*[Enwl-eng] Power of Persistence
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enwl at enw.net.ru
Sun Oct 22 00:20:52 MSK 2023
Young environmental leaders’ resolve to solve long-entrenched problems
offers hope for a better tomorrow.
News of the world environment
NEWSLETTER | OCTOBER 20, 2023
Power of Persistence
The island of Vieques is picturesque — it
features white sand beaches, snorkel-friendly waters, and the world’s
brightest bioluminescent bay. But its beauty belies a toxic reality. On top
of the injustices of colonialism and marginalization faced by all of Puerto
Rico, the people of Vieques have shouldered a unique burden: In the 1940s,
the US Navy seized control of much of the island for military training
exercises. The war games they conducted there, which continued until 2003,
displaced communities and left Vieques’s soil and waters dangerously
contaminated with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and unexploded munitions.
As local activist Katherine Martínez Medina,
21, puts it, “Being from such an idyllic paradise island comes with a high
price.”
One of six young people who received Earth
Island’s annual Brower Youth Award for environmental leadership at a
ceremony in Berkeley earlier this week, Medina isn’t shirking from Vieques’s
challenges. Rather, she’s investing her energy and passion in building a
brighter future through her work with La Colmena Cimarrona, an agricultural
collective working towards food sovereignty on the island.
“No one will displace us from Vieques,” she
said during a rousing speech made in Spanish at the awards ceremony. “We are
creating economic opportunities for those who plant sustainably in Vieques,
offering spaces for care and healing that ensure our permanence.”
Her work is a reminder that environmental
issues never occur in a vacuum; that they are intimately connected to
racial, economic, and social ones. And along with her fellow awardees — who,
among other things, are pushing to increase diversity in outdoor spaces,
restore much-needed coastal mangroves, and transition schools to green
energy — Medina is creating real change.
As the cycle of war and suffering ramps up
in the Middle East and slogs on in Ukraine, as storms and wildfires and
heatwaves wreak havoc on communities around the world, it was inspiring to
be in the presence of these young leaders, feel their energy, and hear about
their dedication and drive to solve problems that were seeded far before
they were born. For me, at least, these young people offered hope that a
more just, peaceful, and regenerative future is possible.
Zoe Loftus-Farren
Managing Editor, Earth Island Journal
P.S. Listen to two of this year's Brower
Youth Award winners talk about what sets youth leadership apart on our
latest podcast.
Photo of Vieques by Ethan Jameson
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From: Editors, Earth Island Journal
Sent: Saturday, October 21, 2023 3:45 AM
Subject: Power of Persistence
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