350.org challenges climate activists to stand up for Ferguson

[xchrom]

http://grist.org/politics/350-org-challenges-climate-activists-to-stand-up-for-ferguson/

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For Deirdre Smith, the strategic partnership coordinator of the climate activist group 350.org, “the connection between militarized state violence, racism, and climate change was common-sense and intuitive.” Smith wrote this in her blog about the unrest over the killing of Michael Brown’s in Ferguson, Mo. It’s probably tougher to connect these dots if you’ve been wedded to climate change as a single issue. I spend much of my time writing about the intersections of climate and social justice, but I have struggled to frame the Ferguson tragedy in ways that don’t take it out of context.

Brown was not killed by greenhouse gas emissions; he was killed by a cop. Bloggers and pundits will conjecture all night about whether Brown was under the influence of marijuana, or the cop under the influence of racism. But the most salient fact here is that a young man who had a promising future is no longer alive to fulfill the promise. A mother and a father have lost their child. We need to take that seriously before branching off into whatever ideology or worldview we hope to highlight with his death and the aftermath.

Still, this disaster tests an idea I wrote about two years ago for Bridge the Gulf:

I’ve seen groups like NAACP, Urban League, League of Young Voters, Color of Change take on climate justice, Keystone XL justice and other environmental campaigns. But I’ve not see much reciprocity — that is, I’ve yet to see a groundswell of environmental advocates take up the cause of Stand Your Ground, juvenile justice, felony disenfranchisement, economic inequality, and other justice programs that primarily target people of color.

[Dustlawyer]

1. If everyone would take up the issue of getting the campaign contributions out of politics,

the rest of the issues could then be successfully dealt with free from interference from big business and the 1%!!!

[Downwinder]

2. Brings up the issue of what is being driven by climate change.

Control of populations?
Militarization of police?
Campaign funding?
???