Environmental justice cannot be achieved without racial justice, and we encourage our community to join us in learning, listening, speaking up, and taking action.
attend local portland and online events
The PDX Black Lives Matter Events website hosts a calendar where local events related to the Black Lives Matter Movement are posted. You can easily add your own events via the form on the website. In addition to daily protests, here a few events happening this weekend, courtesy of their calendar. Don’t forget your mask if you leave your house!
Blossoming Into Joy: A Yoga Workshop for BIPOC Girls, Trans, & Non-Binary Femmes Ages 7-17
When: Saturday, July 25th 11:30am - 3:00pm
Where: Irving Park
Let’s Talk About Race Anti-Racist Workshop
When: Saturday, July 25th 1:00 - 3:30pm
Where: Online
Black Grief Circle
When: Saturday, July 25th 6:00 - 9:00am
Where: Online
Rose City Justice BIPOC Art Auction
When: Sunday, July 26th 11:00am - 6:00pm
Where: Online
support local, black-led organizations
There are many local organizations that have been focusing on racial justice work in our community. We encourage you to follow and learn more about these organizations. If able, consider making a financial donation to these organizations to support their efforts.
Don’t Shoot PDX (a direct community action plan that advocates for accountability to create social change)
PAALF (Mission: to help the Black community imagine the alternatives we deserve and build our civic participation and leadership to achieve those alternatives.)
Word is Bond (Mission: To rewrite the narrative between black men and law enforcement through leadership development, critical dialogue, and education.)
Blueprint Foundation (Vision: Elimination of the opportunity gap for black-identified youth within the Portland Metropolitan Area.)
Brown Girl Rise (Mission: to cultivate a sisterhood between girls and femmes of color who reclaim their connection to land, health, body and community.)
Unite Oregon (Mission: to build a unified intercultural movement for justice across Oregon.)
Freedom to Thrive (Mission: to provide Black Portlanders with a safer space to report and process their experiences with hate and bias crimes.)
read to educate yourself
There are a lot of reading recommendations circling around right now, but we have listed some works that focus on the intersection of race and the environment. We encourage you to shop local, buy used, take advantage of local libraries (Multnomah County Library), and share books with friends and family!
Carolyn Finney, Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors
Dorceta E. Taylor, Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility
Dorceta E. Taylor: The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection
Harriet A. Washington, A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind
Carl A. Zimring, Clean and White: A History of Environmental Racism in the United States
Dina Gilio-Whitaker, As Long as the Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock
Sarah D. Wald, Latinx Environmentalisms: Place, Justice and the Decolonial
listen to informative podcasts
Investing in learning (and unlearning) takes time and podcasts can be an engaging resource. Below are some podcasts, with plenty of episodes to binge, that are very informative about the BIPOC experience in America.
1619 - Listen Here
“1619,” an audio series hosted by Nikole Hannah-Jones, that examines the long shadow of American slavery.
Code Switch - Listen Here
“Code Switch,” a podcast hosted and produced by a multi-racial, multi-generational team of journalists, that examines the overlapping themes of race, ethnicity and culture and how they play out in our lives and communities.
Still Processing - Listen Here
“Still Processing,” a podcast hosted by two Black queer culture writers, Jenna Wortham and Wesley Morris, who make sense of all things pop culture.
Pod Save the People - Listen Here
“Pod Save the People,” podcast hosted by DeRay Mckesson, that explores news, culture, social justice, and politics with focus on overlooked stories and topics that often impact people of color.
