06/05/2020
We write to you in solidarity today. The deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery and the wrongful treatment of Chris Cooper have shed light on the shameful injustice of systemic racism. The protests across the nation reflect a necessary rise to action: the time to change has no other choice but to be now.
We stand as the first all-POC officer board of the Harvard College Conservation Society, and yet, despite the new voices we hope we bring to the table, we still find that our leadership has continued to perpetuate the exclusive history of the environmental field. We are exhausted by the continual exclusion of people of color from conservation and environmental advocacy, and we have not done enough to combat the very same barriers to entry that we and our members tirelessly face. We cannot be complicit: this is not the direction we can lead HCCS.
The environmental field belongs to all of us, no matter race, gender, and identity.
Below, you can read the Harvard College Conservation Society's official statement regarding recent events in America, penned by our Chief Operating Officer, Mushtaaq Ali.
------------------------OUR OFFICIAL STATEMENT---------------------
The Harvard College Conservation Society acknowledges that our organization does not operate in a bubble, and that events occurring worldwide have a great impact on what we do and how we achieve our goals. To all of our members, we extend our deepest condolences in this dark time, and we are outraged by the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and countless others. It is important to state without hesitation: Black Lives Matter. HCCS will be matching donations up to $250 to the non-profit Outdoor Afro, an organization dedicated to connecting Black people to outdoor experiences. We urge you, if you are financially able, to donate alongside us. Additionally, this statement is not only coming from the organization as a whole, but also directly from one of its board members. As a Black person, I deeply understand the pain that many of you are feeling, and I want you to know you are not alone in your grief. Together, we must all strive for a better future. To that end, HCCS would like to highlight two parts of our mission statement.
“We are committed to pursuing paths to increase the accessibility, diversity, inclusivity, and equity of conservation both at Harvard and in the broader community to ensure that all decisions are made consistent with principles of environmental justice."
This statement is in recognition that the conservation movement has been historically exclusionary, and in the present we still must actively seek to build a more inclusive field. There is no environmental justice without racial justice. Furthermore, humans are not separate from nature, and we cannot hope to create a world more balanced with nature if we do not treat each other with respect and dignity. Black people have always had a relationship with preserving the environment, and we must recognize how in each of our communities we can do better to listen and amplify voices that have historically been unheard and silenced.
“We aim to prove that conservation is a universal movement for anyone invested in the betterment of both human society and the health of the planet, and seek to incorporate all relevant voices to dialogues surrounding conservation, fully recognizing the historic lack of representation in conservation with regard to gender and culture.”
These injustices are systemic and permeate every institution, including in organizations within academic institutions like ours. The Harvard College Conservation Society pledges to do better to combat this in order to hold ourselves up to the goals of our mission statement. This means supporting our conservationists of color, and particularly our Black conservationists. This means addressing the fact we have so few in our organization. Part of the pledge will be asking ourselves: how can we make Black students feel welcomed? How can we showcase that conservation is just as much for them as it is for anyone else? We pledge to be more deliberate and mindful when choosing our speakers and our partner organizations. To create space within our organization to have conversations that address environmental justice and other issues. To brainstorm ways to dismantle barriers to access to conservation in academia and professionally. However, we realize that these actions of course do not represent the end of our collective struggle against racial injustice, and there is much more work to be done in other facets of our society and across many different communities.
With incidents like the one occurring with Christian Cooper in Central Park, it is evident how Black people are sometimes viewed as unwelcome in outdoor spaces. Personally, as someone who bird watches and often works in remote natural spaces, I can attest to the lack of comfort I have felt at times, and the extra precautions built into my brain because of the color of my skin. One thing that I wished for is for acknowledgment. For people to understand my experience and recognize these challenges. For without acknowledgment, there can be no improvement. We hope that you all take the time to reflect upon what is happening in our world, and the lessons we can learn as we seek to create a healthier planet for all of its inhabitants.
