Climate Week NYC: A Recap of Earth Sessions by Intersectional Environmentalist
Photo Credit: Intersectional Environmentalist Facebook
On Friday, Zibby and I had the honor of attending the NYC Climate Week edition of Earth Sessions by Intersectional Environmentalist at Patagonia Brooklyn. The storefront became a space to “spend time healing through the art of conversation and music.” Kiana Kazemi, production director at Intersectional Environmentalist and host of the night’s panel, describes Earth Sessions as a “climate justice concert series that creates joyful spaces, celebrates the work of environmental justice leaders [and] artists, and supports the revival of revolutionary gathering.”
The panel featured Max Moinian, co-founder of Future Earth, a community and online platform that works to “inspire meaningful engagement with the climate crisis through education on social media,” and Jasmine Guadalupe, founder of The Hood Hikers, an NYC-based hiking and outdoor adventure company that “creates a safe space in nature for all Black and Brown folks to enjoy the outdoors on their terms.”
Photo Credit: The Hood Hikers
Throughout Climate Week, we have seen corporations controversially flaunting their sustainability work, without much evidence to back their claims. The panelists discussed their views on how corporations can headstart sustainable changes and be more transparent about their efforts.
“They need to be giving back. It starts with one dollar in the communities that they’re impacting,” said Guadalupe. Too often, corporations set up shop in marginalized communities, without making an effort to incorporate community members into their businesses, and with no intention of trying to give back to the communities they invade. “They really need to invest in these communities, hire people from these communities, in a non-exploitative way…”
It was kind of ironic that the event took place at a Patagonia storefront, but the setting made a great backdrop for an argument made by Moinian. You may have recently heard the news that the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, donated all company profits to combating climate change - a move that many are judging as a ploy to avoid paying almost $700 million in federal capital gains taxes.
Photo Credit: NPR
“I love what Patagonia has pledged to do. I understand a lot of people [are] talking about ‘it’s a tax break,’ well that's really a commentary on the system more than a commentary on Patagonia.”
Moinian emphasized that corporations will always be looking for tax breaks, and it’s important to have nuanced conversations about the good that Patagonia (and others) has done, but also the many ways in which they can improve - for example, by reducing their use of synthetic materials.
“I think that there's just so much nuance, and there's no angel corporation that’s gonna do everything right. We all know that, so it’s just about transparency about what it is that you’re doing, and being honest about…communicating the progress of getting better,” said Moinian.
The conversation then shifted to how cultural identity remains at the core of both panelists’ environmental activism. Guadalupe, a Puerto Rican-American born and raised in the Bronx, noted that many of the participants of The Hood Hikers are from the Bronx and Brooklyn, and don’t normally have the resources that are needed to leave the city and safely enjoy nature. It’s important to her that the future of the environmental movement also allows anyone, independent of financial, racial, or ethnic background, to have access to the therapeutic components of spending time in nature. “We’re chillin’ on the block, but also we’re in nature and we’re reconnecting and giving ourselves a reprieve from all this city madness” she said.
Kazemi and Moinian, both Iranian-Americans, shared an intimate exchange about the political state of Iran.
“My parents are immigrants, and they left Iran during the revolution, and they never went back. No one in my family has ever gone back because we’re Jewish and it’s not safe.”
This is a reality for many refugees from all over the world who have not been able to go back to their home countries out of fear, lack of resources, environmental destruction, or a lost connection. Moinian reminds us that social justice is in line with environmental justice and change is achieved through “sharing stories and talking about it and doing what we can - even from a distance.”
The panel was followed by a magical performance from the Gaia Music Collective. The quartet, led by Carolina Diaz Chan, played classical renditions of contemporary songs (à la Bridgerton) like “Thinkin Bout You” by Frank Ocean, “Good 4 U” by Olivia Rodrigo, “Positions” by Ariana Grande, and others.
Earth Sessions successfully created a gorgeous space led by hopeful conversations around climate change and sweet, sweet music. Overall, the night was a healing experience of community gathering and joy.