Environmental Justice Alliance at UCSB
system change, not climate change
Call for Submissions! 🌱 EJA would like to invite creators to submit any form of 2-dimensional artwork (studio art: drawing, painting, photography, collage, etc) or written work (poetry, prose, short story, etc) for our Rooting and Reconnecting zine, focused on building and nurturing our connection with the earth physically, spiritually, and emotionally. BIPOC creator submissions are encouraged and will be centered in this zine.
Submissions are due February 28.
* Content warning: environmental injustice
Last month, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office announced criminal charges against eight former and one current government official for their alleged involvement in the Flint, Michigan water crisis. Together, the group faces 42 counts. The next court appearance for some of these defendants is February 18.
The Flint Water Crisis first came to light in 2014, when the city issued a boil water advisory after fecal matter was identified in the water. The EPA informed Michigan in early 2015 that there were dangerous levels of lead in Flint’s water, months after its residents had been complaining of mysterious illnesses. Water in Flint ended up being poisoned for 18 months. Six years later, the Flint Water Crisis still has a severe impact on the community, given the nightmare it has been to try to recover from this disaster (Politico summarizes the Flint Water Crisis story up until 2020 and explains how deeply the distrust of government runs in the community as a result of this environmental injustice).
Currently, there is a $641 million Flint Water Crisis Settlement. Given the impacts of the crisis, Black Millennials 4 Flint is in support of demanding a ruling of “NO” for the current settlement until it includes their additions. Learn more about it here.
Written by Publicity Chair, Lizzy Mau, on February 11, 2021.
UCSB Native & Indigenous Students started this petition to Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Education Jeffery Stopple and 4 others
Please sign our petition in support of the school investing in our Native and Indigenous students! Please read an excerpt of our letter below. The entire letter can be found here.
Sign the petition here.
[An excerpt from our letter as Native and Indigenous students at UCSB]
To our campus community,
We are your American Indian and Indigenous peers. American Indian and Indigenous students have been repeatedly pushed to the sidelines. We are tired of our voices being treated as an inconvenience. We are tired of the lack of representation in university-level academia. We are tired of the lack of initiative taken by university administrators and faculty to aid us in our goal of establishing an American Indian and Indigenous Studies Department. We are tired of being told that our voices, our pain, our struggles, are not enough to warrant real change. We are tired. The grotesque history of settler colonialism is one that has transcended into systemic and institutional insufficiency, which is all too relevant here at UC Santa Barbara.
[…] Native students are suffering at UC Santa Barbara. At a population totaling around 1% of UCSB’s undergraduate community, and less than 1% on the graduate level, Native students are especially vulnerable. Furthermore, drop-out rates for Indigenous students are the highest of any other ethnic group, with up to 50% of all Native students who enroll in college never receiving a degree. Compounded by a lack of belonging, rampant micro-aggressions, and Indigenous invisibility, it is more important than ever to work towards the wellbeing of Native students. While UC Santa Barbara has spaces dedicated to inclusion and social justice, most of these spaces are not Indigenous-focused and fail to take into account the specific needs of our population. Therefore, they fail to serve our students as they do other populations. Indigenous student wellbeing requires an understanding of our cultural complexities that must come from centering Indigenous voices. As of now, the university has failed to do this.
[…] In sum, we are absolutely appalled and exhausted by the continued acts of Indigenous suppression and erasure by this university. UC Santa Barbara has done the bare minimum by adopting a land acknowledgment, which is only read sporadically at events such as convocation. Indigenous students are more than just a land acknowledgment It is time for UCSB to move beyond pretense of support and actually act on the needs of the Indigenous community. We will not back down or step to the side. We are Strong, we are Resilient, and above all, we are Indigenous.
Our Demands as the Native and Indigenous students of UC Santa Barbara are as follows:
-Complete adherence and support for the American Indian and Indigenous Studies proposal as authored and intended. See here.
-The formation of a fully funded American Indian and Indigenous Studies Department.
-The formation of a fully funded American Indian and Indigenous research center.
-The hiring of additional American Indian and Indigenous faculty, career staff, and student staff.
Continued funding for American Indian and Indigenous initiatives.
Such as the American Indian and Indigenous Symposium.
-The hiring of American Indian and Indigenous-focused admissions officer.
Thursday, February 11th at 6:30pm
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the damaging and traumatic impacts of systemic racism. We have been overwhelmed with anxiety, grief, and rage as we see our communities heavily impacted by preexisting health conditions, high-risk work environments, and other environmental injustices that are rooted in white supremacist structures. Centering our healing and strengthening our connection to the Earth and each other becomes crucial in these moments of despair and hopelessness. Environmental Justice Alliance invites you to join us in a conversation to center/prioritize ourselves and reconnect with the land and our environment. This will be a flexible space for facilitated discussion, listening, journaling and art. You are not required to come with a piece of writing or art made already – we will set aside time for that if you wish to make and/or share. This space is intended to uplift and center QTBIPOC, so please be respectful of this space.
Zoom link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/81013879832
Join @ucsbeja on Instagram Live on February 2 at 5:15 PM for a conversation on Eco-Grief and Modes of Resilience with Summer Gray, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at UC Santa Barbara, where she teaches courses on infrastructure, adaptation, and the environment. She is also a founding member of the Climate Justice Project at UC Santa Barbara and a DIY filmmaker. This space is open to all to listen and share!