Environmental Justice in LA

L.A has been quite the laboratory for Latinos and environmental issues. Definitely because of the huge Latino population there, but also because of the very clear environmental problems that the communities are exposed to. Communities and groups have mustered the strength to start the fight against the problems and also have begun to redefine what it means to be an environmentalist in the contexts of the barrio.

A recent story (April 2009) in Newsweek paints a general picture of how the issues play out in the LA area, and how a "Green Latino Movement" displays that environmental issues are not a "luxury of the elite" (that has been a main complaint of the "environmental movement", that it's a white middle class endeavor, basically a cause for those that have the time and can afford it...)

I think more and more of these stories will be coming out. When I was doing research on these topics (the fruits of which I hope I'll be able to condense soon enough...) I was finding that it was there were few mainstream publications and news outlets mentioning the struggle, and of course, community groups have few resources to devote to websites and media outreach. But big organizations are beginning to take up the issues (for good and bad) and be more responsible about them, and the grassroots are not going to be going away.

I want to close now by saying that I think the Newsweek article does a fair job of providing some of the main "ideas" or issues when it comes to Latinos and the environment, which are:

1) It is about community and familia
2) The health aspects of the issues are just as, if not more, important than "traditional" environmental issues (wilderness preservation and the like)
3) Latinos need access to green spaces, and such spaces are valued as family spaces
4) Latinos do have a history of wise resources use and conservation
5) Latinos need to be part of the discussion and solutions, not just the "victims"

ok, more later