Climate Change and Cities: the real impact on society’s poorest.

These projects promote environmental sustainability and boast the revival of much needed ecosystem services, but they raise concerns regarding environmental justice. Upon examination these cases provide evidence that such efforts have led to the gentrification and the displacement of less privileged residents within cities.

Thing Power.

There exists a power

In every fire and flower.

From the stone that continues to fall,

To the microbes inside of us all.

Privilege, Property and the Federalist Papers.

With their status in mind, it is not surprising that the American Founders have been criticized for having drafted systems of government that privilege the property of the well off at the expense of the wellbeing of the many. 

The Cold War and social change in Latin America.

Aside from a few notable instances of improvement, looking at the impacts of United States intervention in Guatemala, Brazil, and Chile, the Cold War can be characterized as having stifled the potential for social change across Latin America.

Greenwash Goddess.

‘Don’t read the fine print.
You won’t like what you see.
Just look at the sticker,
It’s “Eco-Friendly”!
I sell bottles of evil
To those who are persuadable
Because the package tells them
It’s “Biodegradable”.’

Geoengineering: Reforestation and Iron Fertilization.

With the increased threat of greenhouse gas emissions and the growing amount of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, many scientists have looked towards geoengineering as a potential solution. Geoengineering is based on the belief that humans can alter the climate system and should do so to remedy the effects of anthropogenic changes to the Earth’s climate (meaning those changes originating in human activity).

Marching with Lady Liberty.

On the 4ᵗʰ March 2000, a crowd of farmworkers and activists took to the streets of Fort Myers and embarked on a 235-mile march to Florida’s Fruit and Vegetable Association in Orlando. This trek was a protest against the abuse, low pay, and gruelling conditions suffered by agricultural workers in major food corporations in Orlando. Protestors who participated in the march carried with them a giant papier-mache replica of The Statue of Liberty. This one-of-a-kind rendition of Lady Liberty hoisting up a bright red tomato was created by the artist Kat Rodriguez for the CIW’s march and was intended to capture the people who make up the American population and show how, as that population grew, these people managed to find ways to ‘negotiate…what it meant to be American’.

Environmental Justice in the San Joaquin Valley.

Human populations rely heavily on natural ecosystems to provide a multitude of goods and services. But what happens when these goods and services are utilised or depleted by some people at the expense of others? Aside from the more obvious negative impacts on the environment, these practices produce a multitude of social conflicts, presenting the concept of environmental justice. In communities around the world, people suffer from environmental justice conflicts or unequal protection from health and environmental hazards due to unfair treatment and underrepresentation regarding the development, application, and administration of environmental laws and policies (Environmental, 2019).

Can Poetry be Activist in its Own Right?

The word ‘activist’ is an adjective describing something that works towards bringing about social and political change, according to the Oxford Dictionary Online. This definition begs the question, is poetry activist in its own right? I argue yes. Poetry on its own, from writing to reading it, is inherently activist. Poetry gives voice to many who have been silenced by society and when their voices are published, they serve as a protest to the oppression and discrimination they have faced in the literary world. The sheer existence of these poems is a form of activism. They also work to break down the moulds society has engrained within us on certain subjects and expand the way we think to incorporate different perspectives. Poetry also calls on people to take up action.

Battered and Bruised: 2Pac Against the Criminal Justice System.

2Pac’s 1995 album Me Against the World is riddled with paradox: from portraits of perseverance and positivity to hopelessness and despondency. Despite these contradictory messages, one preoccupation remains constant: an indictment of the criminal-justice system. Although this subject is not new to rap music, it takes on a new light against the backdrop of Tupac’s run-ins with the law and sexual abuse accusations, his mother’s involvement with the Black Panther Party, and the passage of the largest crime bill in the history of the United States.