Rooted in Intention

Working Towards Environmental Justice with Darby Osnaya (PC4EJ)

• Karina Gomez • Season 1 • Episode 26

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 47:20

In this episode, I'm joined by Darby Osnaya, the Community Organizer and Programs Coordinator with the People's Collective for Environmental Justice (PC4EJ). 

Tune in as we discuss and explore:

  • What is environmental justice?;
  • Individual consumer vs. industry responsibility;
  •  The importance of sustainability practices passed on from generation to generation; and
  • The power of working in community and alongside already active groups.

Want to dive even deeper? You can connect with PC4EJ and other intersectional organizations Darby mentioned:

Other resources:

*Send in your review, question or suggestion via text*

Support the show

I believe in flowing with the cycles of nature. New episodes coming out every full moon (monthly).

Remember to click Follow, so you don't miss any!

SPEAKER_00

Life can sometimes feel like a lot, but you don't have to do it alone. I strongly believe that we're stronger together. Here we're going to slow down, have real talks, make sense of things together, and explore ways to intentionally grow the life you want. We're going to talk about mental and physical health, relationships, money, work, and community. Welcome to Rooted in Intention with me, Garina Gomez. Hi everyone, welcome back. In this episode, we're going to be talking about environmental health and environmental justice. And I'm joined by a special guest, Darby Oznaya, who is the community organizer and programs coordinator with the People's Collective for Environmental Justice. So, Darby, thank you for joining me. So excited to talk about environmental justice. To get us started, can you share a little bit about your story and what got you interested in environmental health and environmental justice?

SPEAKER_01

Hi, Karina. So thank you. I am the yes, Darby Osaia, any and every pronoun, binary does not bind me, and uh community organizer program coordinator with P SEG, People's Collective for Environmental Justice, specifically in Colton. We do work throughout the Inland Empire, uh, West Side of San Arduino, Colton, Sanardino Urburg Community and Bloomington. Uh, so for myself, I've always been, I guess, aware of environmental injustices. I was brought up as a first generation, born in America, Mexican family from very, you know, from poverty, not born out rich. So we definitely had to reuse, reduce, recycle, as just that's just what we did. It wasn't like we could afford not to, and you know, generations before couldn't. So that was just the way of life. It was just what it was. Um, and out here, recycling, you get some money back for it. So, you know, that was definitely something we did about once a month. Take our recyclables in and, you know, have some Sunday, fun day, money, or gas for the week, you know. So that was definitely a plus for us. Grew up in the 90s, so Captain Planet was really big for us. I shout out to the message that they put out there. And having very creative parents with green thumbs, as you mentioned earlier, like, you know, this is my front yard. I'm blessed to have a very green thumb parent. So we are all about growing our own food. From my dad's side, he grew up on a farm. My mom's side, she was the first of her generation to be in the city. Uh, so from her mom and dad, they also come from farming backgrounds. Self-sustainability in a sense of being able to grow your own food is also something that's been conditioned for me, normalized to me, and um sharing it too. I love it. Now, as an adult, when I see my parents and like Dios and Diaz and Padrinos, um, their compas, friends, and they're just like bringing food to each other from their trees, their fruits, veggies, and they're just exchanging like just like nothing. It's not like a tit for tat sort of thing. It's just like, hey, you know, I have an abundance of this, you know, or just surprise visits, like my tia come in and just like, hola, and then she's like bringing nopales, or vice versa. We have nopales too, or bringing lumones, just whatever they have, they bring, and that's just something that's that's done. And I love it when I'm able to do that with my friends, and vice versa, where we've exchanged a lot of citrus fruit and getting involved in environmental justice is when I learned that citrus fruit was actually invasive and part of colonization a couple generations ago out here.

SPEAKER_00

I didn't know that.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, and seeing like the warehouses replace the citrus groves, it's like just continuing that colonization. Uh, however, you know, we don't have citrus groves, you know. You know, we have like a handful of trees that are citrus. Uh, this is for myself speaking. Other houses have one or two. I do love that we do have a mispidal. I've always called them mispidal.

SPEAKER_00

I love mispidos.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but supposedly the right word is mispero con N. But you know, tomato tomato. I'm not saying mispittle because that's how I was brought up. They are native to this area, and I love their natural story is that they don't last long off the branch, so they can't be sold. Like they can, but it needs to be that day. So uh I love seeing that there's a lot of mispedos, uh, I think they're low quats in in English uh in the area. So, you know, like hey, you know, that's native. I want to say indigenous disruption to colonization, and I love seeing it because it's like, hey, we're still here and you cannot commodify us, you know, like speaking for the low quad. But yeah, so I've always been involved with environmental stuff, just being aware of not throwing away things if you can reuse them, like you know, totally was brought up with like the old sour cream containers for salsa, stuff like that. Although then as an adult, you learned that we still release this microplastics, so it's one of those, you know, we are doing what we can with what we have. And I've been involved with Sierra Club in the past. I'm a core team member of Chica, it's a collective co-op actually out here and um the IE, Chicano Indigenous Community Collective for advocacy and action and amazing work. So we're always like, you know, uh always talking about the importance of land, environmental justice, and centering the voices of the original stewards of the land here in Colton. It's Tongva folks, but the Inland Empire General, Tongva, Kiwiya, uh, Serano, or Yuhaviatam uh would be the main three that I can think of at the top of my head. And yeah, so being involved with them. And then just with all my work, eventually got involved with the People's Collective for Environmental Justice PC as a volunteer. It was very organic. They had they had just started in 2020 and very small. And because of the organicness of it, that's how they started in Westside, standard airport community. That was just the people they were working with. Uh so when they got involved with Colton, it was uh my friend, good friend Angie Valderas. Shout out Angie, been a good friend of mine for about 16 years now. She connected me to them, uh, was a board member. Uh now she's the main communication team person. And she yeah, connected me with them. They would come out and help us with public comment and be, you know, giving a lot of that data information that we locals didn't really have too much of. Because we would share our stories, like, hey, you know, like we have a recycling uh center that shreds metal, like big containers and uh trucks, automobiles. And they we've been telling them like you got to contain that because that's metal aggregate or basically little dust of metal in the air. And it's basically kind of the middle of the city because it's right where the freeway and the train cuts off the downtown area, and then it's officially starting the historical south side area. Uh by the way, like things travel. Uh, but yeah, the south side does get the brunt of it, it is historical out here, and just other stuff. I live right next to the train tracks. That's also part of the history of uh this train town that allowed for like even in the historically nice communities, they're still pretty close to the train. Uh, but here it's right in my backyard. All right. So uh that was always been an issue. And clocking them at a city hall forever, telling them, like, hey, like y'all gotta get better at giving us some protections, but then they're like, that's federal, we're local. But, anyways, being able to share our stories, uh, local organizers here and PSEC employees at the time, now colleagues, coming and letting us know, or educating or learning with us, and then when doing public comment, letting the council know, hey, these are the scientific facts. So that's a little history of how you know they got into the communities that they're in. Same with Bloomington. Yeah, with me, it's it's an ongoing history of why I'm with environmental justice. And I've always been working in human rights, social justice line of work, because I'm definitely a person that for my mental well-being, I can't just work somewhere that's just like a paycheck. Um it's like, you know, I, you know, through college I did Carls Jr. And that was fine for what it was. Uh, you know, built community there, made some lifelong friends there. But yes, just like the capitalism of it all, the just so much abuse of power there. And um, and then it sucks because you know, with 2020, COVID hitting it reminded us how much we need to respect and value folks that are in the front line of restaurant work and retail work and what have you. Um but yeah, I've always been, uh besides that job, most of my jobs have been working in community settings, educational settings, like either I was like a tutor and I worked for Planned Parenthood for a little bit, for their advocacy side, uh teaching folks about sexual health of all ages. I've worked in HIV prevention and management and mental health counseling. So that's a little bit of a background with me, but I've always been volunteering. And yeah, so it's just it's just an ongoing effort for myself. The environment is something we we need, you know. It's just I was taught from uh childhood like we gotta take care of our surroundings, of the land that we are on, because like basically it's just the cycle of life. Yeah, it's our home. Yeah, it's our home. Gotta take good care of it so you can feed, you can uh live off the land, and you know, there's there's a give and take with all that. And uh as an adult, it's like and working in environmental justice, it's just very more prominent, especially. Um, I've also worked in after-school programs, so the importance of teaching our youth that we need this, that we need to maintain that connection with the land, with the air, with the water, and having like responsible burns, you know, because fire isn't bad, you know, fire is uh used for cleansing purposes. That's you know what a lot of the indigenous caretakers did. The indigenous folks that would do the um force to clear out the dry shrubbery. So I said I'm always learning that uh the more I learn about air pollution, the more I learn about how much it does affect our general health, mental health obviously is always connected to that because you know, you break a bone or you have cancer or you have some sort of ailment, eventually it does take a toll on your mind. I love intersecting at all, and I love learning how it's all intersection or intersectional. And uh I just keep with it because I feel like environmental and the way PSH looks at things is it's all environmental. It's so easy to get lost in the details and see how it's all connected, how what's going on with ice, how it's still connected with environmental injustices, uh, and how that also affects our mental health and our physical health because people are not going to the doctor that need to go to the doctor because they don't want to get caught up. So stuff like that we're very mindful at. And I do appreciate working in a place uh that is mindful of the intersectional parts of environmental justice and not just like grant focus. Like this is what our grant says, so we got to do this. It's like, no, we look for grants that help us in a holistic way and being able to attend to our communities and you know be the best organizers and providers that we can be, and not just focusing on one thing.

What is environmental justice?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and I completely agree of how not just interconnected we are, but how interconnected so many things are and talking about ice or really anything that causes fear in our communities. Like I was talking to someone and they were sharing just like, oh, I just with everything going on, I feel more scared to go out for walks, which influences obviously the environment, our community, but then also thinking about how we build our communities and the environment around us. Like, are they walkable? Are there trees planted? Like, I'm very privileged that I live close to the ocean. So I feel comfortable and it's like nice being out in nature, but then if you're in an area that's like surrounded by a lot of industry, like going out and taking a walk is just gonna feel a lot different and maybe not as refreshing as if your community was surrounded by trees and that type of thing. So completely agree that everything is so interconnected. And I think two things that I kind of want to go back to what you were saying was one of how you were saying of some of the things that you witnessed growing up within your family that I think resonates probably with a lot of people that were either like immigrants or were like children of immigrants or grew up poor, is how a lot of sustainable practices were just a way of life, reusing containers, sharing what you had with your community members. And I think that's one of the things where just looking at how environmental health efforts are looking right now and how mainstream it has become to even do things like going to thrift stores and buying reuse. It's actually really cool because I think to what you were saying of just it's kind of like going back to things of how we used to do things and kind of embracing things that we some of us have already been practicing for quite a while. And I want to take even a step back a little bit because we've been talking about environmental justice, but I think some people might not be familiar with the term. Can you share a little bit more of how you view environmental justice?

SPEAKER_01

Uh yes. So for environmental justice, it is fighting for a better, cleaner environment, cleaner air, or just clean air in general, clean soil, clean water. And so that when we do have an educational education around fire, you know, the four elements, so that we know when and where is best to use it for rituals, for to clear shrubbery, which could also be ritualistic. So, yes, education is a big part of it. Yeah, my review environmental justice is about fighting for what should be the norm, which is you know, clean air, water, soil, clean earth to live on and uh not have to worry. Everywhere you go in California, uh you see, or just about every business you go to in California, you see the Prop 65 notificate notice. And it's you know, just saying, hey, you know, these chemicals are here, they could cause cancer, birth defects, and this is all we gotta do, just let you know. And it's like, I need to shop. And even if I don't shop there, it doesn't mean that these chemicals aren't out there. So yeah, like tangible things are like walkable cities, disability justice, because that goes with walkable cities, because if something is accessible for the disabled, it's gonna be accessible for everybody else. Same thing with like shade, natural shade through trees. Uh that helps with the oxygen and also not just any tree. You need to have trees that are non-invasive and as close to native as possible. Uh, I understand also trees, seeds, burden to the bees, and uh things have been passed around the world since time immemorial, since you know, before we were here.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, very quickly for the citrus trees. I had never heard that they were an invasive species. And I kind of sort of grew up in Orange County in Anaheim, and Orange County, that's part of its history. Like there was a lot of orange trees back in the day. So I thought, oh, these must have been native to the area. But now that you say that, I'm just like, what was the history before the orange trees? Or how did they even get there? I've never dived fully into it.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, thank you for bringing that up, highlighting that, you know, especially how much on the Mexican culture it's you know, we love our oranges, we love our citrus.

SPEAKER_00

The limones.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, limonicas, and yeah, but yeah, citrus, I believe, is from Asia, and I know for a fact it's part of colonization. I believe it is part of definitely a lot of British companies. We're literally just one, maybe two. I myself would say I'm one generation apart from this being all Southern California specifically being very um citrus heaven. Like I said, part of colonization, part of you know, taking from Asia and bringing it here and finding out that we had land that was fertile for it and growing it because you know, you you they saved on shipping costs, so they brought it here. But because we actually used to have cold nights during the winter, I recently found out through one of my friends who also works with us at PSEC, but her and I went to high school together. So, you know, longtime friend uh Emily Vasquez, shout out to you as well. She taught me about her parents telling her they remember the smell from the machines they would put in and around the citrus groves to keep them warm during the cold winter nights. And whatever oil, whatever product they burned, it just smells horrible. And I was just like, what? We had cold winter nights that were that cold that you needed that because you know, I since I've been here, our the coldest winters aren't cold enough to ruin citrus. And so to know, I'm like, wow, that's a difference between how cold the winter nights really were, and so that leads to air pollution. They also require lots of water, so we used to have a lot of water, and we I live like about a mile north from the Santana River. Uh, it is dry, but there is water running underneath. That also has to do with the dams. There's a dam in Big Bear mountain area, and there's a dam in Corona, uh, which is basically like the midway point between basically from where I'm at to like Orange County, like Anaheim per se. And yeah, so those dams being built there also restrict water, which also restricts ways of the natives, like the Kuya, Serrano, Yohabitam, um Tongva folks. Uh so a lot of it is about divide, conquer, control. You control the land, you control the waterways, you control everything. Uh, even like in I have family in Porterville area, so Bakersfield area, and a couple years ago there was so much rain that it flooded. What used to be area that used to get flooded all the time because that was cleared out with dams uh to create farming, you know. So rich white men had money and they're like, I want this land, but it needs to do this for me. So they would make everybody else have to pay the price, and this rich white man paying leaders off got stuff done that way.

SPEAKER_00

Kind of that like extractive mindset of like I will get what I want from this.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and everything that I'm saying, like I can't provide resources. So please, anybody watching, fact-check me, double check things, get the details. Something that I just remember learning a couple years ago. And with all the information, the disinformation age we're in, you know, things get forgotten. You know, the wars that we're in, you know, like I'm here wearing, you know, my I stand to Palestine. Like, you know, those are indigenous people being pushed out. And that's like, for me, it's like if you're really native to that land, why are you destroying the olive trees that are natives to that area? You know, why are you destroying that land? Why are you bombing it with such toxic bombs? Like, that's not what somebody who is like, this is the land, you would take care of it and you would work with everybody that's already there. Because it's also for me, it's not about like, okay, let's just push everybody out. Like at this point, there's so much global migration that's happened that's about working together and respecting each other's cultures and learning the customs to you know to a point that you're respectful of them, you know, at your home, in your community, you'll do things your way, you know, because of course I believe we should keep that. I don't want to be seeing everybody worshiping one type of religion or what have you now, or doing things one way, because I think that's how we got into a lot of problems. But respect where you're at and to honor, because here it was illegal for the indigenous folks, the natives to practice their customs, and now a lot of people are like appropriating that. So yeah, like don't appropriate it, do it respectfully.

The power of greenery, especially when living near sources of pollution

SPEAKER_00

Hearing you talk about environmental justice, what's really coming to mind for me is really how it comes to what, like you said, honoring the land, honoring the practices, and also looking into the strengths of your local community. So things like what does the weather look like right now? What are the native plants that grow right there? And then like tapping into those. So you're kind of like working with your current environment to allow for everyone and everything to thrive, not just humans, but also other species. And yeah, seeing all the greenery in your house, I think it's just really cool on multiple fronts because I don't think I shared this, but I actually worked in the environmental health space and there is a project where I was doing some research on bioremediation. So obviously, oh, maybe not obviously for people that are listening, but in the inland empire, it's a city, so you have some like industrial pollution and that type of thing, a lot of chemicals that like go into the air that sometimes aren't the greatest for humans or for other animals. So, remediation is the act of cleaning up sites that have been polluted typically by industries. So the bioremediation is actually using plants that can absorb in some way the chemicals that are into the air. So there's a lot of community groups also. looking into what are our local pollution issues and what plants what might we be able to use plants or fungi in order to absorb those pollutants so they aren't just like wandering in the air or like traveling through the soil and just seeing all the plants that your parents have in their home. It just makes me think of all of the benefits of the air that you all have but then also possibly what they might be absorbing from the railroad that's like right behind you guys.

Individual consumer vs industry responsibility

SPEAKER_01

Yes. So thank you for that thank you for that reminder. Top of my head sunflowers are actually really good for I believe the soil and there are native species to California. So folks out there love sunflowers please buy some take good care of them and they will take care of you. And um definitely talking to any of your local uh master gardeners or botanists, herbalists, garden girlies like uh yes to go back to like culture. I feel like culture sharing and honoring is very important with stuff like that where we can learn from uh our local folks um you know break bread with one another uh share our customs with one another and be willing to learn and especially in California and America we're taught to you know like we got to learn everything we've got to be masters and we gotta be no it all but it's like we also got to learn to just be humble and to be like I know what I know and I'm open to other knowledge. I also feel like we are taught and especially in religious ways to disconnect from the planet into the world. And it's like no we're all one we're part of it. That's why like we can heal using herbal medicine that was the original medicine. And yeah with the air quality here yeah a lot of cancer out here a lot of suits we have solar panels that are constantly having to be cleaned because of the suit the dust all the dirt from the railroad goes over and settles there. So you know we have to have constant cleaning of our filters uh air filtration and a lot of my neighbors across the street they really get it back like on their bezel on their floor their cement driveways and so I feel like it goes over us wrinkles a little but then sets on the neighbors across the street and beyond them. And yeah we've had cases of people here who are multi-generational and they're being born with uh issues and they're dying young of cancer and it's just sad. It's just sad. And I do feel like with all the greenery that we have we have a bit of a bubble here. I'm not 100% sure what's native not native to this area or to the Americas here like I said like my parents have their green thumbs and they know more about that. And I'm always open to learn of like okay what plants do we need to keep what plants should we switch out for the biological remedial or what are you saying? Remediation. Remediation so I'm always open to learning that because yeah I wish when they built the railroads they would have been conscious about like okay we're building these railways let's build something that you know helps neutralize the pollution that they bring forth but of course that was not the case because they didn't care. It was all about money and it was all about taking over land but if they would have made you know planted trees that could have cleaned up the air and the soil that the train dirties up that would have been great for Bolton in general and the IE and you know and everywhere that were those railways. I'm very pro you know using railways for transportation purposes, for public transportation specifically and of course you know we need them. We live in a society where we need to transport commercial items and passengers I really do wish we had more investment so that they can be used for public transportation and that that these rail companies specifically BNSF and Union Pacific out here and the IE would invest in cleaner solutions, cleaner engines. They're still running engines that are decades old close to 100 years old once again double check me, fact check me folks and I think some are even up to 80 years old like girl you're not gonna drive a car that's 80 years old like and don't get me wrong there's beautiful cars that are 80 years old and but you've had to do a lot of work on them so that they don't for smog purposes. Same thing but why can't we do that for like I feel like the personal consumer the individual consumer is at held at a higher standard than these rail companies and then with brake well they're not being really governed too strictly when it comes to like smog pollution so then you know it kind of goes to the truckers and the truckers have to be held to a higher standard but also they're still causing the damage that they're causing that an individual that they're to be doing that with their own car like it'd be a far worse consequence for them. Yeah there definitely needs to be better so this is the work that I continue to do with Peace Edge to push forward for a cleaner freight we're always learning about better renewable energy. You know there's nothing perfect right now but if we don't try we're not going to get there. You know there's plenty of electric trains throughout the world especially in Europe parts of Asia I know for sure like in Japan that work great. I understand with a lot of these fully electric batteries tend to be not the best for the environment after so many years. But if we don't try you know you don't go from zero to a hundred we crawl then we walk then we run you know so that's my message to freight to industry out there. It's like yeah you got to put in the effort and but the work we do when we work with like independent like truckers or talk to them like they're doing what they can. We have nothing against you know hey it's the chamba we got to work we got to do what we gotta do. And it's always the independent the small businesses that are more active about doing things right for themselves and for the environment than these big guys. So just clocking it I know that I'm blessed a privileged to be able to live around all this greenery uh which is like a you know I guess a small little natural air filter in this very contaminated area. But even with that we still need air filters inside the home. And you said earlier about like walking and being able to walk and when you have nothing but just industry and stuff that pollutes the air it makes it really difficult for people to uh want to go out and walk but when you don't have uh walkable sidewalks which a lot of the IE doesn't I here in my community so and so we do have for the most part sidewalks they're not always the best you know like the best taken care of but you know they're there. I'm very happy to say that Colton recently and a lot of the major streets uh implemented official bike lanes for the cyclists so it's good to see you know hey promoting cycling making it safer in a way because I get it at the end of the day if the car is going to be driven by a bad driver then there's still a risk but yeah that's a step forward to acknowledge what the city did to make the major streets more bike friendly. I appreciate that. And I have been seeing more bicyclists on the road now versus the sidewalk because it was safer for them to be on the sidewalk but also once again very small effort and when many things need to happen. Be it taxing the transportation company so that they can uh keep on taking care of our streets we're having them go green as green as possible with the air pollution that they cause with the smog and the suits because yeah the individual having to take care of all that I'm over it I'm all about individual consciousness like you said earlier about thrifting it's like it's like that was stuff that we just did like there used to be across the rail tracks um desert industry when I say when that thrift store um and it was like big it was like the size of warehouse now it's like ATB's and another company now works there. So I do miss that the thrift store was there but they moved to a bigger location in Montana. Oh yeah so warehouse size we got a lot of great deals and got a lot of suits you know that were great but now you go to thrift stores and it's like sometimes there are overpricing them. It's also the idea of how do we make it sustainable where folks don't have to go into fast fashion and like because if I'm gonna get a better deal going to Ross than I am going to the thrift store, you know that's gonna there's gonna be a movement there. But at the end of the day it's also shouldn't be on the individual consumer. It shouldn't be like hey we do have lawmakers and we need to be able to push them for better legislation on like fast fashion because that's one of the bigger global polluters. So this is why I like connect it all back to like intersectional issues of like okay thrifting is amazing for the environment but how do we make that where it doesn't get commodified because yeah I I see these posts and I'm probably gonna see them now that I just spoke about it of people like thrift this and you can sell it on eBay for this amount and it's like you know so thrift stores are catching on and but I'm still very much thrifting you know and you know we used to do the penny saver back in the day for a lot of stuff.

Buy Nothing Groups & Eco-Tianguis

SPEAKER_00

I remember that yeah penny saver Cresless Facebook Marketplace a couple years ago we got basically a brand new motor uh lawn mower for like a hundred bucks or give or take it was basically new uh but yeah it was Facebook marketplace yeah and growing up for us we used to go to yard sales quite a bit to a good yard sale yeah and then um a co-worker friend actually got me into buy nothing groups so also Facebook groups but a little bit different from the marketplace because people are usually selling things but a lot of local communities have Facebook buy nothing groups where it's just neighbors sharing like I don't want this to go to the landfill does anyone want it for free and people share a whole bunch of things from like actual tech items to like hey I have extra baby formula any moms want this so it's actually really cool if you still have Facebook I feel like Facebook is for some of us older folks and I know for PC4EJ one of the initiatives that you all have is an Iko Tiangis and I'm wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about that.

Muxes, a native Oaxacan term

SPEAKER_01

Yes we incorporate a uh free store it's where people come and bring predominately clothing items uh but we don't turn anything away and we're open to uh local vendors last year in December was the first time that we actually asked for I want to say about a$25 uh vending fee and that was to help with the Palestinian youth movement of the IELAC so it's our way of being able to directly support you know without breaking any of these really strict nonprofit rules that they're imposing on us when it comes to supporting Palestine. So we'd let people know like your money isn't just going back to us like we got funding for this so that we can put this event together. We feed the community we make sure to book local vendors and yeah so the buy night theme perspective which I definitely need to do more of uh we incorporate that with the Ekotiangi's free clothing store. So yeah people come and we'll have just a lot you know say two cards worth of items and you know by the end of the event half of it is gone or less than that. So that's one way we make sure things don't go to waste uh with the Ecotiangis and uplifting local artists vendors and yeah like initially it was for free but yeah we're being able to support the local movement to free Palestine we asked for the fees and it's about building that community to let the vendors know hey you know make sure you take some time to go and talk to the local to the other vendors and yeah there's a lot of exchanging of information and there's people who do the what's called upcycling as well uh we have that with yeah so it's it's just a really great thing um long-term goal is to be able to host one more regularly and have more diversity of vendors and more possibility of yeah like the free store the buy nothing but yeah I'm gonna be looking what we have here that are buy not things because I know in Riverside they do have something similar to that where they meet up and it's basically just local bartering uh I think in one of the local parks in Riverside uh but I'd love to see about doing that here in um Colton. I know one of my friends did that with the clothing in San Nardino with the business that let us use their breezeway and it was uh basically it was same thing. It's a great idea it works people please uh yeah I'm a local organizer here so if you wanted to get something like that done please let me know so we can plan it and maybe P S can sponsor it maybe not trying to speak for my org here but you know I can definitely provide you know my physical presence self and whatever uh I can do to support table whatever human power you need for that. Yeah because I won't say manpower because that's so it sounds just sure it's rooted in my cheese mouth like manpower woman power and being non-conforming myself it's like okay gender wise I've come up with a term called musheche that derives from mushe from the Oaxaca culture but I'm not Oaxan that I know of uh my family is uh uh mom's side Balharas like a thickest area my dad's side outskirts of Mexico City Musheche what does that mean so when I learned about the Mouche term uh me and a couple friends uh who are also very non-conforming non-binary uh we loved it we love uh mushe is non-binary trans so mushe originally uh were non-binary trans assigned male at birth individuals uh who have taken on the traditional feminine uh woman roles but there you know there's a variety to it where you can you know basically be what we would consider like trans where they transition and live completely as a woman and or they can still present as male but they just do socially things that are both male and female uh and anywhere in between and beyond you know musheche takes from that and it's like for an individual with indigenous ancestry to the Americas be it from North America South America you know we don't want to limit anybody regardless of whatever gender sex you were signed at birth. Basically if you're nonconforming and have indigenous ties to the land be it North America South America Musha you know so that's where we took it from because um we definitely didn't want to use a term that like I always had issues with like non-binary or just utilizing English words because um I also do have a um an ongoing learning presentation on pre-colonial indigenous terms uh global indigenous terms uh for the LGBT community because a lot of our globally there's words before the American English language anyway so that's where it came from so yeah so I can provide musheshi power.

How to get started in working on enviornmental health and justice issues?

SPEAKER_00

Okay. I appreciate that yeah I was like if we go down colonizing language and what that looks like and what that means I feel like that's a whole nother conversation but thank you for sharing at least one more term because I think we're all on the learning path. Maybe some more intentionally than others but at the end of the day I think we're all learning. And yeah I think one of the strongest themes that really stood out for me today was not just the intersectionality that we were talking about earlier, but also how multifaceted a lot of these issues are because we've been talking about just like the individual actions that people can take from like using more native plants to what you were saying of like, hey, some of these issues require like different policies, different regulations and the lawmakers are the ones that are in charge of that and being able to acknowledge that our impact could be through an array of ways. And I'm curious if you can share from what you've seen from the people that you've worked with from the issues that you've worked on whether people are in the inland empire or they're in a different community, different state what would you say are some of the ways that people can get started on working on environmental health, environmental justice issues within their local area? I know that's a big question.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah I did mention Plan parenthood in the past I think that is a great way to get involved because using a binary term right now, women's health is very much affected by pollution as well. And a lot of folks at least from the Plan Parenthood advocacy that I've worked with see the connection and like I said especially the California Prop 65 thing that signage that says this we have chemicals that could cause birth defects. And it's not like oh the baby gets it all like hey you know variant cancer, uterine cancer, uh cervical cancer and then it's also erectile cancer, prostate, testicle pain so male body parts also get affected as well. So maybe working with parenthood because I know they're more you know throughout the nation could be a great way to start because um you know once you start learning about the lead causes of I guess sexual reproductive health cancers you start kind of connecting the dots uh or looking at any uh local Sierra chapter Sierra is also a national group and any other smaller chapters as well as that you may have so sometimes finding the big chapters helps you connect with the smaller orgs and collectives or co-ops that's how I've been able to do things. And yeah using social media you know let's use social media to our advantage so that we can connect you know we do have a power over our algorithm so I am very happy that I do get an algorithm that it does show a variety of things and like I said right now probably show me stuff that we just discussed data tracking that's a whole nother conversation uh and stuff that I want to learn more about as well but yeah like the more you talk about stuff like the more I talk about like Palestine and human injustice issues I'm getting more of that on in my algorithm and so uh try to do what you can to manipulate your algorithm to your liking. I know that's a big ask, but yeah like searching for stuff searching for free or buy nothing groups if you are here in the IE or in anywhere, you know we do we are part of the Moving Forward Network, which is part of a uh larger network of small and big environmental justice orgs. So look up Moving Forward Network, look up PC number four so PC number four ej.org People's collective for environmental justice uh you can find us there you can uh send us a message our communications team uh shout out to Angie again they're very great about shooting us our email uh right away that's sending to our general contact one email me darby d arby.o at pc4ej.org you know you can talk to me we can uh see about planning something out here locally and quoting in the IE as well uh because yeah it's it's just about putting yourself out there and also knowing where your limitations are at too especially for uh my community of disabled folks y'all matter and whatever you can do for the movement for yourself or for anybody else so I've I bring that up because yeah that seems to be a big challenge a lot of spaces are not accessible a lot of times or people you know don't have the strength to go out you know disability comes in different ways and forms and I acknowledge that I honor that always open to learn how to be a better person when it comes to disability because you know I've had a disability with a broken wrist I was disabled for a while there. So anyways I acknowledge that and I'm always open to making spaces accessible from the jump one of the projects that I work I'm co-founder of Solstice Theater in the Empire. We do shadow public plays that discuss local issues, environmental issues, global issues, tighten it all together we have an array of over 20 famous plays uh different generations and different races and cultures and we embedded it where regardless of how many people show up we have an ASL interpreter and we have a Spanish interpreter uh right then and there. So that's already our base. So we do that as a way to show other community members and orgs this is what a grassroots program projects can do, you know, because to us that's us doing the bare minimum making sure we have funding to have these um interpreters. So uh two big orcs I can think about Sierra Club Planned Parenthood like I said the connections are there. I do work with predominantly cisgender women and yeah you know like reproductive health and environmental health are very much connected and like always the women and the non-binary and trans communities seem to be the lead in a social justice movement and uh um love to see it and I love the community that we build with that and the chances we get to grow and learn from one another. And you know we gotta be able to protect each other and be there for each other because we're the ones that showcase how bad these environmental issues are for all of us. So if you can also find the local chapter please look up and see if you yeah if you align with them as well because I get it we're not always going to align with everybody's mindsets or organizations mentalities but at the end of the day we're all human we're all communities it's human beings that are working these programs working at these organizations there's my long-winded answer.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah thank you Darby for your tips and the way that you are connecting all of these different things if you are listening don't worry I will include links and resources in the show notes so you could click on those after the episode as well. And yeah I think to what you were saying one around with connecting with organizations that are already doing that work and even you yourself of just like the familiarity that you have the insights that you're able to share of like oh yeah these are some of the issues that we know are in the community or are impacting certain people and these are the things these are the solutions that we're currently working on. And then I think two the thing around the algorithm is yeah we definitely have control over our algorithm not just in terms of what we're paying attention to but what we're actively choosing who we're actively choosing to follow so being able to follow even the organizations that you mentioned and being more intentional and thoughtful about having our algorithm curated by that as well. So definitely agree. And yeah thank you Darby for joining me this has been a wonderful conversation is there anything I didn't ask you or that we didn't talk about that you want to share more with people that are listening.

The importance of working in and with communities

SPEAKER_01

Another group, your local Girl Scouts, uh, maybe even Boy Scouts, but I don't know, they've been historically kind of problematic. But uh, I've worked with local Girl Scouts here as well that have been great with like local cleanups as well. Uh so another org that I know is nationwide. So sorry, thought that with the top of my head. And yeah, just um highlighting the fact of the importance of being able to work in communities if you have the strength to connect in whatever capacity to align yourself with other orgs or just create your own little community or connect with other community, like the buy nothing groups. Please do that at your capacity, just like as corny as it sounds, please make time for yourself. Please take those rest days when you just gotta rest, even if it's just doom scrolling. Like I can't tell you how you're going to rest, but resting is very, very, very important. Please take time to rest, take time to connect and uh invest in what helps you feel better. Rest is crucial, uh, rest is radical and and yeah, easier said than done. I am acknowledging that easier said than done because a lot of us are working multiple jobs to get by. Can't emphasize enough the importance of rest and connecting to the arts and connecting with people that you can just sometimes shooting the shit with people, you know, just talking with folks. Very therapeutic. Also, at the end of the day, nothing replaces an amazing therapist, an amazing psychiatrist. I do have an amazing therapist, she's queer, she's fabulous, she's brown. So I acknowledge that privilege that I have. So if y'all can connect to an amazing therapist, please do so. And whatever medicine you need, whether it's, you know, traditional herbal medicine or the Western medicine, take it.

SPEAKER_00

For sure. Two things I love talking about mental health and rest. And if you are having trouble resting, because I've been there as well, there's actually a whole podcast episode about rest, play, and joy amidst chaos. So go check that out. And it actually talks about seven different types of rest that I didn't come up with that, but someone shares about seven different types of rest that we can lean into. And it's interesting that you brought up even the theater or just being able to hang out with friends because that was one of the different types of rest is like creative rest and how sometimes we need that like creative stimulation, creative output, and how important that is for nourishing ourselves. So wanted to plug that in. But thank you so much, Darby. This has been a wonderful conversation. And again, I will share all the links, all the resources, the organizations that you talked about in the show notes as well.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. It's been my pleasure, and I'll also see what reference links I can share as well.

SPEAKER_00

Okay, wonderful. If you haven't already, please leave a review. Let us know what you thought of this episode, and bye everyone. Bye. Thank you for joining me for another episode of Rooted in Attention. Until next time, and remember to keep showing up for the life, relationships, and community you want. Now go.

Head Shot

Karina Gomez

Host