Intersectional Environmentalism

As America faces one tragedy after another, the idea of ‘intersectionality’, or how deeply our issues are intertwined, has never been so clear.  It was first coined by law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw to describe how social justice problems like sexism and racism frequently overlap, creating multiple layers of complexity. To bear witness and #sayhername for the Black women that have also been brutalized under police force, watch Kimberlé’s experiential Ted Talk on the Urgency of Intersectionality.

The intersectionality of racism and environmentalism is also evident of late. Environmental science is among the least diverse fields of scientific study, yet race (even more than class) is the number one indicator of how vulnerable someone is to climate change (EPA 2018). Thankfully, new leaders like @greengirlleah are at the forefront of this work, making sure that we frame the problem correctly, with all of its interconnections, in order to find a multi-benefit solution.