Greenermind Accountability Statement

JUNE 2020

We understand, as environmentalists, that our social ecosystem is as important as our environmental ecosystem. We agree to value Black life with unflinching care and love, and with the action required for both a healthy society and a healthy environment.

In the social ecosystem of white supremacy, white people have continually claimed superiority over Black people. Greenerminders are becoming more active in our anti-white supremacy work, and are here to say: Black Lives Matter to us.

We know police are disproportionately attacking and murdering Black people. We know that the school-to-prison pipeline’s structure continues to enslave Black children and adults so that they cannot advance. We commit to dismantling these systems of structural racism.

We know that the environmental movement and outdoor spaces have been places of Black suppression and active racism. We know that Black folx have not been and are not safe in our city’s streets nor our nation’s forests. We commit to the internal, structural, and institutional work to transform the movements and spaces we share to not only be safe for Black folx but also welcoming, celebratory, and truly shared.

For those of us who identify as white, we acknowledge our implicit bias and inherent privilege. We know that we must be accountable for stopping our own white supremacy and racism. We agree to discard our habits of complicity in systems of oppression, to actively commit to anti-racism, and to be accomplices in justice and equity for Black people.

To our Black friends, neighbors, colleagues, partners and community members, our community declares our accountability to you. We are here to listen to you and your experience, sit with you in your pain, educate ourselves on black history, and be your ally for black equality and advancement.