A Sustainable Future for CEO

I'd first like to start by saying that I do not know much about environmentalism. I know the basic issues, the fact that if we don't get our carbon emissions to net zero soon, we could face some harsh consequences. I know that our little actions matter, but so do the actions of governments who have the power to surge forward and take the lead on these issues (although they often fail to do so). I also know that the rich profit from anti-sustainability matters (e.g. the use of plastic, the continuation of policies like fracking) while the poor and/or people of color are often crushed under the weight of a dying world that is not under their control. Yet, I still feel as if I don't know enough and as we talk about creating a green world in High Road, I have struggled to find its correlation to my project and to my organization, the Center for Employment Opportunities. I want to be aware of what is happening in the environment, so that I can have these conversations and seek to be more engaged, more involved, and more passionate about this issue. 

I also want to ensure that I approach any environmental work I do with a lens of intersectionality  rather than the very privileged lens environmentalism exist in right now. For example, in my time living in the ecology house this year, so much of the focus was on the little things such as "go vegan" "don't buy from this company etc." To say these things as solutions to issues is to me a very white, privileged lens. Although it shouldn't be, being vegan and trying to impose one's veganism or vegetarianism on others is privileged. The shame placed on folks who don't adhere to the privileged, uninclusive environmentalism narrative is to me, distributing. Being vegan alone will not save the planet. Being vegan is also a luxury that is often expensive and inaccessible due to things like food deserts.  The privilege of being able to not [fill in the blank]. Advocates of environmentalism are themselves not always inclusive in their efforts. Environmentalists have in the past reminded me of white feminists as they fail to include marginalized communities in their efforts. Environmentalism to me, in my previous experiences with it, has operated in a lens in which protecting the environment and making the Earth a sustainable and long lasting place for us all to live, has not been for all people. Yet it needs to be. Environmentalism cannot be a class based issue. 

So, while my work at CEO may not appear to relate directly to sustainability and environmentalism, I have begin to realize the ways in which it does. Many of CEO's participants are low income and/or people of color. They are the people left out by a movement that focuses on saving trees instead of getting the lead out of their homes. They are the population of people in Buffalo's city that inhale pollution and the legacy of negative environmental impact left by the factories of Buffalo's past. But even more than all of this, they are the people who simply want to make a better life for themselves and their kids. Yet, they are also unlikely to join any of the environmental movements' causes. After all, why embrace a movement that has, in the past, failed to embrace you? Thinking about ways in which CEO can be more involved and reframe the movement to fit its purpose and to serve its participants while engaging them in the work, I think of green jobs. Getting CEO to partner with more green entities around Buffalo, who are doing the work of environmentalism, in a more inclusive way is a pet project in the back of my head. While I am not sure how I will actualize it, I want to see a CEO in which the program model remains the same, but the work the crew does is not only for the city of Buffalo but also for nonprofits which are green minded. I know we work with Habitat for Humanity occasionally and help them build houses but I wonder, what does it look like when CEO pushes Habitat for Humanity to build sustainable houses? What does CEO look like when its crews work in the East & West sides of Buffalo's streets and not in the Buffalo Bill's stadium? CEO's crew currently do things like removing debris and cleaning up Buffalo's Parks. But, I want to see more. I want to see more action, and I want to see this action framed in a way in which program participants are encouraged to focus environmentalist efforts on their own communities while still advancing themselves.