Tree-fingerprint from https://www.facebook.com/flowwellbeingnetwork/posts/226598855788156

Saturday, April 3, 2021

Happy Easter Weekend 2021

It is in the spirit of spring weather that I send you warm wishes for a joyous Easter. 

Be healthy, safe, and breathe in the beauty of the outdoors.


Image created at canva.com