The Privilege of Being a White Woman in the Climate Justice Movement

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to play a supportive role in the organizing of a webinar hosted by Tishman Environmental Design Center, entitled “Coming Together: Gender and Privilege in the Youth Climate Movement”. This webinar is the brainchild of my classmate at Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment, Ludovica Martella, who is a journalist and climate activist with This Is Zero Hour NYC. Borne with the urgency of the COVID-19 crisis in mind, the aim of this webinar is to bring together nine Environmental Justice activists from different backgrounds, especially indigenous and non-indigenous, and provide a space where constructive conversations can be held around the themes of intersectionality, privilege, gender, and sexual identity. Hopefully, the discussion will inspire ideas on how these mainstream and frontline groups can empower each other in their joint effort for climate sanity. As organizers, Ludovica and I are joined by our classmate Ariana Hodes, an advocacy-minded performing artist, who has provided the art direction and a wonderful collaborative voice.

Let’s be clear: we are three white women organizing an event focused on knowledge sharing between Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. In this context, and many other other situations in the climate movement, the three of us are in a position of immense privilege. With this webinar, we hope to leverage the resources available to us by providing a platform to uplift those voices most worthy of a widespread audience and a wealth of support.

In solidarity with the upcoming discussion of privilege, I sat down with Ludovica and Ariana to do some thinking around what brought us to this work, our role as artists and writers in activist spaces, and how to best acknowledge our individual privileges and support those on the frontlines of the climate movement…

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Could you each share a bit about your background and how you got interested in climate advocacy work? 

Ariana: I come from the world of the performing arts; I am a singer-songwriter and theatre-maker who was raised to feel a deep connection to nature. I was working in restaurants to support my artistic dreams and realized I couldn't keep throwing away mountains of food and other waste in the name of pursuing my career goals and still think of myself as someone who valued all life on earth. It's time for all artists to realize we have immense power as storytellers and communicators, and therefore a responsibility to use our gifts to literally help save the world.

Ludovica: I grew up in the suburbs of Rome in a low/middle income working-family neighborhood which was very green. I've always felt very connected to animals and nature (I was the kind of child hugging trees and talking to plants, mostly playing by herself) and always felt a very deep sense of wanting to help others (all species included). When my family decided to move to NY to seek better opportunities, that nature was taken away from me. I didn't speak English, I was 13 and had a huge identity crisis. My new escape was art. I became a huge art junky. Fast Forward to college, I decided to study journalism and environmental science to advocate for climate justice and people's rights. I became the arts editor of Fordham University's The Observer during undergrad and often covered artists making art for social justice and climate justice. In the summer of 2015, I worked at the production of a PBS documentary called Great Decisions and one of the episodes was on climate change. I had the opportunity to interview experts such as Jeffrey Sachs, former Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and climate scientist James Hansen. They were all awesome but I couldn't stop thinking about how there were barely any women on the show and also, these caucasian men were all speaking about the effects that climate had on the "global south". Where were these communities? Who were they? What do they need? I decided I wanted to become an expert myself on climate resiliency and highlight the voice of those who were being affected directly.

Did either of you have an “ah-ha!” moment when it came to your conception of how to best support efforts toward a global transition to a just future?  

Ludovica: In July 2019, Zero Hour International was asking for volunteers to join their Miami conference and that was the moment in which everything started making sense to me. There, I gave an impromptu talk on climate change and the repercussions on women, especially those working in the agricultural sector, and I was astonished by the turn out: people followed up with questions, they wanted to know more, some of them stated they had never thought about that connection before. I understood that it was my responsibility to share what I was learning, so as to inform as many people as possible and mobilize more to take climate action. Not long after my talk, Zero Hour held a panel of all indigenous young women (including Nina and Jasilyn, who will speak on Friday). They spoke not only about the connection between climate change and women: they explained the origins of women identifying folx and their connection to the exploitation of the Earth—how it was all tied to colonialism and the values reinforced by the western patriarchal society. And that it was time for us to take charge again to cure the earth, that we need to defend our earth because we are all connected...I was in the audience crying my eyes out, shouting here and there "Yes sis!" "Tell 'em!" "Louder for the girls in the back!" between a tissue and another. It was a very powerful moment where I finally felt at home. I understood that I was on the right track: I was researching women and climate but the missing piece of knowledge was the fight of my indigenous sisters for their rights and earth's rights…

In your opinion, what is the most urgent step which needs to be taken to achieve a climate-just world? 

Ludovica: We need to decolonize our minds and bodies. A start is the food system. We need to rely less on industrial agriculture and give priority to local approaches such as cooperatives, local farms, community gardens and initiatives. These not only bring economic incentives to the communities, but also discourage unnecessary greenhouse gases being produced, taking money away from  the deforestation of rainforests (think about the Amazon fires!) and the mass transportation of foods that is typical of the industrial monoculture system. Indigenous people have been harvesting their foods using agro-ecological methods from generations. These methods are truly nurturing to the ecosystem and can be implemented in local communities at large (but obviously the most pressing issue is indigenous people need their rights back, as most reservations are in contaminated land and access to their original land is most often prohibited).

Ariana: Most urgently we must stop the industrialization of nature. Nature is not a bunch of "resources" for us to turn into money, and liberals especially need to stop touting green technological "solutions" as magical cure-alls for the crisis we're in. We treat nature like we treat massive amounts of humans: useful if they can be turned into profit, disposable as soon as they don't. 

Definitely! It’s crazy to wrap your mind around, but the main drivers of the climate crisis— the military-industrial complex, extractivism, consumer culture— all share the same root cause: colonialism. Colonial expansion gave rise to a capitalist system which exploits both nature and peoples in the name of “societal progress”, but can this be considered true progress when so much damage to nature, communities, and culture comes as a result?

Ludovica: I was personally never taught about colonialism and indigenous cosmologies in school... In Europe, Colonialism is normalized like it's just something that just "happens". After [that first conference with Zero Hour International], I finally understood that I needed to side with indigenous people to help them reach as many people as possible so that they could finally get their sovereignty back. 

Our upcoming webinar, "Coming Together: Gender And Privilege in the Youth Climate Movement", tackles some tough questions in regards to the mainstream climate movement. Could you tell us a bit more about the topics the webinar will address? 

Ariana: Here's the tea: any white person who has grown up in the developed world does not from the get-go have the perspective on the system that raised them, especially if they were raised with a certain level of comfort and convenience. It is vital not only to recognize that BIWOC (Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color) have been fighting these fights for generations, but to listen to their needs and follow their lead in our ongoing fight. We must recognize that our mutual liberation is tied up in each other. We must have uncomfortable conversations if we're going to grow as people who wish to make the world a place where all constructive voices are valued, where women and non-binary folx are respected and valued. This means women and non-binary folx need to have some real conversations about oppression, not to compare it, which is not particularly constructive, but to say our collective experience matters, that we understand one another at the very least, even if we may not always agree on where this line or that line gets drawn in our individual sandboxes. 

Ludovica: By working with Zero Hour and with the Three Sisters Sovereignty Project, I realized that a lot of different groups of people advocate for climate justice, but not all of the them recognize that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) people are the most affected by climate change and that their struggles are felt through a variety of issues such as health, economics, accessibility to food, etc. It is important that this is recognized if we want to achieve a just climate future. So, how can we create more spaces to talk about these issues and come up with a collective set of solutions? This webinar is a start. Also, often women-identifying people are left out of the discussion on women and climate, and that is unfair because they suffer as much as cisgender women do, especially from disappearances and sexual violence on the reservations and EJ communities, for example. We need to start having that conversation more often as well. 

Ludovica, you are a Mentor with This Is Zero Hour NYC, a youth climate justice organization led by women of color. How do you navigate your own position of privilege as a cisgender, white, European woman when doing your work?

Ludovica: It's very important to go in from a place of humbleness. You can't have the presumption to know how things are done, what is the best way to solve an issue, etc. You are there to support, if your support is needed. I always make sure that my intentions are clear and that I am there to support by using my privilege in the way that the community needs. I do a lot of listening, ask questions when I need to, and then, with the right language, I offer what potential solutions or action plans there could be. If the community agrees, wonderful; if not, forget it. But most of all, it's important to establish true relationships with people. Why would you want to get involved with people you don't get along with? Your mission needs to align with theirs and vice versa.

Ariana, you are a singer/songwriter and come from a diverse artistic background, what got you interested in environmental justice-based work?

Ariana: I thought of myself as a fairly well educated, well-read-type of liberal. I celebrated technological achievements in bioengineering or efficiencies in "renewable" technology with the best of them. I was raised to think of nature as my friend, where I could experience connection with the divine, and as a vital part of a well-lived life. I enrolled in The New School– and specifically a class on systemic change taught by Leonardo Figueroa Helland–because I knew I was hurting the planet I proclaimed to love in the way I was pursuing my artistic goals. The education has been eye-popping, to say the least. 

What do you think is the role of artists in the climate movement? Do either of you have any advice for artists wanting to get involved? 

Ludovica: Climate organizations ALWAYS look for art to reinforce their causes. Reaching out to some of them would be a great way to get involved. 

Ariana: It is vital that artists get involved. The arts remind us of our very humanity; they enhance the necessary skills everybody needs in spades right now such as empathy, perspective, compassion, and communication of complex ideas. This crisis didn't happen overnight, but we have the planetary equivalent to fix it, which means all hands on deck. We need to use what we bring to the table as artists to repair our social fabric, to educate and remind us that we are all connected (as if this pandemic hasn't already helped out in that area) and that there isn't going to be a simple solution, or indeed an easy one, to save the planet and all of our kin, human and non-human alike, who call this planet home. 

One of the fundamental reasons I believe climate advocacy has been so challenged is that it has mostly concentrated on domestic and international governance, or encouraging small individual behavioral changes. What it has not understood is how to reach the hearts and guts of people, instead going for their heads or their pocket books. 'If people only understood x, y or z,' the thinking goes, when we now know that the way humans learn from story, especially based on personal experience, is the only way to affect someone's fundamental worldview, which is what we need to be talking about. Solving climate change is not simply a matter of getting the science right. We cannot engineer or industrialize our way out of our situation. We need to change our entire view of humanity, and how we fit into the immensely complex natural system. We need to convince hundreds of millions of people that human beings are not, in fact, supreme. Words alone will not do this. Story, and art, and personal connections creating empathy can do this, and that's what artists do.  

Sometimes delving head first into advocacy work can seem a bit daunting, what is one small step our readers can take to support organizations like those taking part in Friday's webinar? 

Ludovica: Re-share information you come across if you can. spread the word. Draw, paint, write a song that helps people in the frontlines get their message even further. Or educate yourself, read, do your research, talk to someone you trust about it.

Ariana: Money goes a long way. Social media is always appreciated. Asking questions, and educating yourself, talking to your friends and family...these are all immediate effects any one person can take to engage in this movement. Make art and share it. Make art and share it. Make art and share it. (That's as much a reminder for me as for anybody lol.)

Finally, this work can be emotionally and physically taxing at times. Where do you look to for inspiration?

 Ludovica: Indigenous people on the frontlines are my forever inspiration. They are so strong and resilient...they continue to fight even if they are the ones who are most impacted. When I feel down I look at their social media accounts and their call for action, and I cannot feel but empowered. Documentaries, especially those on Standing Rock I also find very empowering.

 Ariana: Nature. The trees, the wind, the birds and bugs just doing their thing. I look at frontline communities and what they have done to preserve and protect natural habitat for generations. I look at all the amazing people who haven't given up, despite the odds, which make no mistake, are immense. I give myself time away to turn my brain off and just exist every now and again. Then, I get back to it.

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Coming Together: Gender and Privilege in the Youth Climate Movement will take place on Friday, May 1, 2020 from 12pm-2pm EST. To register visit: https://event.newschool.edu/youthintersectionality. Comment below if you would like to be sent more information on the event panelists.