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Dear John,
With a new year comes new vision, hope and frontline leadership. We’re
excited to kick off 2022 with a reminder from our communities’ artists
and organizers to continue building the new as we resist a return to
normal!
Meet the Creative Wildfire Artists and their work [4], representing a joint
project and call to action [5] that CJA launched with Movement Generation
and New Economy Coalition. Our work is to change the narrative, amplify
transformative frameworks from OUR communities, and inspire others to
resist a return to normal by reinvesting in community power. We hope
you’ll find inspiration from the 14 projects that were created by these
21 artists and take action._ (Artwork below by Maisie Richards & Lokotah
Sanborn)_
CHANGE THE STORY: HONORING CJA’S FELLOWS, USHERING IN 2022 COHORT
It’s hard to believe that two years have passed since CJA began our first
fellowship program in partnership with our member organizations. We’ve
immensely enjoyed working with these fellows as they built out capacity and
knowledge within their organizations while also providing support to CJA
around communications, policy, and organizing. We are sad to see them go
but excited for what lies ahead! Congratulations to:
MOÑEKA DE ORO- Just Transition Policy & Curriculum Fellow, Micronesia
Climate Change Alliance
INKZA ANGELES- Youth Articulation Organizing Fellow, PODER
KEENAN RHODES- Frontline Solutions Storytelling Fellow, KHEPRW Institute
DOM HOSACK- Regenerative Economy Fellow, Earthbound Building
KRISTEN JERÉ- Just Transition Digital Media Fellow, Little Village
Environmental Justice Organization
_(from L to R)_
Our next two-year fellowship kicks off this March in partnership with
Center for Story-based Strategy and The Solutions Project! Stay tuned for
more details soon.
THIS MONTH, CJA MEMBERS WORKED TIRELESSLY TO...
ICC DEFEATS PROPOSED POWER PLANT IN NEWARK NEIGHBORHOOD
In 2020, NJ Governor Phil Murphy signed one of the strongest environmental
justice laws in the country, which bars permits for power plants,
incinerators, landfills, large recycling facilities, and sewage treatment
plants in already-burdened environmental justice communities. Despite this,
the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission attempted to approve the
construction of another high-carbon emission facility in the environmental
justice community of Ironbound, NJ with little push back from the Governor.
The plan called for the building of a gas-fired power plant to serve as
backup for a sewage treatment facility. It’s emissions of fracked gas
however, would contribute to increased pollution in an already overburdened
community that has been the sight of countless industrial plants which have
destroyed air and water quality for decades. Watch Ironbound Community
Corporation (ICC) explain more on DemocracyNow!. [6]
[6]
ICC and local allies immediately mobilized and led organizing efforts to
halt the plant’s approval and demand the Governor step in. From rallies
to petitions to direct phone calls to the Governor, residents pushed back
on the proposed plan. Then earlier this month and just a day prior to the
hearing to approve the plan, the Governor was compelled to postpone the
vote. Calling for “a more thorough environmental justice review and
robust public engagement process.” Congratulations to the Ironbound
community who waged a successful organizing campaign to hold their elected
officials accountable and stay true to their climate justice promises!
PLAN ORGANIZES TO STOP NEW MINE DEVELOPMENT IN NV
The Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada (PLAN) and their allies are
currently in the midst of a major battle to halt the development of a new
mine in the north of Nevada. Canadian conglomerate Lithium America intends
to develop the largest lithium mine on the North American continent, with
extensive excavation in Thacker Pass, NV. Thacker Pass, known as Peehee
Mu’huh to the native community was the location of a 19th century
massacre by military forces on the original Indigenous community of the
region.
Mining this area would mean the desecration and destruction of a sacred
site for The People of Red Mountain–a coalition of Paiute and Shoshone
individuals from the nearby Fort McDermitt Tribe. Such mining activity is
known to poison the land, air, and water and kill off nearby plant and
animal species while local communities, particularly Indigenous people,
bear the brunt of the danger and health conditions caused by mining—a
hallmark of environmental racism.
For their part, PLAN recently hosted a roundtable discussion on Black and
Indigenous solidarity that included two advocates with The People of Red
Mountain. They also led a visit up to Thacker Pass for Las Vegas-based
organizers where they stayed at the protest camp, visited a sacred site,
participated in ceremony, and spent time learning from directly-impacted
people. Tribal communities have filed multiple lawsuits over the project
and protests continue to protect the sacred site.
BUILD THE NEW: AGIP REBUILDS WITH COMMUNITIES IN LOUISIANA
Federal and local aid is known for its slowness in responding to
communities in need following disaster, especially BIPOC communities. When
residents are in need of assistance, frontline organizations answer the
call and connect people to valuable resources to help get their lives back
on track. In Dularge, LA we are seeing this first hand [7]where Another
Gulf is Possible (AGIP) has teamed up with Williams Architects to design
and build wooden temporary housing structures for families who lost their
homes during Hurricane Ida. The structures have been designed to be built
without power tools, needing only a couple of people to construct or break
it down, and are powered via donated solar panels and batteries.
In addition to providing temporary accommodations, the structures are
intended to allow displaced residents to remain within their local
communities. Following the loss of homes, it’s common for people who are
able to access temporary housing to find themselves uprooted to unfamiliar
areas far away from loved ones. The work of AGIP, Williams Architects, and
others are housing people and keeping communities together.
Support CJA
Climate Justice Alliance
PO BOX 10202
Berkeley, CA 94709
United States
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