Patriarchy

There is a long history of patriarchy and men running the world. Women are often mules in the wrongdoing of men  and are forced to abide by the standards that are set in their lives. Since 1991 there has been a 73% decrease in abortion clinics. Though abortion rights are a very controversial topic this violates the reproductive justice of women all over the world. Not only does it involuntary imposes a choice of what a women should do with her body but it throws off the natural balance of the population of the world. This is not the only crime against women that men have committed though. Women who live in heterosexual household with their partner often face troubling times in times of natural disasters because of the masculinity of the man in the household. An example would be of Elaine Enarson who had faced a natural disaster and was forced to move into a unsanitary community. Upon years later of investigating these natural disasters she soon found out that women were detecting natural disasters far more accurately and sooner than men but these finding were never acknowledged due to the masculinity of men who wanted to run and control everything. This makes me feel a little bit furiously that men always need to feel that they need to control and do everything when that isn’t always the case. It continuously puts people in danger and is very inconsiderate of them to do.

words :

intersection :

1 : the act or process of intersecting

2 : a place or area where two or more things (such as streets) intersect

3 a : the set of elements common to two or more sets; especially : the set of points common to two geometric configurations

b : the operation of finding the intersection of two or more sets

masculine :

1 a : male masculine members of the choir

b : having qualities appropriate to or usually associated with a man a masculine voice

2 : of, relating to, or constituting the gender that ordinarily includes most words or grammatical forms referring to males masculine nouns

3 a : having or occurring in a stressed final syllable masculine rhyme

b : having the final chord occurring on a strong beat masculine cadence

Ron Triggs, Jadah Scott, Ja’Lexis Williams 

Group paper Final Draft

4/2419

Professor FRG 

Climate justice

Many communities that are on toxic and hazardous soil are poor and Black or Brown communities.Black people are 75% more likely than other citizens to live in communities that border oil and natural gas refineries. (Calma 2018) The locations of their homes then lead to them facing a disproportionate amount of health issues due to the pollution of their air and other resources.These communities are typically the target of police violence and are criminalized. The criminalization of Black and Brown folk causes social, economic, and political problems that affect families for generations. Some of these effects include people growing up without both parents, which can have many different impacts. Families are also put at an economic disadvantage because they will just have one source of income in most cases. This also causes people to distrust and dehumanizes black and brown people of color. This causes the use of prisons to be acceptable to the majority of the society because the people being imprisoned are seen as less than human.

    Black people are impacted by police violence at a disproportionate rate than any other communities. It is recorded that black people are 3 times more likely to be killed by police than white people (Sinyangwe 2018). This is because people of color are seen as criminals before people actually come into contact with one another. As a society, we see criminals as less than human, which allows for us to disregard them causing us to not care about what happens to them. We must remember that we are all humans and care about everyone's health and wellbeing.

           Based on the map by the EPA ( Environmental Protection Agency) if you overlay the hazardous waste sites and prisons you can observe most prisons being located near hazardous waste facilities (EPA 2018). This shows that prisons are having a negative impact on prisoners health and are not helping. Many prisoners experience respiratory and cancer-linked illnesses, which in some cases can be deadly. From the survey of seventy-five prisoners, eighty-one percent reported suffering from respiratory, throat, and sinus conditions (Bernard et al 2018). Prisons are killing people in more ways than one and as a nation; we are allowing the criminal industrial complex to harm about 2.3 million people. (Wagner et al 2017). According to  an article done by the NRDC (Natural Resource Defense Council), prisoners are often exposed to toxic water and air that become detrimental to their health. Prisons like SCI Fayette prisoners were experiencing health issues such as respiratory illnesses, gastrointestinal tract problems, thyroid disorders, and cancers because of exposure to  ‘‘40 million tons of waste, two coal slurry ponds, and millions of cubic yards of coal combustion waste’’.(Greenfield 2018)

As more prisons are developed inside cities that are impacted by hurricanes and other natural disasters we must consider the impacts they have on the prisoners and the facilities that they are imprisoned within. We must accept the fact that these “natural” disasters will become more frequent and states need to develop a plan for prisoners during natural disasters. When the media make people in prisons seem less that human people are able to allow states to leave prisoners “locked in their cells, some in chest-high water contaminated by sewage” (Smith 2017).  This is because when people who are crafted to look less than a human by media and other sources it is ok to take away their dignity and human rights. The prison system overall needs a plan to improve the quality of life for prisoners. It’s a real problem for everybody not just the prisoners who are left out. The concept of a program to incorporate safety of prisoners ; and a better plan to make the lives of everyone in the community is highly needed.  An organization known as the Prison Ecology project teamed up with environmental and social justice movements to add prisoner to the Environmental Justice 2020 agenda. This agenda would advocate “federal policies and programs to prevent environmental pollution from disproportionately affecting communities of color and the poor.” (Poon 2015)

The functionality of the prison system and the planning around It need more developing. In the time a weather misfortune happens prisoners are basically left to die. The issue is that it’s morally wrong; prisoners are still human. The safety of prisoners aren’t really thought about and that’s a major concern for everyone. Correction centers don’t have to option open for prisoners to save themselves in the threat of a natural disaster. “Although meteorologists usually warn of hurricanes days or even weeks before they make landfall, prisoners cannot move themselves to higher ground and storms sometimes develop in unanticipated ways”(Clarke 2018). The risks are inevitable so why not put in a little extra work to insure security. An almost universal complication with prisoners being left behind to weather, a storm , is lack of access to necessary materials. All U.S. jails and prison systems  need to have an evacuation plan in place in case of a natural disaster. The initial problem is that prisoners die in national disasters because there no evacuation plan in place or the people in charge won’t evacuate. Which is a major issue for both the states and the federal government. A South Florida prison experienced an effect of  climate change when Hurricane Irma targeted that area. Despite knowing about the impending threat, most of the inmates were not evacuated.(Jackson 2017)  This prison demonstrated its lack of care for imprisoned populations who experienced harm due to climate change related problems.

     Along with inadequate evacuation plans for inmates during natural disasters, prisoners have suffered due to another climate change caused issues. Prisons have a history of providing inhumane living conditions. They do not make accommodations for the extreme temperatures caused by climate change, which very frequently results in inmates facing heat related deaths. “Many serve their sentences in prisons where temperatures exceed 100 degrees, and sympathy for their conditions is hard to find.”(Jackson 2017)There are instances such as the Webb family’s situation, where inmates have had  deaths connected with sustained heat and confinement in spaces without sufficient ventilation.

Prisons or the law has a legal obligation to protect prisoners. Evacuation plans help keep that obligation to both the families of prisoners and the prisoners themselves. Minorities have always been seen as less than human which makes it difficult for officials to make the right decisions. People of color make up a huge amount of the inmate population and unsurprisingly experience most of the tragedy and lack of care.

 Above all many prisons throughout the nation house thousands of prisoners, which can make the emergency response and recovery process much more difficult. Some ways prisons and jails can conduct emergency preparedness: Creating and updating threat and hazard incident response assessments,  Providing emergency preparedness and response training,Conducting fire, evacuation, and emergency medical response drills regularly etc. Things like these need to be thought about but in the end there need to be planning and preparation.

Bibliography

1)Sinyangwe, Samuel. “Mapping Police Violence.” 2017, https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/planning-team

2)“EJSCREEN: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool Contact Us .” Environmental Protection Agency, 2018, EJSCREEN: Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool Contact Us .

3)Bernd, Candice, et al. “America's Toxic Prisons.” Earth Island Journal, Earth Island Institute, 2018, www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/americas_toxic_prisons/.

4)Greenfield, Nicole. “The Connection Between Mass Incarceration and Environmental Justice.” NRDC, Natural Resources Defense Council, 31 Jan. 2019, www.nrdc.org/onearth/connection-between-mass-incarceration-and-environmental-justice.

5)Smith, J. Carlee. “Inmates: Our Defenders In Disaster.” Natural Hazards Center || J. Carlee Smith, 3 Jan. 2017, hazards.colorado.edu/biography/j-carlee-smith.

6)Clarke, Matthew. “Prison Legal News.” In the Eye of the Storm: When Hurricanes Impact Prisons and Jails | Prison Legal News, Prison Legal News, May 2018, www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2018/may/17/eye-storm-when-hurricanes-impact-prisons-and-jails/.

7)Jackson, Imani. “Global Warming and the Prison Industrial Complex: People Are Dying from Heat.” The Black Youth Project, Black Youth Project, 9 Nov. 2017, blackyouthproject.com/global-warming-and-the-prison-industrial-complex-people-are-dying-from-heat/.

8) McCray, Rebecca. “Mapping Police Violence.” Mapping Police Violence. 2017, mappingpoliceviolence.org/.

9) Herman, Susan. “ACLU Report Details Horrors Suffered by Orleans Parish Prisoners in Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” American Civil Liberties Union. August 2006, www.aclu.org/news/aclu-report-details-horrors-suffered-orleans-parish-prisoners-wake-hurricane-katrina

10) “Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” NAACP. 2015,www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.

Ron Triggs

Annotated bibliography

5/09/19

Professor FRG

Climate Justice, Gender, and Digital Media

McCray, Rebecca. “Mapping Police Violence.” Mapping Police Violence. 2017, mappingpoliceviolence.org/.

Rebecca discusses the ways that black people are killed and impacted by police and state violence at a disporportinate rate when compared to their white counterparts. The purpose of Rebecca’s article is to reveal the rate that black people are being killed by police and to get people to demand action from their representatives to end police violence. Her target audience is black and brown people because we are the main targets of police violence and should be the people leading the fight against police violence. I enjoyed the way she used charts that would keep her research “credible” but also be accessible to the who she is attempting to mobilize. I would improve the article by giving people the next steps.

BERND, CANDICE, et al. "Earth Island Journal." America’s Toxic Prisons. July 2017, earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/americas_toxic_prisons 

The authors of America’s Toxic Prisons focuses on discussing the ways that prisons impacts prisoners health in a negative way. The author argues that we must not put a prison in a location just because it is the “only” thing the land could be used for. I believe that the article could be improved by including more statistics around the diseases and infections that people develop while they are imprisoned and by including more statistics about the number of people developing illnesses while imprisoned. I liked the fact that the article focused on the need of the earth and individuals to be healthy and sacred. I would include this source in my research because it has valuable statistics.

Smith, J. Carlee. “Inmates: Our Defenders in Disaster.” Natural Hazards Center. January 2017, hazards.colorado.edu/article/inmates-our-defenders-in-disaster.

Smith discusses the ways that prisoners are used as additional support during natural disasters like hurricanes. The author explains how we imagine prison labor verses the actual labor and ways that prisoners lives are put at risk especially during hurricanes. I enjoyed the ways that the author included a few mini cartoons related to the purpose of the article. This makes the articles accessible to a wider audience. I would include this article in my research because it gives credit to the places where it found its research.

Herman, Susan. “ACLU Report Details Horrors Suffered by Orleans Parish Prisoners in Wake of Hurricane Katrina.” American Civil Liberties Union. August 2006, www.aclu.org/news/aclu-report-details-horrors-suffered-orleans-parish-prisoners-wake-hurricane-katrina

The ACLU discusses the ways that New Orleans prisons did not evacuate the prisons during hurricane Katrina leading prisoners to suffer through chest-high water with sewage and little to no food. The ACLU claims that we need to call for a full investigation into the Louisiana correctional facilities. I would improve this article by including solutions and alternatives to the current process that correction facilities follow more procedures that we want to see especially during natural disasters and when people's lives are on the line. I would improve this article by giving interviews with people who survived so people can understand how terrible the conditions were. I would include this in my paper because it is a credible source because it's from an organization

“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” NAACP. 2015,www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.

The NAACP discusses the disparities and trends in America’s incarceration rates and the system that supports the imprisonment of people of color. I enjoyed the way that the article was straight to the point and put all the central ideas into bullet points. I would improve the article by putting some charts and graphs because it makes some of the information stick in readers minds longer. The audience for the article is black and brown people of color. I would use this in my research because it would allow me to achieve my purpose.

Week 12

This week we read about mental health impacts of climate change. For example things such as: anger, anxiety, ptsd, lack of sleep, shock, aggression, suicide, and substance abuse. These problems are serious problem that takes a life everyday. Many of my peers, and including me, have been through these problem or are still going through  them. Climate Change is a very dangerous thing and it can have dangerous effects mentally and physically. Our class also brought out some ways to deal with these problems. For examples, counseling or even spiritual help. We also read bell hook this week. In the source on bell hooks she talked about cultures of addiction. This can be described as being addicted to consuming fossil fuels or violence. Our world is addicted to violence, hierarchy, and domination. The only way to treat these conditions is love. We must build our solution on love otherwise it won’t last.

These articles resonated with me a lot. Going through Katrina I along with my family experiences many of these mental health effects. I truly feel that a prime way to get out of these mental health periods is confronting in someone. Find someone that you truly love and trust and spill. Tell them how your feelings and your problems. I also really enjoyed the bell hooks source. I am a very loving person. Therefore, I love that she automatically moves towards love as a soulution. It reminds me of Martin Luther King philosophy of shape love. Anything built on hate truly can’t last. As a community we must push love and find solutions that involve love.

Vocab:
Love - “an intense feeling of deep affection.”
Mental health - “a person’s condition with regard to their psychological and emotional well-being.”
PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Groundwork Nola

I didn’t get the chance to visit Groundwork Nola. However, I talked to my peers about it and they seemed to enjoy it. I recieced nothing but good reviews about it. From what I heard Groundwork Nola seemed like the type of program that really cares about the youth and this city. They give the opportunity for young adults to come and help better our city. They teach important enviornmental lessons and infuse the young with values like hard work. Many of my peers said it was very fun and they even got to plant their own seeds. A program like this can be very helpful, especially to the youth of New Orleans, for a couple of reasons. One reason is that it gives a nice education and teach important lessons. Also it gives the youth a nice source to express themselves and stay out of the system. I would encourage schools all over New Orleans to schedule field trips to Groundwork Nola. I feel this would be very helpful to many of the youths in the school system.

Week 11

This week we discussed strong indigenous women and groups formed by indigenous women. Some examples of these groups are: Standing Rock Movement, Idlenomore, Bold Louisiana, etc. these groups fight for enviornmental justice. However that isn’t all, they also provide inspiration for women to fight against things like the pipeline. Also the articles talked about the history of  groups such as Idlenomore. Idlenomore is an organization formed in 2012 with 4 women. Despite them being a massive inspiration for indigenous peoples, many people felt its goal were too broad and they failed to unify indigenous people. Idlenomore, led by indigenous women, fight against C45, no enviornmental protection for indigenous women, and sparked an uprising of indigenous peoples. Despite them being a massive inspiration for indigenous peoples, many people felt its goal were too broad and they failed to unify indigenous people.

These articles were very interesting. They not only showed strong women groups fighting for enviornmental justice, but they showed strong indigenous women groups fighting for justice. It’s nice to see indigenous groups fighting back after all that’s happened between them and big corporations. For example how they would get bought off their land for as low as 10 dollars. It also gave me motivation. Many times we may feel that people won’t listen to us or that our voices are small and insignificant. However, that’s probably the same thing these women thought. However they worked towards their goal still. They fought for something they believed in, and they achieved great results.

Vocab:
Indigenous - “originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native.”
Imminate domain - right of government to exploit land after helping give money
Inspire - “fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.”

Groundwork NOLA

 Going to the Groundwork NOLA was an Amazing experiences, because I feel  as a youth  adult I need to be more involved in  the issues the are happen  around  my community and not only myself but also every single young  adult because we are the next generation, we would  face this  Issues one day, and I feel  the groundwork NOLA help us by giving us the opportunities of get involved in real situation in our community to help us learn how to face issues like the sea level rising level, in new Orleans. most likely everyone knows or is aware of  the issue, and  When I think about this situation I think about the next 5, 10  years, and ask myself how much of the land the is left in new Orleans will still dry and not underwater, and  I think  About my siblings and the future generations and what they going to do, but we need to do something find a solution we do not  need to  wait for the future generations to try to solve this issues  but in reality we should do the best we can to find a solution so, are next generation don't need to worry about this issues. when we met Mrs. Happy  and make us  image if we were the major of new Orleans, and choose a issues the it was affecting our community, and how there are many things the relate with big issues, for example how the old system of the houses in new Orleans are to old, and the pipelines in houses are to old, and how that impacts economic, and how that impact new Orleans education.

 But having the opportunity to get deeper in issues and how one issues can be impact and  can be impacted by  our community.