On Youtube
Here are some cool things I’ve watched lately, from video essays to concise soundbites on current events. Enjoy!
If you haven’t been approaching environmental justice intersectionally, you've been doing it wrong. This panel highlights important conversations around gender, health, Blackness, and climate justice. I’d recommend watching with others so that you can have a discussion around these important topics.
Who is Alexei Navalny? Why is his story important? Why should you care that Putin sees him as a threat? Get all these questions answered here and more by watching this Vox video.
The pandemic has exposed so many of the injustices we’ve chosen to look away from- including the conditions and treatment of those who work in our meatpacking industries. This video is incredibly comprehensive- from understanding why meatpacking plants are placed where they are to learning about the people who take these jobs- this is a must watch. I think this is a must watch for all of us, including those who don’t eat meat. For good reason, ethics around animal treatment centers many of our conversations around diets, but we cannot forget about people. It is astonishing to me that the same energy given to raise awareness around the life of a cow or a chicken, isn’t also given to the person who goes through incredible stress, trauma, and risk. We (you and I- all of us) must do better.
Jakarta is the world’s fastest sinking country, and this video dives into the reasons why, including tracing the problem back to it’s roots. You guessed it, colonialism. “In the 1600s, when the Dutch landed in Indonesia and built present-day Jakarta, they divided up the city to segregate the population. Eventually, that segregation led to an unequal water piping system that excluded most Indigenous Jakartans, forcing them to find other ways to get water.” What were those other ways? Watch the video to find out more.
What happened in Texas? Many states have experienced snow storms….so why was the aftermath so uniquely catastrophic? And should we be worried for the future? "But Texas's grid itself is not what failed. Power went out across Texas in the first place because energy sources across the state were unprepared for severe weather. And that didn’t have to happen; Texas had been warned about this exact scenario, and had actually experienced versions of it twice in the last 30 years. But they didn’t prepare. Now the rest of the US faces the same issue. Climate change is making severe weather disasters more and more frequent. And the American energy system is not ready for it.”
We’ve been so worried about getting back to normal that we may have forgotten how pandemics might become our normal if we aren’t careful. From rising temperatures, to massive numbers of displaced persons and migrants moving to concentrated areas*, to humans blurring the line between what should solely be in nature….the next pandemic could be right on the corner.
* I should be clear: I am no way implying that displaced people/refugees/migrants are carrying viruses with them- because their not. Instead, cities/countries themselves are not building the appropriate infrastructure, sanitation, and spatial architecture in making sure that everyone can live safely together.
Just another example of why our current police infrastructure is completely incompetent and produces more harm than it protects. Abolish all of it.
Pop Culture
I have never heard of the term digital blackface until this video and now I am beginning to recognize it everywhere. Seems to me like absolutely no system exists without being anti-black- even the platforms that seem new and contemporary.
This video definitely confirmed my fears for the future of humanity. This pandemic has altered many of our lives- some for the better, but for some, it truly exposed how selfish some of us can be.
watch the video and take notes. this was an entire sermon.
see note above.
cover photo belongs to https://unsplash.com/@stereophototyp?utm_source=squarespace&medium=referral