Author: Dominique Agnew

This blog is a July 4th special about my experience as a black woman on Independence Day

It’s July 4th aka American Independence day aka the best day for fireworks shops across the country. This year with Black Lives Matter and more focus on the racial injustice in this country, this holiday has a little more weight on its shoulders.

I have always had an interesting relationship with my country. I love America. It gives me opportunities that I adore and the ability to meet people from different races and cultures. However, I have always felt American in a way that was very different from my white American peers. Despite what is emphasized in my history classes, my family before me didn’t feel so welcomed in this country. And, this feeling is carried from generation to generation, also known as transgenerational trauma. The way I connect to America mainly is the memories I have here and the values I hold that come from my experience of being born and raised in America and make me the American that I am. With this feeling of being a distant American maybe I do have some complicated feelings about Independence Day because what are we celebrating exactly? For my ancestors, life did not change one bit. They fought on behalf of the newly formed American people and we’re still no more valued than the years prior. I do understand that without the Revolutionary War, there is the possibility that we would be similar to Australia… a Queen loving yet democratic country that confuses a lot of visitors (aka me). However, for many people of color across the country, July 4th does not represent independence. It represents a distraction for many Americans to avoid the social injustices that existed in 1776 and continue to persist today.

One of the reasons I wanted to write this blog is to give readers, specifically non-POC readers, what a black person potentially thinks about and goes through on this holiday. I know this blog is not about an environmental issue nor related to environmentalism, but here at Climate Justice Now, we try to connect with people of different backgrounds and experiences. I believe that hearing a person’s experience first-hand is really important as an activist. So, I hope that my story connects with you all and makes you wonder what else you can learn by listening to people.

Written by Dominique Agnew, Senior at Cornell University and Climate Justice Now intern

The fourth and most likely final installment of the blog series about the intersection between race and the environmental movement.

I have been in my fair share of programs dedicated to increasing diversity in certain areas of academia. I was able to visit Cornell and be a part of an amazing environmental internship program during my freshman and sophomore year of college because of diversity programs. Because of these programs, I was able to meet people that I probably never would’ve met otherwise. But did these programs have an actual effect on the diversity of Cornell or the environmental movement? I am not so sure. And here’s why.

One thing I have learned while being a part of these diversity programs is that sometimes you can feel like a token person. It can feel like the program didn’t choose you because of your potential or talent, but because they want to increase their “ethnic” numbers and appease the so-called higher-ups. It is great that they are trying to increase their diversity but if I don’t feel valued beyond the color of my skin it can lead to a lot of problems, such as imposter syndrome.

Another reason I am not sure if these programs make a big impact on the actual diversity of the environmental movement is that with these programs they are directing their attention to students. This initiative is great, however, I believe that without educating the leaders of these national environmental organizations and the protest organizers, diversity will not be as valued as it should be.

But why is diversity important in the environmental movement?

Biodiversity is one of the biggest facets of environmentalism. If I asked an environmentalist why biodiversity is important in nature their answer would probably have something to do with the important role each animal has in nature and what would happen if their role was altered or disappeared in its entirety. That’s similar to why diversity is important in social and environmental movements. Each person has different things to offer. They bring about different solutions and different problems that their peers potentially wouldn’t even consider. According to a publication by Emily Enderle from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies “Diversity is about strengthening the movement we are dedicated to by making it resilient and capable of adapting, regardless of what we face in the future. Widespread understanding of the values that diversity can provide is essential to enhancing our collective effort and the world, yet such understanding is still absent in far too many places.“

I think that people underestimate their power to increase diversity in areas that need change. As a black woman, I would probably not have known I was passionate about the environment if I did not have the chance to take environmental classes in high school or talked to my next-door neighbor about her love for fishing and gardening. Pushing for education reforms can impact so many people so if you have the power to push for these reforms, do it! It can make such a difference. Another way is just by talking to different people and exposing them to different ideas and passions. It is not uncommon for people to be exposed and hear about the same things over and over and over again in certain neighborhoods or communities. Diving deep into the interests of other people is a great way of hearing about what else is out there.

You have the opportunity to increase diversity in environmental justice! Make the movement we care about so much, represent the people that we are fighting for.

Written by Dominique Agnew, Cornell University Senior, Climate Justice Now Intern

The second installment in the blog series about the intersection between race and environmentalism

Intersectionality is important in any social and environmental issue. But what does it mean to be “intersectional” exactly?

A person is not just one thing. I am not just a Floridian. I am not just a woman. I am not just a college student. I am all, and more. As I am sure you can identify with numerous identities. You might be a father or a sister or an immigrant. Intersectionality recognizes those identities and recognizes the privileges and potential oppression that can come with those identities. A little over 30 years ago, Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term to further describe the oppression of Black women and how their experience wasn’t just because of one of their identities but a mix of their race and their gender expression.

So, how does thinking intersectionality relate to being an environmentalist?

One thing I love so much about environmentalism is that as environmentalists, we fight for issues that encompass so many different things.  My parents never thought they were environmentalists before they realized that fighting for people’s rights to clean air and clean water was a part of the environmental movement. The environment is a tool to push for many social problems and that is why Intersectional Environmentalism is so important. Protecting the environment just for fun is not what we do. We protect it so that everybody, no matter what their background is, can have equal access to what they deserve. We protect so that they can survive in a healthy and sustainable society. Society and the environment are linked in the most extraordinary way. A simple example of this is capitalism and the international push for economic growth in all sectors. When society values money more than they do social progress, the environment suffers.

Secondly, thinking intersectionally is instrumental when creating solutions to environmental problems. The solution for pollution in America will be very different as a potential solution for a community in India or Africa. Although we are all human beings, people in different areas have different values and different priorities. Recognizing these differences and values that come along with a person’s identity is the first step in achieving climate solutions that can benefit the world at large.

Fighting for the environment is not a privilege that everyone is able to hold. After reading that you might be thinking: “a privilege?? Everyone should be fighting for the planet that they live on!” Although that should be the case, putting energy toward something that goes beyond finding a job that creates financial security, or affording a bus pass so that you can access fresh food that is 20 miles away from your house is not a luxury that everyone has. As an environmentalist, I recognize that I have the ability to fight for things that some people cannot fight for. This is a part of intersectional environmentalism.

Written by Dominique Agnew, Cornell University Class of 2021, Climate Justice Now Intern

First blog post in a new blog series about how race fits into environmentalism.

In this first blog of this new series, I am going to go back in time and dive into the history of environmentalism.

The conservation movement in the United States really started to take steam after the Industrial Revolution and it became apparent that the pollution caused by the increased production was not doing anybody any favors. At the time, the free market was the main course of action and many thought that the best way to achieve solving social and environmental problems was through the free market. However, the “true” conservationists at the time didn’t like this idea and thought that the government should be protecting the environment directly. Then came the first National Park, Yosemite along with the Sierra Club and other environment-designated organizations and departments of government. Seems super awesome, and innocent right? Well, when you put that initiative up against the motive to take land away from Indigenous people it can be seen in a whole new light. 

Ever since the beginning of colonization, one of the biggest trends in European and American ideology is the undermining of Indigenous farming methods and ways of life. One of the biggest campaigners of establishing the first national park, John Muir easily talked of the Miwok tribe as having “no right place in the landscape” and being frankly “dirty” and “altogether hideous.” According to the Sierra Club, Muir apparently did not push for the genocide of Native Americans but perhaps just thought that he and his fellow conservationists could help them do things right, also known as the “white savior complex.” 

This semester I had the amazing opportunity to go to Australia on an environmental study abroad program and was able to visit a lot of Heritage sites and beautiful natural areas. One of the things that opened my eyes was how often an Aboriginal sacred site was transformed into a tourist attraction. I began to wonder… if this is the case in Australia, then it seems pretty likely that this is how it is back in the States. Researching this topic, I came across the beautiful Grand Canyon that is visited by more than 5 million people each year. What a lot of people may not know, is that within the Grand Canyon there is a place called Beaver Falls. The home of the Havasupai people for thousands of years. And apparently, one of the Havasupai people’s primary sources of revenue is the $140 they get from people that want to hike Beaver Falls.

It is not a secret that Indigenous people, in what is now known as the United States, are at a much lower financial level than the average American citizen. Therefore, even if the Havasupai tribe didn’t want to share their land with non-Indigenous visitors, I believe they really do not have a choice. 

As proud environmentalists, we can’t change the past no matter how hard we try. But what I believe we can do is to learn about the history of the environmental movement and do everything we can to be different from our predecessors. Give Native Americans a voice they deserve in environmental problems and respect their way of life while learning from them at the same time. In order to create a brighter future, we have to learn from the past.

Written by Dominique Agnew, Senior at Cornell University and Climate Justice Now Intern