The EJP

indigenous communities are so so often neglected in conversations about environmentalism and the climate crisis, despite how integrated indigenous communities are with the natural environment and their vulnerability to the impacts of the climate crisis. if your environmentalism isn’t protecting indigenous communities, you’re not doing nearly enough. 🌟 amplify indigenous environmentalists. 🌟 share their stories. 🌟 give them a platform to talk about their experiences. 🌟 actively work towards social and environmental justice in indigenous communities. feel free to share this and raise more awareness. #happyindigenouspeoplesday tweet by @earthmamita / be sure to check out @gentedelmaiz for more of their amazing work!

Earlier this year, EJP staff writer @ijunad.junaid published the first issue of Moosumi Magazine (@moosumi.magazine), an environmental publication sharing stories of ecology, culture, and liberation. The first issue titled ‘Rising Tides’ focuses on stories from The Maldives, the lowest-lying island nation in the world. The issue shares tales of hope and change amidst The Maldives’ changing climate. @ijunad.junaid says, “I wanted to share stories of what it feels like to live in The Maldives. Our weather patterns are shifting, coral kingdoms are losing their vibrancy, and we are losing our intimate relationship with the natural world. So what does life feel like during this shift? Are we yearning for a life closer to nature? Are we experiencing grief and pain? What about hope?” @ijunad.junaid: “Moosumi Magazine came from a place of sincere curiosity. It is important that we shape our path through storytelling. Stories can help the grieving environmentalist feel a bit less alone. At their best, stories can transform and move people. I want the rest of the world to know about the environmental challenges that The Maldives faces, and that we do not chose this future for ourselves.” 🖋@moosumi.magazine contributors: @ijunad.junaid @thewordshaker  @chloe_darwinn @tontismantis @zaraathif @aishathsara_

“Water is a human right. We shouldn't have to be here advocating for clean water when it is something that sustains us.” @para_mina.olek In this interview by @amberonradio, climate activist and community organizer, Mina Flores-Cantrell, reflects on the water and energy crises in Guam, fighting militarization and colonization, and what it means to root her environmental advocacy in dedication to her Indigenous identities. @para_mina.olek explains, “If this were happening on Turtle Island, and there was a community outcry, there would be tension, there would be conversation. But because of our political status, there's not. Sometimes it really feels like shouting into a void. We need strong allies to speak for us and to uplift our work because we have no political voice.” “As this destruction occurs, it's deeply traumatizing. But I guess it’s also fueling in a way to alchemize that pain into motivation and purpose to keep having conversations like this, sharing our story. Also finding joy in our culture, in our indigeneity, and being able to go back to cultural joy as a form of resilience. It is a dedication. It's my life's work. I show up every day because it's so much more than justice, it's my roots and my family and my future family.” Read the full interview on the EJP website 🌿 Environmental justice in Guam resources: @protectguamwater @prutehilitekyan @guamcod

“The role of an artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” — Toni Cade Bambara | In this piece, Kwolanne explores art and media as essential outlets to confront the climate crisis, express climate anxiety, and sustain the heart of the movement. She writes that while the current doomsday narratives about our climate future spread a powerful message, they aren’t effective to inspire action. Instead, we need more climate media and art that depicts a hopeful future, a vision of the earth worth fighting for. artwork featured: 🎨 Mikyung Lee @mikyung__lee (@grist “Imagine 2200) 🎨 Bethan Yip, Imagine a Better Future (@wwf “Just Imagine”) 🌿 Kwolanne is a writer, student, gender equality advocate, and environmentalist. She is a senior at Columbia University studying History. Beyond the classroom, she’s worked at UN Women, Women Environmental Development Organization, and Malala Fund. She writes opinion pieces, essays, and nonfiction that bring nuanced and intersectional perspectives. Her writing has been featured in Salty Magazine, Ms. Magazine, Womanly, and the Columbia Spectator. 💌 submit@theecojusticeproject.com

“our estrangement from ourselves, each other, and the natural world is not a choice we willingly made — and if the natural world sustains itself on cooperation and interconnectedness, why can’t we?” @mas.mirus 🌿 in this piece, Ijunad Junaid, Maldivian environmental storyteller, reflects on his experience with climate activism, moving away from mass civil disobedience towards activism rooted in regenerative cultures. Ijunad writes that resilient communities and spaces for healing and reconnection can create a shift in consciousness through which we can begin to dismantle systems of hyper-individualism, mass consumerism, and patterns of extraction. read the full piece on the EJP website ⭐️ submit your writing, poetry, art, and more 💌 submit@theecojusticeproject.com

writer and illustrator, ijunad junaid @mas.mirus, reflects on the maldivian tourism industry, climate migration, and environmental degradation in the name of economic development. he recalls the ancestral stories of spirits that lived beneath the banyan trees and reconciles with the lack of spirits in the deforested and polluted capital city. he calls for a reconnection with nature and these spirits and eradicating economic structures of incessant extraction and exploitation. 🌿 @mas.mirus writes, “in these moments when empathy extends to the more-than-human world, to the millions of coral polyps and billions of fungi, to the last remaining redwood and the magic conch shells, I feel a sadness that I cannot express with words.” read the full piece on the @ecojusticeproject website in the bio! swipe to see some of ijunad’s illustrations 🌟 submissions are accepted on our website or can be emailed to submit@theecojusticeproject.com, from articles to poetry and art, we’d love to feature your stories! 💌

latest spotlight interview is live on the EJP website! @vhonmichaell discusses his advocacy work with @thisiszerohourph and his experiences with mental health and climate anxiety while facing the immediate consequences of the climate crisis. he explains the importance of authenticity as a driving force for climate action and the dangers faced by environmental defenders in the Philippines. read the full article on the EJP website under “spotlights.” written by staff writer Amber X. Chen - @amberonradio #climate #publication #advocacy #zerohour

latest spotlight article in the “In Conversation” series featuring Filipino climate justice activist and organizer @mitzijonelle 🌟 in this piece, mitzi highlights climate imperialism, how wealthy countries like the U.S. control the economy, political sphere, and cultural aspects of Global South nations, and the prevalence of white saviorism in the climate movement. she discusses the influence of her Filipino heritage on her organizing and delves into her work with @yacaphilippines + @fridaysforfuturemapa, centering love and connectedness in climate advocacy. full article on the EJP website under the spotlights tab 🌿 written by staff writer @amberonradio 💌

spotlight feature of @start.empowerment’s co-founder @blake.creates is now live! read the full interview on the website to learn more about kier’s organizing work in the US and abroad, the importance of queer ecology and indigenous knowledge in environmental justice work, and the ways that systems, institutions, and the urban landscape influence our ability to foster community. make sure to check our fellow co-founder @alexia.leclercq’s interview if you haven’t already for insight on radical imagination and education. written by Amber X. Chen @amberonradio

trying to compile all of my thoughts about today’s news and i’m feeling overwhelmingly disheartened by the state of this country and its current trajectory that’s so painfully reminiscent of the violence we’ve seen committed against disenfranchised communities time and time again. access to safe abortions is about more than the right to decide to have a child and the right to access safe health care, but limiting access to reproductive rights is also infringement upon human rights which disproportionally impacts women of color, especially low-income and immigrant women, and further exacerbates gender and racial inequalities across America and around the world. we’re witnessing the erosion of the human right to bodily autonomy in real time, and as an environmentalist, the intersections between climate justice and gender equity are so apparent. 50% of the world’s poorest people are women (World Bank), 80% of climate refugees are women and girls (UN), women are 14 times more likely to die in a climate disaster (UNDRR) — and thinking about this issue within a justice framework addresses the ways that race, sexual orientation, citizenship, and religion are targeted systematically to limit women’s ability to act on and fulfill their rights of choice. limiting women’s agency is a critical hit to the foundation upon which we build a more just and sustainable world. but more than that, it’s important that we see this a pattern and connect the dots to understand that this is just one of the many ways that the american justice system has failed to protect the wellbeing and rights of its citizens, and it is a part of a much larger issue that won’t stop here as the systems of patriarchy and white supremacy that have been chipping away at reproductive rights, civil liberties, and autonomy for years continue to be the same institutions which fail to address the grave need for systemic justice (namely gender equity) to address the climate emergency. #roevwade #reproductiverights #abortion #abortionrights #abortionishealthcare #climatejustice

spotlight interviews are back 🌟 starting with a two-part double feature of @start.empowerment co-founders @alexia.leclercq and @blake.creates, written by staff writer Amber X. Chen (@amberonradio)! in alexia’s piece, she outlines her introduction to activism and organizing, her work in radical education and land reclamation, and the importance of centering community care in climate advocacy! read the full interview on the EJP website, and stay tuned for kier’s interview dropping soon! 🍃

In Conversation with Kiana Kazemi is live!! read the full spotlight on the website to learn more about @kiana.kaz’s work as a data science engineer and her organization @circularitycommunity 🌿 written by @amberonradio (support staff writer amber here venmo @/amberonradio)