We Will Keep Speaking Up
This week, as I’ve pushed forward with my work on the Journal’s Summer 2020 digital-only issue, I’ve found myself pulled back again and again to the deep expressions of heartbreak and outrage taking place across America. I’m horrified by the police killing of George Floyd, and by police use of tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons against those demanding justice. I’m angered by Trump’s efforts to continue rolling back environmental protections while our country is in crisis and our attention is diverted. I'm thinking about what more I can do to support the fight for justice. And I'm more aware than ever that if we truly want to tackle issues like the climate crisis, we must dismantle structural racism.
I’ve also been reflecting on what Earth Island Journal can do as an environmental publication to further the conversation around race in America. Because as Editor Maureen Nandini Mitra writes in her latest letter to our readers, “As environmentalists working to protect our natural world, it is our job to ... understand how, across the globe, oppression, colonialism, racism, and exploitation of the marginalized have been among the key drivers of environmental destruction."
We promise to keep paying attention to the connections between race and the environment at the Journal. To keep bringing you undertold stories. To keep featuring underrepresented voices. And to keep thinking about how we can do this work even better. In fact, you can help us with the last bit by taking a few minutes to fill out to fill out our very short reader survey.
In solidarity,
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
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