and harmful and don’t want them in their communities. Why should we accept them being placed in ours? Environmental racism is affecting communities all over the world, from South Africa to Bangladesh to Australia. Everywhere we find capitalism and settler colonialism, environmental racism is always close by. The Central American refugee fleeing to the United States has much in common with the oppressed inner-city dweller. The dysfunction we see in poor and working class communities across this continent and across the world is caused and perpetuated by the same individuals and institutions who see people of color as less than and expendable. This is one reason why we must work together in coalitions to defeat our common enemies. Climate change and environmental disruption will have severe impacts for communities that are already facing environmental racism. If you think gentrification is bad now, wait until climate refugees begin pouring into the big cities as they flee sea level rise and more frequent hurricanes and other disasters. Who do you think will be the first ones to be displaced? Do you or your loved ones struggle to put food on the table? Climate change will wreak havoc on our natural seasons, making it more difficult to grow crops. Those who are already poor or struggling will suffer most from rising food prices and shortages. This is why we must begin preparing now and planning for how we will live and thrive in a world that is rapidly changing. Urban gardens, housing co-ops, communal living, and political agitation for environmental justice/reparations are things we can do today to prepare for an uncertain tomorrow. All organizations working towards Black liberation should have a strong program in place to address both current and future environmental justice concerns.
Resources for further reading: - http://greenaction.org/what-is-environmental-justice/ - https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/21/what-is-environmental-injustice-and-why-is-the-guardian-covering-it
Black Identity Extremism: The New CointelPro Nyeusi Jami In the summer of 2017, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) produced a report which it shared with dozens of local and federal law enforcement agencies around the country. The report was prepared by the FBI’s Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit,which is part of their Counterterrorism Division. This report detailed that they believed “Black Identity Extremists”(BIE) to be their number one domestic terrorism threat. The report’s definition of Black Identity Extremism was given in a grammatically incorrect and incomplete sentence: “individuals who seek, wholly or in part, through unlawful acts of force or violence, in response to perceived racism and injustice in American society and some do so in