The Intersectional Environmentalist

Metadata

• Author: Leah Thomas
• Full Title: The Intersectional Environmentalist
• Category: books
• Document Tags: #planet

Highlights

• WE CAN’T save the planet without uplifting the voices of its people, especially those most often unheard. We should care about the protection of people as much as we care about the protection of our planet—to me, these fights are the same. As a society, we often forget that humans are a part of our global ecosystem and that we don’t exist separately from nature; we coexist with it each and every day. (Location 108)
• Unfortunately, as with other animals, some humans are endangered and facing a multitude of social and environmental injustices that impact their ability to not only survive but also thrive in liberation and joy. (Location 111)
• Social injustice and environmental injustice are fueled by the same flame: the undervaluing, commodification, and exploitation of all forms of life and natural resources, from the smallest blade of grass to those living in poverty and oppressed people worldwide. (Location 132)
• patience begins to run out and internal fires begin to burn when you’re silencing parts of yourself. (Location 146)
• how privileged must one be to so boldly participate in theatrical protests? (Location 152)
• RACIAL DISPARITIES for Black women in the health care system and increased maternal mortality rates.7 THE ANGRY BLACK WOMAN STEREOTYPE, which contributes to the perception of Black women as threatening when they voice emotion. THE STRONG BLACK WOMAN STEREOTYPE, which discourages Black women from showing emotion. THE HYPERSEXUALIZATION of Black girls and women and the policing of their style choices. For example, natural hairstyles such as braids, locs, and Afros being banned in schools and workplaces. THE DOUBLE STANDARD when styles or features are perceived as “ghetto” when worn by Black women but praised when worn by white women. (Location 306)
• humans are complicated, and lateral oppression—the concept of marginalized groups oppressing other marginalized groups—is very real. Sometimes the allure of power, however paltry, can cause otherwise oppressed people to contribute to the oppression of others. (Location 331)
• “If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free, since our freedom would necessitate the destruction of all the systems of oppression.” (Location 338)
• Twin sisters Barbara and Beverly Smith, Audre Lorde, Demita Frazier, Cheryl Clarke, Akasha Hull, Margo Okazawa-Rey, Chirlane McCray, and other Black feminist revolutionaries were tired of taking a back seat in their own liberation struggle. Together, they formed the Combahee River Collective in 1974, a small organization named after the Combahee River Raid in South Carolina, led by Harriet Tubman to liberate hundreds of enslaved people. The goals of the CRC were to combat capitalism, racism, homophobia, sexism, and more. (Location 344)
• The CRC, inspired by anticolonial and antiwar movements and the work of the Third World Women’s Alliance, argued that the liberation of Black women would result in freedom for all people.10 Black women were and are faced with racism, poverty, and sexism, and if Black women no longer bore the brunt of all these injustices, then everyone would benefit. This notion was revolutionary, because it is the opposite of white feminist ideologies that say that white women’s liberation should come first (Location 349)
• BONO PEOPLE of Ghana—Asase Ya (Asaase Yaa, Asaase Afua): The earth goddess of fertility, truth, and creation MAYA—AKNA: The goddess mother of Maya civilization who is the embodiment of fertility and childbirth LEPCHA—BUNOO (or Itbu-moo): The mother creator deity MAORI—PAPATŪĀNUKU: She is the land that gives birth to all things NATIVE HAWAIIAN—PAPA (Haumea and Ka Luahine): The Earth Mother HUICHOL—TATEI YURIANAKA: A fruitful Mother Earth (Location 457)
• Ecofeminists argue that the treatment of women in society is a likely indicator of the treatment of the earth and vice versa; that because we live in a capitalist and patriarchal (or male-centered) society, the oppression of women and the destruction of nature are a natural consequence. (Location 472)
• I DEFINE intersectional environmentalism (IE) as an inclusive approach to environmentalism that advocates for the protection of both people and the planet. IE argues that social and environmental justice are intertwined and that environmental advocacy that disregards this connection is harmful and incomplete. IE focuses on achieving climate justice, amplifying historically excluded voices, and approaching environmental education, policy, and activism with equity, inclusion, and restorative justice in mind. (Location 505)
• Intersectional environmentalism argues that the same systems of oppression that oppress people also oppress and degrade the planet. (Location 516)
• How can we combat misuse of these terms and ground them in their original meanings? (Location 559)