UNLOCKED: Behind-the-scenes of The Missive #9
On anti-racism in the workplace, anti-queer sentiments growing at alarming rate and how it's all related, plus what I'm reading, watching and listening to now
My Scottish/Irish ancestors arrived on the east coast of Turtle Island sometime in the late 1700’s or early 1800’s and were part of several waves of genocidal colonization of the Indigenous people who were already here. I know I have benefited as a result, and I find this deeply troubling. I like to explain my family’s history and keep this foremost in my mind (and my writing) at all times. I moved west with my family in the 1970’s and am grateful to be here, producing this newsletter in Moh’kinsstis, and the traditional Treaty 7 territory of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani, as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. This territory is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. I recognize that the land I now work and live on was stolen from these nations (truth) and I support giving the land back as an act of reconciliation.
Dear friends,
This post was originally only available for paid subscribers, and includes content that gets at the heart of my newsletter and the thinking behind it. I’m unlocking it now to give everyone a sample of the extra content available for supporters. I’m also offering a reduced annual subscription rate until E-Day, April 28!
In this post from October of 2023, for example, I read an article about groundwater monitoring that has me wondering about Alberta’s groundwater in the current regulatory environment. I watched a movie about the isolating and controlling nature of religions and cults, characteristics I’ve observed in hate rallies against 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Alberta. And I listened to a podcast about the origins of the environmental protest movement in the US. TLDR: Success isn’t always obvious in the short term, but long term, you could be changing things in ways you don’t understand at the time.
Read on for links to all of these sources.
If you have any comments, I’d love to hear from you.
Thoughts ahead of the next newsletter (coming soon):
This month has been tough. There have been a lot of big changes in my family’s life, and some devastating realizations about the state of the province. I’m working on my next free, public post and it should be out within the week.
While out “counter-protesting” the transphobic and homophobic hate rallies recently, I’ve been struck by how many are unwilling to make even the slightest changes to improve the lives of others. Most will express dismay about the queer bashing that is openly displayed, but they can’t seem to take that next step to speak up or show up when it matters most.
It’s the same with racism. Taking an anti-racism approach is not a passive activity.
Recently I’ve been raising some red flags at my workplace about processes and practices that are clearly amplifying racist perspectives.
In one case, my workplace is amplifying a Holocaust denier, while not identifying the person as such. The notorious Twitter/X account is run by a far right agitator and a white supremacist, but is represented only as an influencer on social media in internal documents.
This is something that should not be tolerated, but when I’ve raised the issue, I was met with silence. I received no response, not even an acknowledgement of my email.
Then, when I escalated the issue, I finally received an email response. It took about two weeks to hear back that the decision not to identify the account as racist was unfortunate but there’s nothing different that could be done differently. It was the infuriating “is it what it is” response.
Not to be deterred, I escalated it even further. This got me a meeting with a senior leader, who had a little more of an open mind, but still made no commitments to change. My argument is that the account should be clearly identified as a Holocaust denying, white supremacist, whenever referenced. In particular, when the person’s comments relate to the Black community in Calgary, this bias needs to be clearly noted.
When an organization makes an anti-racism commitment publicly, but shows no willingness to consider changing the way they approach processes or practices, that is not “anti-racism.” Plain and simple.
If you’re unwilling to stand up for anti-racism principles, or defend against anti-queer sentiment, what are the chances you’ll stand up and do what’s right to prevent climate change either?
Here’s the thing, the racists, the homophobes and transphobes, they’re the same people denying climate change. And they’re organizing, gaining strength and getting more violent out in the streets, as well as taking cover in churches, governments and in political parties.
While most are standing idly by and doing little to stop it.
April 20, 2024 update to this story: When I raised the issue, my former employer dropped me from the email distribution list. I have no idea whether they are still including these accounts in their reports without flagging them as anything beyond “influencers.”
Truth is, reconciliation isn’t happening in any meaningful way
The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation was held on September 30. It was a bit of a soggy day in Calgary, and the mood was somber. Progress towards recognizing the true meaning of both truth and reconciliation seems painfully slow.
Reading: Six years of groundwater data, Windermere lowest level in five years
Living Lakes Canada’s Columbia Basin Groundwater Monitoring Program is collecting long-term data on groundwater levels.
“Considered one of North America’s most important water towers, the Canadian Columbia Basin supplies fresh water to millions of people downstream in both Canada and the United States. But climate change is changing the Columbia Basin’s historically steady water supply.”
The program now has some wells with up to six years of data on how aquifers are responding to surface events.
This spring, water levels in some wells were the lowest recorded to date.
In one of the wells, there’s a decreasing trend over the last six years.
In other wells, peak water levels occurred earlier this year than in previous years.
In June, one of the wells located in Windermere had the lowest water level recorded in the last 5 years, following a decreasing trend since 2018.
The information collected by these stations helps address the glaring data gaps in government-run networks, which have seen a decline in monitoring stations in recent decades.
Read more at: https://livinglakescanada.ca/2023/08/24/the-rise-and-fall-of-groundwater-2/
Watching: A jaw clenching movie for the times
Took a chance and watched “Apostasy” the 2017 movie by British director Daniel Kokotajlo, a former Jehovah’s Witness.
Have you ever felt your jaw clenching so tight it starts to hurt? That's this movie. Brilliant portrayal of the toxicity of religion/cults. The performances by all three women central to the story are exceptional.
With the amount of religious fanaticism we’re seeing lately in the streets, in the government, and the threats that come with that, this is probably the biggest horror film you could watch this Halloween month. It’s based on real experiences, rings true for many former Witnesses (according to the reviews) and is riveting from beginning to end. And it’s a formula that you’ll see across many religions and cults, not just the one depicting in the film.
Listening to: Equity and environmental justice cannot be separated
NPR had a Climate Week series on October 2-8 with a wide range of content on solutions for climate change.
The Throughline podcast featured an episode on the protests against the illegal dumping of highly toxic chamicals in poor communities in North Carolina in the 1970’s. Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs were being dumped along the roadways, and later, into a landfill nearby the mostly Black communities.
What is different about this story, is that it explains how although the protests failed to stop the PCBs from being dumped nearby, they helped launch a national environmental justice movement that is still going on today.
“The protests raised awareness about how racial and economic inequality make communities more vulnerable to environmental harms, leading to the idea of environmental racism, calls for environmental justice — and now, climate justice.”
"Without it," says Eileen McGurty, author of the book Transforming Environmentalism: Warren County, PCBs, and the Origins of Environmental Justice, "we are going to reproduce the systems of oppression that already exist and we're going to make the problem worse. We're not actually solving environmental problems."
You can listen to the podcast episode (or read about it) here: https://www.npr.org/2023/10/05/1198908047/climate-action-environmentalism-history
You may have heard about the housing crisis…
