Environmental justice activists take-over and drop banner (above) from the building where McGill University was hosting its annual fossil fuel conferance, February 7, 2014 – Photo via @LockoutPetroC
MONTREAL – On February 6 and 7, 2014, McGill University’s Institute for the Study of Canada is hosting a conference entitled “Petrocultures: Oil, Energy, and Canada’s Future,” which brings together leading members of the fossil fuel industry, consultants, supporters of oil extraction in various forms, as well as critics of fossil fuel extraction. These critics believe that the solutions to the environmental and human crises caused by petrochemicals and their extraction lie in reasoned debate.
The framework of this conference positions support for fossil fuel extraction as one valid opinion among others, reducing massive environmental destruction, widespread death and disease, and the continued advancement of Canada’s colonial project to intellectual concerns, to be balanced against the promise of cheap energy and growth in profits. No matter their personal convictions, participants in such debate legitimate the pro-tar sands, pro-fracking, colonialist position by granting its defenders a speaking platform and a considered response.
To ask whether Canada should or should not engage in fossil fuel extraction is to distract from the vital question of how we (as people living in Canada and as residents of a shared planet) will shut down fossil fuel extraction and the economy it supports as quickly as possible. Petrocultures’ choice of starting point for the conversation is a political choice with important effects.
In solidarity with blockades and lockdowns of pipelines and extractive projects across Turtle Island, we are locking out Petrocultures 2014 and the academic discourses that legitimize and facilitate the continued destruction of the atmosphere and pillaging of the planet.
The structure of the Petrocultures debate is not neutral. It presumes a position of political authority, an ability to influence policy as it relates to labour mobility, free trade, and urban design among other topics. Accordingly, a quick scan of the speakers list reveals that participation is contingent on expertise and public status. Just as the debate structure reduces to an afterthought the lived experiences of people suffering the worst effects of resource extraction, the $150 price of admission serves to exclude any participants who might diverge from the script. Any discussion on how to relate to extractive industries must revolve around the people who will be most directly affected by extreme climate change, not paid experts, policymakers, and ivory tower academics.
To whom does Petrocultures offer a stage? Beyond outright promoters of the tar sands and fracking: a co-founder of ForestEthics, which advocates for “responsible industry,” a co-founder of Équiterre, which urges “responsible consumption,” and the president of the International Institute for Sustainable Development, which campaigns to achieve “green growth.” The common thread uniting these speakers is a commitment to making moderate adjustments to life under capitalism, adjustments which serve to extend the lifespan of an inherently violent system without abolishing it. Capitalist society is predicated on indefinite growth and extreme inequality. It cannot exist without the continued refinement of techniques of social control or organized violence. Gradual reforms that leave the basic structure in tact, as pursued by environmental NGOs committed to “sustainability” and “a better future”, are not merely inadequate, they act in opposition to our struggles for lives free from domination and for a planet that will continue to sustain life. Neither do demands for a “sustainable” Canadian future, with their presumptions of an ongoing nation-state and ongoing settler presence on Native lands, address the imperative to dismantle the colonial apparatus of this country.
Let us not forget Suzanne Fortier, who would have had the honor of opening proceedings today. While the world’s largest industrial project displaces indigenous communities and raises the incidence of rare and fatal cancers among their people, Fortier has worked tirelessly to give industry in general and the extractive sector in particular greater control over academic research, as president of the granting agency NSERC then as principal of McGill. Her role in cementing the complicity of universities in ongoing colonization and destruction of the earth makes it fitting that she would address Petrocultures, which, like her vaunted corporate partnerships, sees in the catastrophe of the tar sands an opportunity to generate institutional prestige.
It is not impossible that a participant in Petrocultures would utter a challenge to the systemic roots of the building ecological catastrophe. Yet the structure of the conference would have defused that challenge’s radical potential in advance, flattening it into an academic contest of ideas, opinions to be weighed against one another, prompting ever more contemplation and reasoned dialogue. Meanwhile, the pace at which tar sands projects poison the food people eat, contaminate their water supply, and annex unceded indigenous land only accelerates.
A growing scientific consensus confirms what the brutality of a petro-economy makes apparent in a million ways everyday: time has run out. Rather than wait for a political solution that will not come, we want to spread resistance to the tar sands and to all other forms that Canadian capitalism and colonialism take in our communities and daily lives. And we want to interrupt the falsely critical dialogues that legitimize the power of the people who are destroying the earth. We know that today’s action is a small one, that much more is needed. We hope that others will see in our resistance a shared call to action.
Members of Tahltan Nation, above, shut down Fortune Minerals to protect sacred sites – Photo via Reclaim Turtle Island
All across Turtle Island and around the world Indigenous peoples are taking direct action to protect their lands by any means necessary. Together we are resisting colonialism by defeating corporate Imperialism, preventing resource extraction, asserting our sovereignty, and fighting White supremacy and legacies of racism. So much has happened and Indigenous peoples are rising up!
Below is a brief synopsis of Land Defense and Sovereigntist struggles across Turtle Island that burned bright this 2013. It is in no particular order and by no means complete. From disrupting tar sands megaloads and pipelines infrastructure, to mining blockades, logging blockades, kicking out Nazis, rescuing our kidnapped children, continued Idle No More demonstrations and reclaiming territories, our spirits of survival and responsibility are so strong.
If there is one thing we can take away from 2013: everywhere our people are fiercely fighting colonial expansion and resource extraction. We are rejuvenating our cultures, our languages, and our lifeways. It is through asserting our relationships to our territories that we gain strength. #2014WarriorUp
Special shout out to Warrior Publications for cataloguing so much of our peoples’ resistance.
1. Algonquin’s of Barriere Lake erect Land Protection camps to stop logging and deforestation in their unceded territories. Algonquin peoples haulted logging equipment and forced the occupying government body (Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources) to stop development as they continue to monitor their territory and seek to hold the illegal colonial Ministry accountable.
2. Members of Umatilla Nation and supporters stop tar sands megaloads from reaching the Umatilla port.Delaying the megaload transportation by several days, Indigenous peoples and supporters stood in solidarity against tar sands genocide.
3. Unist’ot’en Clan of Wetsu’wet’en Nation, affirm their sovereignty and resistance to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline. In their 4th year in reclaimed territory – effectively stopping roughly 8 proposed pipelines (both tar sands and fracked gas) – the Unist’ot’en camp announced continued resistance to the Northern Gateway despite unlawful colonial approval from National Energy Board. View full statement here.
4. Secwepemc stop TransKanada HWY expansion and protect their Ancestor’s remains. Secwepemc people established a Sacred Fire and evicted TransKanada workers who had unearthed resting places of their Ancestors.
5. #Elsipogtog blockades against SWN, explodes in RCMPig raid, unites Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and settlers against fracking. Mi’kmaq erect rolling blockades (3 separate highways), seize seismic testing equipment, and continue anti-fracking resistance. October 17, RCMPigs raid the site: video here.
Court Updates:6 Warriors were held without trial, as Prisoners of War, and were assaulted by police and put into solitary confinement. 2 received bail. Of the remaining 4, Coady Stevens plead guilty to 1 count assault police, 2 counts obstruct police and 1 count of uttering threats to an officer and has been released. Jim Pictou also entered a guilty plea for 1 count each of uttering threats to officer, mischief, not keeping the peace, obstruction at large, assault with bear spray, and uttering threat to a police dog and has been released. Aaron Francis and Germain “Junior” Breau have entered not guilty pleas to 16 and 19 charges respectively. They have both been denied access to spiritual practices and Junior has been targeted for solitary confinement. Trials coming this spring.
Write to a Warrior: Aaron Francis | Germain “Junior” Breau, S.R.C.C., 435 Lino Rd, Shediac, NB, E4P 0H6, Kanada
6. Tsilhqot’in and Yunesit’in stop forestry vehicles and equipment across their territory. Tsilhqot’in and Yunesit’in peoples blocked highway access stopping Tolko and West Fraser illegal logging operations, protecting territorial forests and moose habitats.
7. Innu communities in Nitassinan territory stage blockades against Hydro-Québec construction under Plan Nord development plans. The blockades followed the continuation of the construction project despite Hydro-Québec making a show of saving colonial face with Innu communities in Uashat and Mani-Utenam.
8. Lubicon Cree tell Penn West Petroleum to frack off. The Cree of Lubicon Lake enforced their Laws against PENN WEST PETROLEUM LTD on an oil lease site located in their territory by occupying a nearby access road.
9. Red Lake Chippewa Blockade Enbridge Pipeline. Nizhawendaamin Indaakiminaan, a group of grassroots Anishinaabe from Red Lake and supporters, occupied land directly over multiple Enbridge pipelines operating without permits on Red Lake lands in occupied-Minnesota, and demanded that the flow of oil through these pipelines be stopped.
10. Direct Action Shuts Down First U$ Tar Sands Mine in the occupied territories of Utah. Dine’ Land Defenders, Lakota Warriors, and supporters, including a Land Defender of the Yagua Nation, shut down the tar sands mining site in so-called Utah, and the corporation’s (U$ Oil – actually a Kanadian company) stock dropped 13% on day of action. Footage from this action is featured in our film Kahstastenhsera. Dine’ land defenders are working towards a sovereignty camp.
11. Tahltan Protect Sacred Sites and Takeover Mine to Shut Down Fortune Minerals. Members of the Tahltan Nation order workers off of a Sacred Site being explored for the purpose of exploitation and desecration by Fortune Minerals. Tahltan peoples, lead by Elders part of the Klabona Keepers, take over the site, protecting their Sacred Headwaters and establish a blockade to prevent illegal mining of their territories.
12. Tsleil-Waututh Nation assert traditional lifeways, protest Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline. Members of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation brought out traditional canoes to protest pipeline expansion as they sail through waters now occupied by Marine Terminals and supertankers.
13. Thunderchild First Nation stand up for Sundance grounds against fracking exploration. Cree peoples from Thunderchild First Nation opposed seismic testing adjacent to their Sundance grounds, but face legal challenges from the Indian Act systems and colonial courts.
14. Tar Sands Megaloads blocked by members of the Niimíipu Nation (Nez Perce). Niimíipu Elders, mothers, children, community members and their supporters block the highway where tar sands megaloads seek to pass as 20 people were arrested.
15. Sinixt Nation assert their sovereignty in the face of colonial erasure. Sinixt Nation establish a reclamation site for cultural practices and call for support in the wake of Colonial forces denying their existence and occupying their territories. Full statement from the Sinixt Nation.
16. Lakota & Dakota Grandmothers Kick Out Nazi Scumbags! Hundreds of Lakota & Dakota peoples and their supporters lead by Grandmothers asserted their sovereignty by protecting their territories from White supremacists in a small-settler town outside of the reserve. Stand off between Warriors and Grandmothers against members of the Nationalist Socialist Movement resulted in the confiscation of the Nazi flag and continued confrontations to squash Nazi scumbag organizing on stolen lands! Full story.
17. Lakota fight White KKKlay genocidal chemical warfare. Lakota Warriors, Elders, youth, and supporters stop illegal activities on their territories, combating chemical warfare known as alcohol. Lakota and supporters march on White Clay, NE to stop illegal activity by bar owners. Illegal activities include: Selling to intoxicated and minors, allowing drinking on offsale property, bartering for pornography and Sexual Favors and offering welfare checks debt for alcohol to name a few.
18. Saugeen territory reclaimed. An Anishinaabe-kwe reclaims Saugeen territory from Crown occupation and builds her own home along her traditional trapline.
19. Innu protect stolen children, barricade windows of Family Serviecs Office. Innu people barricaded the windows and blockaded the office of Sheshatshui Child, Youth, and Family Services, demanding the return of kidnapped children, including 30 children recently taken.
20. Gitga’at First Nation evicts Northern Gateway crew conducting spill response survey. An Enbridge survey crew trespassed on Gitga’at territory, and after a meeting were told to leave. Members of the Gitga’at Nation have said they will not allow tankers to pass their territory.
21. Anishinaabe of Aamjiwnaang disrupt pro-Tar Sands Conference and stand up against the “Chemical Valley.” Lead by Anishinaabe-kwe’s, youth and Elders, Aamjiwnaang community members and supporters rallied against environmental racism, standing up against new development in the “Chemical Valley” and shut down the pro-tar sands conference.
22. Inuit of so-called Labrador oppose Hydro Project, arrested asserting Sovereignty. Eight Inuit people including elder James Learning were arrested for asserting their inherent responsibilities over their traditional territories. They are fighting the Muskrat Fall Hydroelectric project that will disrupt their hunting, fishing, and trapping grounds.
23. Dakelh people from Ts’il Kaz Koh First Nation (Burns Lake) blockade Band Office, evicted by RCMPigs.Three adults and one child were removed from the Burns Lake Indian Band offices by 50 RCMP officers with shotguns and riot gear. The protesters had blockaded themselves in the building after hearing of shady financial transactions by local Indian Act Officials.
24. Attawapiskat launches multiple fierce and effective blockades against De Beers Diamond Mine, causing “irreparable financial damages.” Anishinaabe community members of Attawapiskat hit De Beers mine with a road blockade, and another blockade shortly after in order to halt operations and stop the exploitation of their lands and peoples.
25. #INM National Day of Action springs multiple rail blockades across Klanada. Border crossings, passenger train and commercial freight lines were stalled, blocked and halted by Indigenous peoples from across Klanada as part of Idle No More calls to action.
26. Haudenosaunee from Six Nations of the Grand River embark on caravan of protection, hitting over half a dozen wind turbine sites, asserting themselves over their treaty territory. Six Nations community members stood up against illegal development in their territory, as a wind-turbine companies (NextEra Energy Kanada and Capital Power Corp) displaced the nest of an Akwek’s (Eagle) family.
27. Grassy Narrows community continues to fight logging, mercury poisoning, and more. A march lead by Grassy Anishinaabe-Kwe’s raises awareness about violence against Indigenous women, as the community celebrate the 11th anniversary of the clearcut blockade and continues campaigns of resistance against new plans to resume clear-cut logging in their territory.
28. Racist newspaper letter sparks protest and backlash in occupied Suneymuxw territory, socalled Nanaimo, BC. The Nanaimo Daily News posted a racist letter laced with hate speech and ignorance against Indigenous peoples. A protest lead by Suneymuxw First Nation people and supported by the community demanded the firing of the paper’s Editor and a front page apology.
29. Innu continue resistance to Plan Nord, maintain blockades and plan for future actions. People of the Innu Nation continue to protect Nitassinan, their traditional territory, against Quebec plans for energy infrastructure including hydro dams which will devastate the natural balance of the lands, waters and impact the practices of traditional lifeways.
30. Imperial Metals AGM shut down by Neskonlith, Secwepemc, Ahousaht and Nuu Chah Nulth peoples! Protectors from Neskonlith, Secwepemc, Ahousaht and Nuu Chah Nulth Nations asserted their collective sovereignty to defend their lands by condemning Imperial Metals stating their are not welcome.
31. Journey for the Earth Walkers embark on A Sacred Journey for Future Generations, follow the Nuclear Cycle. Cree, Dene, Metis and Anishinaabe walkers joined at different spots along the route and continued on deliver notices to GE-Hitachi, walk the nuclear fuel chain to stop uranium use.
32. Aamjiwnaang 13-day rail blockade against CN rail. Just slipping into 2013, Kanadian National railines suffered financial loss as the Anishinaabe of Aamjiwnaang First Nation established a rail blockade as part of Idle No More, asserting their sovereignty and resisting the exploitation of Kanadian occupation and the impacts of Chemical Valley on their lands and peoples.
33. Mi’kmaq community members from Listuguj block Eastern railines. L’nu (Mi’kmaq) people erected a blockade of a main rail artery in protest of Omnibus Bill C-45, supporting Idle No More.
34. Dine’ peoples stand strong to protect their Sacred Sites and confront PeaBody Coal Mine from exploiting their lands and peoples. Several were arrested in street confrontations, including banner drops, at the PeaBody AGM as Dine’ (Navajo) community members from Black Mesa, joined by several groups of supporters condemned the PeaBody operation in support of Indigenous self-determination. Demonstrations were also held to further condemn PeaBody Coal’s desecration of Burial Sites on Black Mesa, as well as ongoing campaigns to Protect the Sacred Peaks, to keep the ban on Uranium mining and push for cleanup, as part of the legacy of continued resistance against ongoing land theft within Dine’tah.
35. Kanien’keha:ka of Akwesasne takeover U$ / Kanadian border bridge in opposition to fracking. Kanien’keha:ka community members of Akwesasne seized a border crossing, firmly asserting their sovereignty in the midst of Imperial borders, sending a strong message to colonial occupiers about burgeoning Haudenosaunee resistance to fracking on our territories.
36. #ShutDownCanada call to support Mi’kmaq Warriors see’s international actions. SWN CEO lawn demonstrations, major commerce Port shutdowns, rail and highway blockades, banner drops and more actions poured in from europe, across Klanada and the U$ in support of Elsipogtog resistance to fracking.
37. Lubicon Lake Nation Standing Strong Against Fraudulent Election, Demands Aboriginal Affairs Cease Assimilation Tactics in Nation. Lubicon Cree traditional leadership condemns the Imperial tactics of Indian Act governance, charging Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AAND-C) with interfering with sovereign affairs and firmly rejecting Indian Act calls for elections.
38. #Oct7Proclaim Idle No More Day of Action sparks over 50 actions globally. Including rallies, highway blockades and the delivery of an Eviction Notice from Mi’kmaq Warriors to SWN headquarters to occupied Houston, TX, actions ignited across Turtle Island in spite of the 250 years of the Crowns colonial lies.
39. Moccasins on the Ground, Direct Action training camp in Lakota territory. Lakota warriors, community members and supporters participated in training communities along the Keystone XL pipeline route. Everyone was encouraged to warrior up for Unci Maka. The Lakota have made it clear TransCanada is not welcome on their Treaty territory.
40. Cree walkers arrive in unceded Algonquin territory, so-called Ottawa on Idle No More trek. Cree youth from the community of Whapmagoostui and their supporters walked 1,600 miles from their community near so-called James Bay, QC to unceded Algonquin territory in so-called Ottawa, in support of the Idle No More Movement.
41. Why we call them RCMPigs: Mounties raped and abused West-Coast Indigenous women and girls. Feb 14th Annual Memorial Marches Continue. Human Rights Watch investigations in 10 Indigenous communities have found that RCMPigs are and have historically rape and abused Indigenous women and girls. Women and girls have gone missing so frequently on HWY 16 in occupied-British Columbia that the road it is called The Highway of Tears. Across Klanada, on February 14, there is an annual march to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women.
42. Campaign against racist slurs puts the R-word under heat. Across Turtle Island rallies of hundreds of people have come together to protest the continuation of the use of the R-word in football and sports teams. One such campaign was successful in occupied Algonquin territories, of so-called Nepean, ON where DJ NDN from A Tribe Called Red was successful in pressuring a name change of the local football team.
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Reclaim Turtle Island is dedicated to spreading the word on the Indigenous Insurrection in 2014, and we look forward to continue to lift up one another’s voices on the frontlines against colonial-capitalism, reservation apartheid and industrial genocide. Please support their crowdfunding initiative so they can get the basic equipment needed to continue to produce Indigenous-led grassroots media, and continue production on several exciting upcoming projects.
People die at every stage of the process: during the original extraction; during the use of the extracted material; and then during the eventual waste disposal.
1. Navajo, Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, Latine communities, and other local people get poisoned, during the initial extraction and mining of uranium, living in the site worst affected by radiation. (Majority of US uranium mines in Four Corners region; radioactive soil; hundreds of unrepaired mines; poisoned streams; largest single radioactive waste disaster in US in 1979 located on Navajo land.)
2. Navajo, Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, Latine communities, and other local people get poisoned during atomic bomb testing, living in the site worst affected by radiation after radioactive materials have been processed and manipulated. (Majority of nuclear weapons testing fallout and iodine-131 poisoning in Four Corners region.)
3. Navajo, Pueblo, Ute, Hopi, Latine communities, and other local people get poisoned, during the disposal of radioactive waste, living in the site worst affect by radiation after the uranium has been processed and profited from and then returned to mills in the Four Corners region. (Majority of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive uranium waste stored in Four Corners region.)
Here are some incheresting and random unrelated maps just tossed together for no particular reason:
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Desert ecoregions get designated as empty “wastelands” and therefore available for domination and extraction. Then people die. People die at every stage of the process: during the original resource extraction; during the refining and use of the extracted material; and then during the eventual waste disposal.
Maybe just my impression, idk.
If the waste disposal happens. People here live in houses made of uranium tailings. They walk their dogs at abandoned sites. It leaches into the drinking water. We ignore it.
Something else we forgot: brown people were used to extract uranium cake with their bare hands to make weapons to kill brown and Asian people overseas.
Together, We Have the Power to Make Our Voices Heard. Join Janelle Monáe, Ava DuVernay, Ledisi, Musiq Soulchild, Robert Glasper, Jesse Williams, Jasiri X, Ryan Coogler, Royce Da 5'9, Hannibal Buress and Many More in #Flint at Our Free #JusticeForFlint Event This Sunday! To RSVP for Free, CLICK Here → http://bit.ly/24nzv8Y! Tune In to the Live Stream of the Event Exclusively on Revolt.TV Starting at 5 PM EST. Support the Local Communities in Flint and Donate by Texting JUSTICE to 83224. For More on Our Event, Check Out the Articles Below:
There Will Be A Star-Studded Free Event For Flint On Oscars Night: http://bzfd.it/20TsBn9
Ava DuVernay, Hannibal Buress, Ryan Coogler to Headline Free Event for Flint, Michigan: http://bit.ly/1oFuvfD via Entertainment Weekly
Ryan Coogler to Host Free Event for Flint Water Crisis Victims on Same Night as Oscars: http://bit.ly/21dtoFa via Complex
Celebrities Organize #JusticeForFlint Event on the Same Night of the Oscars: http://bit.ly/1T50z9m via Blavity
Take a Moment to Read the Insightful Articles Below on the Flint Water Crisis to Learn More About the Situation:
“Since the city’s emergency managers decided to draw Flint’s water from the highly corrosive local river, this small city of 100,000 people – just 70 miles from Michigan’s great lakes, the world’s largest freshwater source – has suffered alone, let down by local, state and federal officials and almost entirely ignored by the rest of America.” The Guardian: http://bit.ly/1Tz1GxH
“Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s successive emergency managers are now gone from Flint, but the wreckage of their rule there still pollutes many homes. The crisis in Flint is, on the surface, about water. The Flint debacle also is about democracy.” Democracy Now: http://bit.ly/1Q6gdLt
“Environmental racism is an issue of political power: Polluters and waste sites are placed where politicians expect little or no political backlash.” The Nation: http://bit.ly/1V3R2wL
“What we have here is a horrific clash of race, class, politics and public health.” The New York Daily News: http://nydn.us/1SIrHL7
“First Flint’s auto manufacturing benefactor began cutting jobs. Then white flight pulled people into the suburbs. Residents of Michigan began agitating over taxes and ushered in laws that kneecapped the city’s finances. All of it set the stage for a massive public health disaster that has touched nearly everyone in the city.” Think Progress: http://bit.ly/20LtFyF
We Fear the Water: Residents Struggle to Cope with Flint Water Crisis: http://bit.ly/1oCERwL
“You know how many babies here is affected now man, for the rest of their lives? And to my understanding and my little research it’s irreversible once you get lead poison in the brain. It’s nothing you can do about it. And it’s like giving a whale a tic tac for bad breath man, giving us a case a water a day. How we supposed to bathe, man? I got a wife, and I got a daughter here. I need way more than one case of water now. The people in charge need to take responsibility for what they’ve done to this city, man! People out here are mad as hell man, and I’m one of ‘em.” Flint Resident Alvon Leighton in National Geographic: http://bit.ly/1PNL6YC
I was going through some old photos and found some pictures from a snorkeling trip I took a couple years ago to Key Largo. It was an amazing to be in a place that is responsible for providing food and/ or shelter to ¼ of all ocean species. The sad truth is photos (like the ones I took) may soon be all that is left of these extraordinary ecosystems. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection stated there was a 44% decline in coral cover from the years 1996-2005. Over 11 years have past and the issue has not gone away. In 2014, an additional five coral species were listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. Due to our addiction to fossil fuels and the carbon emissions that come with it, coral reefs have been devastated by rising ocean temperatures and increases in ocean acidity. The threats to coral reefs also come from boating, overfishing and tourism.
This is all very frightening, I understand its very easy to give up in times like these. Never forget that there is always hope. You can help end this destruction. You can send letters to state legislators and urge them to sign bills that work to promote clean, renewable sources of energy (wind, solar, wave) and to impose green taxes on polluting companies. If you fish or boat, be sure to only catch non-endangered fish during proper seasons and follow all laws regarding speeds and docking. If you choose to tour these wonderful communities, be sure not to touch anything or cause any unnecessary turbidity with your flippers. Together we can keep these beautiful, biodiverse communities from disappearing. Together we can keep our world from collapse❤
Photos taken at: John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo, Florida
“La Madre Tierra, militarizada, cercada, envenenada, donde se violan sistemáticamente derechos elementales, nos exige actuar.”- Berta Cáceres
Whether it’s indigenous water protectors or led-poisoned black children, communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the effects of environmental degradation. While the oppressors in power harm & exploit the Earth and it’s inhabitants, we have & continue to fight on the frontline of the struggle but we are not always heard and this needs to change. In an effort to center the importance of our voices, Muchacha Fanzine’s “Madre Tierra” (Mother Earth) invites people of color to share short stories, visual art, photography, comics, thoughts, poetry, rants, doodles, and essays all related to environmental justice. Women, queer, transgender & non-binary folks of color are especially encouraged to submit their work.
Ya sea que se trate de protectores de agua indígenas o de niños negros envenenados con plomo, las comunidades de color son desproporcionadamente afectadas por los efectos de la degradación ambiental. Mientras los opresores en el poder dañan y explotan a la Tierra y sus habitantes, luchamos en las frontera de la lucha, pero no siempre somos escuchados y esto necesita cambiar. Con el objetivo de centrar la importancia de nuestras voces, Muchacha Fanzine’s “ Madre Tierra” invita a las personas de color a compartir cuentos, arte visual, fotografía, cómicos, pensamientos, poesía y ensayos relacionados con la justicia ambiental. Las mujeres, personas gay, transgeneros y personas no binarias son especialmente alentados a presentar su trabajo.
Please limit written submissions to 2500 words & attach .jpg art images. Including a short bio/contact info is encouraged but optional. All of the contributors will receive free copies including domestic/international shipping! / Por favor limite las presentaciones por escrito a 2500 palabras y adjunte imágenes de arte .jpg. Incluyendo información de bio/contacto se recomienda, pero es opcional. ¡Todos los contribuyentes recibirán copias gratis incluyendo el envío nacional/internacional!
(Topic ideas include but are not limited to: *Environmental Racism *Anticapitalism *Indigenous Resistance *Decolonization *Black & Brown Resistance Movements *Ecofeminism *Queer Ecology *Industrial Pollution *Coal & Oil Companies *Air, Water & Soil Contamination *Greenhouse Gas *Global Warming *Toxic Wastes Sites *Fossil Fuels *Fracking *Radioactive Material *Health hazards i.e. cancer, asthma, lead poisoning *#WaterisLife *Keystone XL Pipeline *Natural Disasters *Deforestation *Heat Exposure *Gentrification *Public Housing *Transit Justice *Migration *Prison Industrial Complex *Police Violence *Military Occupation *Imperialism *Climate Change Denialism *The Trump Administration *EPA *Reproductive Health *Animal Justice *Endangered Species *Factory farms & Slaughterhouses *Food Justice *Food Deserts *Gardening *Public Policy *Power in Decision Making Processes *Sustainability *Renewable Energy *Grassroots Activism *Green Anarchism *Green Socialism *Environmental Spirituality *Healing *Where do we go from here?)
: “Mother Earth Nourish” by Malaysian artist Jennifer Mourin
“La Madre Tierra, militarizada, cercada, envenenada, donde se violan sistemáticamente derechos elementales, nos exige actuar.”- Berta Cáceres
Whether it’s indigenous water protectors or led-poisoned black children, communities of color are disproportionately impacted by the effects of environmental degradation. While the oppressors in power harm & exploit the Earth and it’s inhabitants, we have & continue to fight on the frontline of the struggle but we are not always heard and this needs to change. In an effort to center the importance of our voices, Muchacha Fanzine’s “Madre Tierra” (Mother Earth) invites people of color to share short stories, visual art, photography, comics, thoughts, poetry, rants, doodles, and essays all related to environmental justice. Women, queer, transgender & non-binary folks of color are especially encouraged to submit their work.
Ya sea que se trate de protectores de agua indígenas o de niños negros envenenados con plomo, las comunidades de color son desproporcionadamente afectadas por los efectos de la degradación ambiental. Mientras los opresores en el poder dañan y explotan a la Tierra y sus habitantes, luchamos en las frontera de la lucha, pero no siempre somos escuchados y esto necesita cambiar. Con el objetivo de centrar la importancia de nuestras voces, Muchacha Fanzine’s “ Madre Tierra” invita a las personas de color a compartir cuentos, arte visual, fotografía, cómicos, pensamientos, poesía y ensayos relacionados con la justicia ambiental. Las mujeres, personas gay, transgeneros y personas no binarias son especialmente alentados a presentar su trabajo.
Please limit written submissions to 2500 words & attach .jpg art images. Including a short bio/contact info is encouraged but optional. All of the contributors will receive free copies including domestic/international shipping! / Por favor limite las presentaciones por escrito a 2500 palabras y adjunte imágenes de arte .jpg. Incluyendo información de bio/contacto se recomienda, pero es opcional. ¡Todos los contribuyentes recibirán copias gratis incluyendo el envío nacional/internacional!
(Topic ideas include but are not limited to: *Environmental Racism *Anticapitalism *Indigenous Resistance *Decolonization *Black & Brown Resistance Movements *Ecofeminism *Queer Ecology *Industrial Pollution *Coal & Oil Companies *Air, Water & Soil Contamination *Greenhouse Gas *Global Warming *Toxic Wastes Sites *Fossil Fuels *Fracking *Radioactive Material *Health hazards i.e. cancer, asthma, lead poisoning *#WaterisLife *Keystone XL Pipeline *Natural Disasters *Deforestation *Heat Exposure *Gentrification *Public Housing *Transit Justice *Migration *Prison Industrial Complex *Police Violence *Military Occupation *Imperialism *Climate Change Denialism *The Trump Administration *EPA *Reproductive Health *Animal Justice *Endangered Species *Factory farms & Slaughterhouses *Food Justice *Food Deserts *Gardening *Public Policy *Power in Decision Making Processes *Sustainability *Renewable Energy *Grassroots Activism *Green Anarchism *Green Socialism *Environmental Spirituality *Healing *Where do we go from here?)
: “Mother Earth Nourish” by Malaysian artist Jennifer Mourin
CALL OUT REMINDER for MUCHACHA FANZINE ISSUE #13 “MADRE TIERRA”
Still searching for submissions!!! This is a really important topic, especially considering the ongoing severe weather conditions caused by climate change that directly impacts our communities!
¡¡¡Sigo en busca de contribuciones!!! ¡Este es un tema muy importante teniendo en cuenta las condiciones climáticas severas en curso causadas por el cambio climático que afecta a nuestras comunidades directamente!
Deadline/Fecha Tope: October 1st! Send Submissions/Envíe Contribuciones: [email protected]
Climate activists are calling on the Democratic National Committee to make climate change the sole focus of at least one of its 12 planned presidential primary debates, and activists will be presenting petition signatures to the DNC headquarters this Wednesday.
digital illustration of a large polar bear stranded on an iceberg. In the surrounding ocean there are various pieces of trash including a coke bottle, plastic can rings, a spoon, and a can. The polar bear is looking right at the viewer with a text bubble that reads, ‘what do you want me to say.’
