“Integrating one’s past, present, and future into a cohesive, unified sense of self is a complex task that begins in adolescence and continues for a lifetime…” (Tatum p 10). The majority of women around the globe have multiple “isms” they must navigate throughout their lifetimes. Growing up in the 1960’s and 70’s, I had to contend with sexism, racism, classism and whatever word can be used to describe adult family members telling you that you are ‘not human enough to have a voice’. These constraints rear up from time to time, even years later. Today I still deal with sexism and now, ageism (even Covid19 has decided to discriminate against my age group). It’s not unique to me or women like me. I was born at a time when misogyny was rampant. My father was a misogynist, making sexist jokes at his daughters and wife’s expense. Adolescence caused me to slump over to hide my budding womanhood from my father and other males. Treating my mother brutally, she tried to learn when and how to speak and was often surprised at my father’s violence. The daily fear was palpable. Did I learn how to live with that injustice and violence? Hell no, I did not. What I did learn was that I would never be victimized like my mother was. That was an invaluable lesson that I passed on to my daughters, unapologetically.

Both of my daughters are Intersectional feminists. I have come to understand and accept intersectionality as my place in feminist history as well. “The cornerstone of intersectional theory echoes the sentiment of the oft-quoted phrase . . . by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that ‘No one is free until we are all free’. This phrase . . . captured the spirit of a generation, highlighting the inability of white or black people to be truly free until the other is. Intersectional ecofeminism builds upon this foundation by further postulating that the ‘freedom’ of humanity is not only reliant on the freedom of nature and women, but it is also reliant on the achievement of liberation for all of those at intersecting points on along these fault lines. Intersectionality has become a powerful tool when applied to ecofeminist analysis of the relationship between women and the environment, particularly in its ability to assist in furthering our understanding of how a person’s relationship with the environment (in the Global South or North) is not completely dependent on any one aspect of their lives, whether gender, race, class, sexuality or age but rather a combination of all of the above and more besides.” (Kings).

It is my intention, by taking courses like this one, to expand and include all women, and men, in the process of coming to terms with our exclusionary past as white women, to bring to the forefront the intersectionality of black and brown women. I am a fan of the podcast, https://www.tnqshow.com/watch where the three hosts (two black women) discuss how it’s time for white women to come forward and ask, ‘What can I do to help your fight, your struggle? What do you require from me?’ Intersectional inclusion means that I listen to your needs, our differences, and have compassion for your pain and come to understand that we are not the same, but we are human beings. We do not have the same isms that manifest the same way. My sexism shows up differently than the sexism toward a woman of color from the south. Understanding that is a key to working toward ways to end that sexism. “There is no hierarchy of oppressions. The thread and threat of violence runs through all of the isms. There is a need to acknowledge each other’s pain, even as we attend to our own” (Tatum p13).

“Intersectional ecofeminist work has been particularly prominent in research concerning both climate change and human relations with the non-human other; recent work has highlighted the uneven distribution of environmental burdens and the necessity of incorporating species into intersectionality” (Kings). Nowhere is this more of an urgent crisis than in the factory farming industry. Until this practice is halted and animals are treated humanely will it begin to change everywhere. “If you identify as an ecofeminist you’re not only a feminist, but also a universal ally for environmentalism, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, and any other movement that aims to reinforce the needs of marginalized groups —and that is the beauty of intersectional ecofeminism” ( Villalobos).

Majora Carter

Majorca Carter’s TedTalk is a striking example of what one individual can do to mobilize a group of people to change their environment. Her passion and commitment is contagious and that’s what is needed to make a difference. Our planet is at a tipping point and environmental justice warriors like Ms. Carter are desperately in short supply. The fact that black communities bare the burden of power plants and waste facilities 50% more likely in their neighborhoods should astound white communities and cause them to work toward a more equitable distribution. The injustice of saddling poor neighborhoods with no parks, more detrimental industries and far less public funds, in this day and age, seems unfathomable. “Economic degradation begets environmental degradation begets social degradation” she states in her talk. Decades of these injustices, piled one on top of the other, require decades of dismantling and drastic policy changes. Providing green spaces where the neighborhood can walk, run, bike and socialize cuts dramatically down on crime, littering and abandoned housing because neighbors meet neighbors and look out for one another. “As we nurture the natural environment, it’s abundance will give us back even more.” Ms. Carter sees a future for the South Bronx, one of cooperation, consideration and green spaces.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bogardandhoffman/2016/11/29/on-resilience-how-majora-carter-risked-it-all-lost-it-all-and-bounced-back/#74e87bef6bdd is a more recent article where she speaks of her weaknesses and strengths and continues to fight for environmental justice in compromised communities. “We are all responsible for the world that we create. . .we have nothing to lose and everything to gain” (Carter, TedTalk).

Annotated Bibliography

Villalobos, Briana.Intersectional Ecofeminism: Environmentalism for Everybody. IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus. February 2017.

The author looks at the 2017 Women’s March that brought out over 2.5 million women and     families to stand up for a myriad of issues regarding women and the environment. She           asks the reader if the gathering of diverse people during the march is enough to propel and     maintain the movement toward a feminist environmental approach, addressing not just           middle and upperclass white women, but the more significantly marginalized communities       of color.