We Must Fundamentally Change 4/12/25

Environmental justice, especially from a white queer perspective, is putting the most marginalized voices first, especially Indigenous and Black voices who are facing the most brunt end of environmental injustice, and listening to those who are most impacted by the issues. It's also changing and dismantling the current exploitation of the systems that we exist in. Take down the systems, put in the systems that actually give everyone access to the things they need. We must fundamentally change how people view the world and view themselves too.

People don't realize how interconnected environmental justice is to all of systemic oppression and all of the systemic issues and social issues that we face, and also the fact that environmental justice does not just mean here in the United States. If you create something that's really bad and toxic, where are you going to put it?  The cheapest land. Who usually ends up living in the cheapest land? Poor people. Who typically ends up being poor because of historical inequities? Oh, Black and Indigenous people because colonizers came and screwed them out. The cobalt needed for the batteries of electric vehicles comes from men, women and children forced to mine in the Congo for dirt cheap by Apple and Samsung and all these other corporations. They face sexual assault and they're forced out of their homes to be create mining space. Environmental justice can't just be your own backyard, cuz that's also how this whole issue came up in the first place. 

You're gonna make mistakes. You're going to say something wrong - you're probably gonna do something wrong, but, news flash, we're human. The shame isn't going to do anything. It's not gonna help you, and it's not gonna help your community. So, if you can give yourself grace when people call you in and point out where you may have unintentionally caused harm to somebody and learn to sit with it, listen to what they have to say, and then reflect on where that discomfort comes from. The more that you can learn to do that, the easier it's gonna be to show up and do the work. So many people are depressed, because they don't have community. We live by this idea that we don't owe each other anything. No, we owe each other everything. Nobody could survive on their own. The only reason why the human species has gotten to where we are, both the detrimental and amazing parts, is because we had community.

I recommend looking up local orgs in your area, like people who are already doing the work. You just have to show up and be ready to learn from them. Community gardens are a relatively easy way to get started. Lansing has over 90 community gardens.That’s because there's a lot of food insecurity and food deserts here, and so gardening is one of the ways that people can combat that and also because there are a lot of floodplains here in Lansing. Also, there's different types of community gardens. The food bank has a garden project where you can register to have your own plot at a community garden. The other type you have is like Tender Heart and Magnolia Farms where we all collectively tend it together.

This is great for if you're just starting out, and you don't really know anything about gardening, or if you're like me, where you have physical chronic pain that makes it sometimes where I literally can't do the physical labor. I can still go out and sit there and hang out with my friends. And that also makes it easier for them. We want you here. It’s ok if you don’t know shit yet.

As LGBTQ people, we are more likely to face environmental injustice than like our cishet counterparts. My queerness pushes me to fight for environmental issues because none of us are free 'til all of us are free. If I'm fighting for my queerness, I'm fighting for environmental issues especially if I take the time to listen Black queer or indigenous queer people and all these different people who have faced the realities of environmental injustice. The more that I take the time to learn from them, the more that I'm able to want to fight.

I’m inspired by the resiliency of nature, the resiliency of queer people, and the resiliency of all oppressed people. They've tried to kill off so many of us. They've tried to kill off indigenous people. They've tried to kill off Black people. The fact that all of us are still fucking here and fighting, is fucking amazing. Things that are supposed to grow and supposed to thrive, will find a way to thrive, even if it's in a crack of concrete.