I feel like I can’t breathe, or at least that I shouldn’t. Did you know that 57% of Whites, 65% of Blacks, and 80% of Latinos live in areas with substandard air quality? That’s just one of the intolerable facts I learned preparing for PeaceJam Northeast’s 2009 Mentor Training and Slam on Environmental, Economic and Social Justice. Of course, this became even more apparent when I got lost yesterday. Currently, I live in a white-picket fence neighborhood inhabited by mostly families and older people. Demographically speaking, it is a primarily white neighborhood. There are a couple of parks close by and the area is quite safe. Meaning: I wouldn’t be scared to walk around East Rock alone at night. Yesterday afternoon I decided to hike up East Rock, a pseudo-cliff/hill to see the view of New Haven. At 4:30 I decided to head back home before sunset so I wouldn’t get caught walking down in the dark. My plan apparently didn’t work. I got turned around and ended up on the other side of East Rock near the railroad tracks, smoke emitting-buildings, the highway, and a neighborhood very different from the one on the other side. The invisible lines of New Haven, just as environmental racism suggests, have served to divide the more impoverished, unsafe, primarily black/latino neighborhoods, which are visibly more polluted from the more affluent, clean, and safe neighborhoods inhabited by a majority of white home-owners. Of course, the theme of environmental justice was at the forefront of my mind as I walked briskly through two of New Haven’s divergent neighborhoods. However, the thought provoking nature of the Slam is solely one component of it.
This past week Chrissa, Barry, and I were in Slam mode, drinking large quantities of coffee and consuming chocolate at alarming rates (or perhaps that was just me). This was my third Slam in the Northeast and I am happy to say that it went pretty well considering something usually happens to me on route to the Slam. In 2007 I forgot my bag on the bus and never saw it again, and last year I was so excited to arrive at the Slam that I was caught for speeding. Speed for Peace!!!--- it’s something you should not do. All I have to say is that I am in love with the PeaceJam mentors, we had an incredible training Friday night complete with icebreakers (Two Truths and a Lie says that two of our mentors have played in Carnegie Hall and one was part of the Israeli baseball team among other incredible truths), discussion, facilitation building, and more. Our Northeast mentors are an articulate, enthusiastic, awe-inspiring bunch if I do say so myself… and I am happy to say that other than myself, three of the other mentors were mentors at the very first PeaceJam Conference in Spring 2007. Yay to Cate Avery, Kate Bonci, and Will Chen!
Slam Day of course was also phenomenal. We got the crowd off to an energized start with a mini dance party in the auditorium before sending them to their incredible family groups. Following family group 1, everyone gathered on stage for a workshop facilitated by Evan Greer, a young musician and activist who leads workshops nationwide. He engaged the youth in a discussion about different forms of oppression, and they did some mind mapping on capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism and other topics that can be related to oppression.
Later in the afternoon, our PeaceJammers attended workshops on “Landfill 101: Recycling & Composting in Your School”, “Our Global Foodprint: The Impact of What We Eat”, “Pollution in Low-Income Communities: Causes & Impact”, and the “The Non-Violent Warrior: In the Footsteps of MLK”. I attended the workshop on “Pollution in Low-Income Communities” and was impressed by the workshop. What I learned in that session is something I am still contemplating, especially as I work and live two very different communities and see the differences between them on a day-to-day basis.
Unfortunately, I was unable to see the GCA marketplace, but I can say without a doubt that Northeast PeaceJammers are doing some incredible work to create social change in the region.
I give a shout out to all the advisors, mentors, PeaceJammers, my VISTA buddy Chrissa, to the Aweseome Barry, and other people who made the Slam an incredible success. You are all amazing! Carry the momentum of the Slam with you, and I hope to see you all at our Spring Conference with Adolfo on March 27-28th!
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