What Can We Do: The Community and the Individual

Up to this point, I have talked about pretty broad and large scale environmental justice issues and realities: how it relates to reproductive justice, policy, pollution and property rights, and the urban greening phenomenon. After reading all that, you might be thinking, "I'm only one person, what can I do?" That is exactly the question this post sets out to address: how to bring environmental justice down to the level of the individual and their community. In this post I will talk about San Diego environmental justice community activism, environmental justice at San Diego State University, and environmental justice practices of the individual.

Chicano Park

Here in San Diego, the community has an amazing and inspiring environmental justice success story: Chicano Park. San Diego, like any large city, has a very diverse population. This story is one of a community rising up to say they, like any other San Diego community, deserve environmental justice and green space; essentially, rising up against the city to demand they don't cary the burden of environmental hazards or city planning. The most basic and essential facts of this case are as follows: (1) for years leading up to the parks creation, the community, primarily chicanx, had been asking for space to create a recreational park, (2) due to changes in city zoning laws and the construction of the I-5 and the Coronado State Bridge which cut through the community and the park (think increased pollution and an undue environmental burden) the neighborhood began to change, and (3) the city planned to construct a highway patrol station under the bridge and on top of the projected park space. From these facts alone, you should gather that the community definitely wanted their park and the city constructing a police station where the park was supposed to be located was against the wishes of the surrounding community. Furthermore, due to the socioeconomic composition of the surrounding community, this is an issue of environmental racism and environmental justice (discussed in "Finding My Passion: Why Environmental Justice?"). Also, recall the discussion of the environmental, psychological, and physical health benefits of access to green space from my last post ("The Paradox of Urban Greening").

Due to the increasing amount of environmental hazards and the changing composition of the neighborhood, the community of Barrio Logan applied for a park and a small piece of land was granted, but it was much smaller than the community envisioned. Thus, when they reapplied for more land and heard bulldozers had arrived at the adjoining land, under the bridge, to create not more land for the park as the community requested but rather to begin construction on a new highway patrol station, the community was infuriated. Barrio Logan rose up in protest and demanded that the land be used to construct a larger park for the community. After a twelve day standoff with the police, the city finally agreed to enter into negotiations about the park and the community was ultimately successful. Every year since the park takeover on April 22, 1970, the community has celebrated Chicano Park Day to commemorate the strength and resilience of the community and the creation of their park. The 49th annual Chicano Park Day celebration took place just last week on April 20th. Since its creation, it has received international recognition as a major public art site for the murals that surround the park (pictured above). Additionally, in 1997 the park was listed on the California Register of Historical Resources, in 2013 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 2017 it was listed as a National Historic Landmark. The community's ability to coordinate and take a stand against discriminatory development has been recognized and has created an amazing historical landmark that can be enjoyed by all of San Diego. Clearly, community activism is not hopeless, rather it can create something beautiful and even historical.

San Diego State University

Now, let's take a look at our own community here at San Diego State University. SDSU has just under thirty-five thousand students and is ranked among the top twenty-five schools, nationwide, for ethnic diversity. Being among the most prominent universities in southern California, and still expanding, SDSU has a duty to use its influence to address the concerns of its students and of the surrounding communities -- environmental justice being among these. For environmental justice, this means access to green spaces, clean air (traffic control and parking), and housing, among other things. Being a large university, SDSU has various resources on campus that help to address the concerns of certain groups on campus, especially those groups who may be more prone to variety of social justice issues. Among these resources, which I will talk about here, are the Center for Intercultural Relations and Green Love.

Green Love is a part of Associated Students, SDSU's student government organization. It promotes campus wide sustainability through advocacy, campus and community outreach, promotion, fundraising, awareness, facilitating conversations, partnership, and education. In order to facilitate its success, the organization is comprised of seven committees: the Garden Committee, Greeks Gone Green, the Campus Outreach Committee, the Green Lunch Bag Series, the Sustainable Food Committee, the Sustainable Transportation Committee, and the Environmental Justice Committee. As a result of its activism, it has achieved many successes in making SDSU a more sustainable community. Some of these successes include the implementation of its 'green program' initiative guidelines, the placement of hydration stations throughout campus, green buildings and facilities, and various recycling initiatives. Green Love has been extremely successful in its initiatives and is a large presence on campus which claims environmental justice to be among its priorities.

The Center for Intercultural Relations (CIR) is the second on campus resource I will talk about at SDSU. The CIR "researches, designs and implements unique programs that promote the appreciation of cultural diversity and fosters intercultural and cross-cultural understanding." The CIR is made up of four identity based centers and is expecting more in the coming year or so; among these centers is the Women's Resource Center (WRC). If you recall, I began this blog by talking about environmental justice as it connects to reproductive justice which is defined as the right to raise a child, the right to not raise a child, the right to parent that child, and bodily autonomy. The Women's Resource Center's mission, in short as Jessica Nare, the Associate Chief Diversity Officer, puts it is to "work to center the experiences of diverse women on campus. So when I think about the students that attend our university I think it is really important to be cognoscente of the different forms of oppression that folks are experiencing and that could be issues relating to reproductive justice and issues related to environmental justice based on where they live, where they’re parenting, what their commute looks like, and sort of all the experiences they’re bringing with them to campus.” Jessica was hired about five years ago to start and open the Women's Resource Center at SDSU and has served as the Women's Resource Center Coordinator through this semester. However, she says they can do more when it comes to environmental justice: “I don’t know if we’ve done as much around environmental justice as we have around other issues. Probably about once a year we have a student that is really passionate about it and I would say we’ve had at least one program a year focused on that topic, but i think that’s definitely an area we could do more around. We’ve had quite a few workshops on decolonization and healing and focusing on people’s relationship with their environment and their surroundings using plant based forms of healing; those have been issues we talk about quite a bit in this space that I think are connected to environmental justice.” Environmental justice is such a broad topic that it is addressed in many of the WRC's intersectional programs. This semester they did, however, have an environmental justice program this past week on Earth Day. Jessica's main hope for people as they leave the center is that "in the Women's Resource Center people are exposed to new ideas that they haven’t encountered before. I hope that people are able to learn about something new and maybe think about something critically in a different way that they haven’t before and take that knowledge and curiosity to whatever issue it might apply to and continue thinking and learning being curious and uncovering.” Not only does this apply to environmental justice and reproductive, but also to every other social justice issue addressed in the center.

Individual Environmental Justice Activism

Individual activism in regard to environmental justice can take many forms, engaging in community activism is only one of the many forms it can take. The primary way an individual can influence environmental justice by themselves is to practice sustainable living. This can mean recycling, using reusable bags or straws or water bottles, buying items made out of recycled materials, cultivating your own garden or becoming a member of a community garden (think South Central Farms!), using sustainable transport (bike, carpool, public transit), try to use less water, use renewable energy, practice a more 'natural' sleep schedule (rise and sleep with the sun), and living a more minimalist lifestyle. Obviously, some of these practices are more available to some groups than others (think economic resources), but each of us have the opportunity to practice environmental sustainability in whatever way is available to us and in turn, we can further environmental justice issues in our own communities (think reducing pollution in our neighborhoods). By reducing pollution in our own communities in these ways, we can start conversations with other community members which can serve to both educate and advocate thereby spreading these practices. Each individual making an effort can create an impact and no matter how small, it is valuable. My biggest hope for those of you following this blog is the same as Jessicas: as you read I hope you think critically about the issues presented and the cases discussed and take something of this away and incorporate it into your daily practices.

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Sources

“49th Annual Chicano Park Day Celebration.” SanDiego.org, San Diego Tourism Authority .

“Accomplishments.” Green Love, Associated Students.

“Center for Intercultural Relations.” San Diego State University , San Diego State University .

“Committees.” Green Love, Associated Students.

“Fast Facts .” Admissions, San Diego State University .

Rinkesh. “What Is Sustainable Living and 15 Easy Ways for Sustainable Living?” Conserve Energy Future, Conserve Energy Future, 24 Dec. 2017.

Rivett, Paige T, and Jessica Nare. “The Women's Resource Center and Environmental Justice.” 22 Apr. 2019.

Santos, Jess. “The History of Chicano Park: Commemorating 35 Years of Struggle, 1970-2005.” La Prensa San Diego, La Prensa San Diego, 15 Apr. 2005.