On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, we were honored to partner with Merrell to host a screening of the documentary THIS LAND followed by a panel discussion moderated by runner, advocate, and filmmaker Faith Briggs.
THIS LAND, directed by Whit Hassett and Chelsea Jolly, is a story about land access told through a journey of inclusion and empowerment. It gets at some of the core questions the modern conservation movement struggles with every day: Public lands belong to everyone, but does everyone feel welcome there? Who isn’t at the table when decisions are made about shrinking monuments or creating parks? How can we work together to build a stronger coalition and stand up for wild places?
We hope you enjoy this recording of our webcast and the subsequent panel discussion featuring Ani Kame'enui, Autumn Harry, and José González.
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Tip: If you do one thing after watching this webcast, it should be going to The full film is also posted there - so that’s where you |
Unfinished business from the Q&A section:
We had so many great questions from attendees, and not enough time to answer them all! Here are a few questions our panelists responded to after the event.
Q: "Thank you all for being strong voices for the DEIJ movement within the outdoors. I noticed very little involvement of access specifically toward folks with disabilities. What is the work you all are doing to provide more access to our lands specifically for people with disabilities if they are “open to all” given BIPOC are some of the highest percentage of those affected by disabilities, sickness, and illness like we’ve seen with COVID?"
Faith: It’s such an important question and such a challenging one. As has always been the case, decision-makers historically overlook the experiences that are not their own. It takes increased awareness to realize who isn’t being served. As advocates in this space, I think it’s our personal responsibility to look at who is and is not represented and to educate ourselves on who is doing this work so that when the questions come up about inclusivity, we can do better about making sure we are advocating for this community. I think with the power to be in certain decision-making spaces comes the responsibility to self-educate. So that’s for us as advocates and certainly for those who work in public lands. I think it means convening meetings and encouraging comments from communities with the simple question - “What are we doing well, what can we do to be more inclusive?” If every park, monument, national forest included that question every couple months at the end of a newsletter, I think that would do a lot. In our personal lives, I think the answer has to be coalition building and working hard to find folks. I have so often heard the excuse “we couldn’t find anyone” when it comes to inclusion. The minute I heard myself think that and get ready to give up, I remember, that’s the excuse other people use. I feel like I owe it to my communities to try harder so that I can be like, well, we did find someone, someone eager and waiting to be found, so we are out there. And then the simple answer is, we need to do more, I need to do more and I appreciate it every time I’m asked a challenging question, I think it helps me be better.
José: The short answer is that I do feel I do not do enough. While I am in a constant state of learning and can definitely engage in a more intentional conversation around ability privilege, my positionality is still one that comes with ability privilege in different forms, including the mobility privilege to run and access public lands the way I do and as was shown on the film.
One of the ironies is that we’ve had the American Disabilities Act for some time, which gives some weight of structural changes and enforcement, but must still be constantly fought for and navigated within an existing structure that has a host of power and privilege inequities, as well as bias and misunderstanding to the range of what “disability” can encompass. As you noted, what does this all mean for BIPOC within this structure? Thus also a need to understand and look at roles with Intersectionality-- as Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw noted on this: a system may be set up to provide some aid of legal recourse if you are black, or a woman, but it fails and is wanting if you are a Black Woman…
Suffice to say, some “simple” steps to start off with can include:
- Self education and transformation, from watching films like Crip Camp to becoming acquainted with a history of this movement. And checking our language-- this is something I have been working on, since “ableist” language is quite pervasive, not just in physical, but also cognitive and mental references (“that’s so crazy”)
- Direct support-- donate to orgs that do this work, or funds for individuals to attend convenings like PGM ONE.
- Evaluate and examine your role as ally and accomplice. This can be hard, but it's a practice of “yielding and wielding” your privilege in support of another. Also direct action in conversations with peers and friends when biases need to be challenged.
- And at minimum to open up to the question(s) especially since different aspects of fragility will come up...
Q: "Does outreach with personal voice and opinion matter more than signing on a form letter that gets sent?"
Faith: I think it does! And showing up, that goes that much further if you can do it. Now that I’ve met a lot of my representatives in Oregon, I feel like they know who I am. Haha, I am pretty sure they really don’t at the end of the day, but I feel super welcome at town hall meetings etc. based on having shook their hands before. I feel like my voice matters also because I represent underserved populations and communities and so it’s that much more important for me to be there. I personalize tons of draft letters too. I think the language isn’t strong or specific enough sometimes so I always add in info about how this affects at-risk communities specifically when I’m sending things, it’s like being in the room, I think adding any personal knowledge or feelings you have can help decision-makers understand more how their constituents are feeling and give them stories to help back up their points. I feel like a personal letter is much more likely to be the tipping point than a draft letter. I pump myself up with my letters, like ‘maybe this will be the tipping points?!’
José: Short answer is yes though I wouldn’t just default to “it matters more”. It definitely can, but if both can be done, then that’s good because they can matter differently.
Q: "The San Gabriels were protected as a monument to accommodate urban dwellers in LA. Are there any other such monuments, especially in the West?"
José: In terms of large urban areas such as LA it’s limited, but here are some for consideration aligned to that:
- Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, New Mexico: Las Cruces may not be a “large urban area” but it is at the foot of the monument and the community support and type of alliance building needed in LA was also present there.
- Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument Largest urban areas are Sacramento and SF, which do not abutt it but it also required strategic community building.
- Castner Range: This one did not succeed but would be similar to LA in that it is right by El Paso and would be similar to what San Gabriels and Santa Monica Mountains provide in LA.
Q: In dealing with the legislators, is your voice more effective as an individual or as part of an organization?
José: They both work depending how you leverage them, especially if you are a constituent of the legislator you are visiting. In theory, elected officials care more when it’s a constituent compared to a “general concerned citizen”-- that’s when the power of an org can help, because now you are representing a community as well.
Q: I'd love to hear a book recommendation from each speaker!
This list isn't exhaustive, but should get you started -
- Latinx Environmentalisms
- Forcing the Spring
- Chicano Culture, Ecology, Politics
- Braiding Sweetgrass
- The Rise of the American Conservation Movement
- Environmentalism and Economic Justice
- Understories
- Natural Rivals: John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, and the Creation of American's Public Lands
- Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors
- The Squatter and the Don by Maria Amparo Ruiz De Burton:
- Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier
