Russian Riverkeeper grieves with our Nation over the murder of George Floyd.
Systemic racism impacts all aspects of our society, including our natural environment. People of color suffer disproportionate impacts from pollution like smog and environmental hazards like pesticides. People of color, particularly African-Americans, face harassment and intimidation in our parks, our woods, and our river.
Here in Sonoma County, 27% of our neighbors are Latinx and are being hit 4 1/2 times harder by the COVID-19 crisis. While institutional racism and the coronavirus might seem like parallel pandemics, they both point to structural inequalities that we need to actively change.
As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1967, “It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.”
We commit to fighting for equity in our movement and in our community.
The accompanying images were created by Leah Thomas (@greengirlleah).
