ELC’s Commitment to Social Justice and Anti-Racism

Earth Law Center denounces the killings of George Floyd and countless black Americans, known and unknown, at the hands of the police and others. We also acknowledge systemic anti-black racism in our criminal justice system and entire society. As supporters of rights-based movements worldwide, our team is committed to fighting racism and oppression. We believe that racism and the environmental crisis are deeply intertwined, and we cannot solve one without solving the other. We will also use this opportunity to listen and learn so we can stand in support of the Black Community with greater solidarity, understanding, and effectiveness. Finally, we will work with our staff, partners, and friends, particularly those who are white, to speak up for and learn new ways to practice anti-racism.

Update: Since writing this statement, ELC has met to come up with organizational strategies on how to better engage in social justice and practice anti-racism, both within and external to ELC. Some of these strategies include the following:

(1) promote more diversity (including race, gender, sexuality, and more) amongst the staff, Board, and volunteers;

(2) empower all of ELC’s staff, Board, and volunteers to have their voices heard, particularly those who speak English as a second language;

(3) meet protocols so that the organization’s males in general and white males in particular do not have a disproportionate amount of speaking time;

(4) commit to translate all of our work, or as much as possible, into Spanish and possibly other languages;

(5) conduct outreach to Indigenous partners and partners in developing countries to get feedback about our work, specifically for considering their voices and input;

(6) incorporate gender pronouns (e.g., “she/her/hers” or “they, them, their”) into our email signatures and Slack bios;

(7) incorporate a respectful statement about which Indigenous territories we occupy in our email signatures and Slack bios;

(8) consider amending ELC’s bylaws so that it’s a “worker-owned” organization in which all staff members have an equal say;

(9) consider amending ELC’s mission to encompass other “ecocentric” legal movements as well as related social justice issues;

(10) develop new outreach programs to reach a diversity of students and other volunteers, and to budget stipends for some students of diverse backgrounds; and

(11) finalize a strategy to practice anti-racism and decolonization in our communications work.