More than 200 people participated in the Coalition Against Environmental Racism’s ninth-annual Environmental Justice Conference in the EMU this weekend.
The conference, entitled “The Power of One,” featured an array of speakers who talked about issues ranging from groundwater pollution to institutionalized racism. The conference also included a poetry slam.
Nearly 20 professors and activists contributed to the conference, which also had keynote addresses by Robin Morris Collin and Bob Collin, who started CAER 10 years ago, and the nationally-renowned Rev. Damu Smith of the National Black Environmental Justice Network.
In addition to talks about specific environmental issues, such as mining on tribal lands and railroad pollution, many panels focused on community action to prevent environmental injustices and on coalition building between individual community members.
First-year law student Dan Kruse helped organize the conference after learning about the environmental justice movement earlier this year.
“The struggle to protect the environment is not just because of its intrinsic value, but also because of effects on poor communities,” he said.
Yalonda Sindé, the executive director of the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice in Seattle, led a panel discussion about community-based organizing.
“Environmental Justice is the synergy of environmentalism and civil rights,” she said. “We don’t leave out social justice issues that affect communities of color and poor
communities.”
Sindé also acknowledged the hard work and dedication of the students who organize the yearly conference.
“The students do an extraordinary job putting this on each year,” she said.
Second-year law student Naomi Melver is one of three CAER co-coordinators who, along with a team of volunteers, organized the three-day conference.
“We organize the conference each year to further CAER’s mission of educating the community and providing networking and coalition-building opportunities for activists,” Melver said. “It’s amazing how people have come out of the woodwork to put this on.”
The varied selection of lectures impressed Lewis and Clark law student Leyla Knight.
“The conference in a really good learning experience because it includes such a wide array of topics,” she said. “I especially like the community organization panels, and I hope to come back next year.”