A picture can show a story of inequality- Amy, Innovation and Infrastructure Ambassador

Earlier this year I had the privilege of spending 6 weeks travelling in Canada and the USA. One of the places my husband and I visited was Atlanta, home to Martin Luther King Jr, now home to the MLK National Historic Site and the newer National Center for Civil and Human Rights. Prior to visiting Atlanta, I had some understanding of the black rights movement based on years of watching movies and reading the New York Times over the past few years as the Black Lives Matter movement has had to become prominent due to ongoing racial injustice. However, our visits to these centres focussing on the work of the movement in the 50s, 60s and 70s to fight and end segregation in the South of the USA changed my understanding of what the people involved experienced and the level of hatred that was shown people wanting to make the world a better place.

Both places told the story of segregation in different ways. One, from the life and work of Martin Luther King; the other from the reflections and views of the movement and the people doing the work of the movement. There were pictures, there were videos, there were stories of protesters being hosed down with fire hoses, of dogs being set on people, of people being spat on and sworn at. All of this hate had continued from a time when people were stolen from Africa and forced to work in inhumane conditions for ‘owners’ who saw them as animals to make them money. Slavery was officially abolished at the end of the USA Civil War in 1865, but there were no provisions given to providing the former slaves with land and jobs so that they could feed themselves and their families. This meant that many were forced to continue in an unofficial form of slavery working for their former masters under very similar conditions. The inequality continued, and the slave owners, who lost a lot of money in the civil war, saw the former slaves as the reason for their misfortune. Over time, their hatred became law as the former slave owners were the ones with money and power in a very unbalanced society. These laws were known as segregation. Black and white people had separate bathrooms and drinking fountains, in many cases separate restaurants. They weren’t allowed to travel in the same train carriages and had separate sections on buses.

There was one photo that has particularly stuck in my mind. It is a picture of two school housed on the same road. One is for black children, the other is for white children. They were not allowed to go to the same school. The school for white children is a lovely, well-kept building with an area outside for children to play in. The school for black children is a rundown shack which gives the impression of wind whistling through the cracks and it being very hot in summer. Federal law in the USA at the time said that all children had to be provided with an education. Law makers in States with segregation in place said they met the federal laws by having separate, but equal schools. This picture clearly demonstrated to me that this was not the case. Black children were severely disadvantaged by their schools. While the white children were given up to date facilities, the black children were left with old, falling apart buildings. All were given the opportunity to go to school, but that school experience was not equal so their ability to learn and make something of themselves was not equal. So while it is important to acknowledge that great things can be done with limited resources, it is also important to acknowledge how much harder it is to do great things with limited resources. Inequalities, such as different standards of buildings, can continue to deepen inequalities in society and make it much harder for the people with less to fight for equality.

The impacts of climate change on the world’s indigenous people- Ashleigh

Indigenous communities are some of the first people to be experiencing the effects of climate change. This is because many indigenous groups depend on the natural environment for their way of life, and have a close relationship with their environment.  As such, these communities are often the first impacted by floods, droughts, and other extreme weather events. They are also some of the lowest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, as many indigenous peoples live in developing countries. However, indigenous peoples also have very limited access to the kinds of resources that would help them cope with a changing climate.

 

Despite being amongst the most severely impacted, indigenous peoples are rarely considered in the public climate change discussion, and are continuing to push for the right to participate in international decision-making. Indigenous communities are feeling the impact of changing climate world wide. Different communities experience different impacts, but climate change is touching all.

 

South America: The Kamayura of the Brazilian Amazon have already been severely affected by climate change. Their homeland, encompassed by the Xingu National Park, is now surrounded by farms and ranches. The fish stocks that the Kamayura relied on have plummeted due to higher water temperatures in jungle lakes, and rainfall has diminished because of increasing temperatures. The tribe has no transportation out of their homes deep within the jungle, and little money, to buy food to replace what they used to get from the land. Farming has also been a problem - the lack of water has killed many crops. Elders have compared the threat from the changing climate to that of the arrival of measles in the 1950s, when the disease wiped out 90% of their people.

 

Europe & the Arctic Circle: The Saami people live in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Russia and survive by fishing, hunting and herding reindeer. Reindeer are an important part of the culture, food supply, and economy of the Saami communities. However, harsher winters have created hard ice crusts over the lichen that the reindeer dig through the snow to eat, which then caused a large loss of reindeer. The changing climate is also making frozen lakes unsafe as the ice is unreliable, which is forcing Saami herders to change herding routes they had used for generations. Have a look at this short video (only 1 minute and 6 seconds!) to hear a young Saami woman explain what the changing climate means for their way of life.

 

Africa: Traditionally the Maasai people have been pastoralists and nomadic cow-herders, both of which are at risk from the impacts of climate change in the Serengeti. The climate is becoming drier, with short rainy seasons, giving grass little time to grow, and the Maasai cow herds little to eat. Their nomadic lifestyle has become very limited by property rights, increasing populations, and national parks, which prevents the Maasai from moving to more suitable climates as past generations would have done.

North America: The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde, has commented that indigenous peoples not only have rights, but responsibilities to the land and water. Eriel Deranger, a grassroots indigenous activist of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, discussed the historical lack of consultation by government with Aboriginal peoples regarding climate change policy at the Indigenous Peoples Meeting on Climate Change in January 2016. However, speaking at the UN Conference on World Climate Change in December 2015, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it clear that his government would be turning to indigenous peoples for advice on properly caring for the environment.

 

Australia: There are hundreds of different nations, each with unique cultural practices, beliefs, and languages. However, traditional Owners are concerned that climate change will impact their totems, which are used to recognise different groups and are an important part of cultural identity. Totems can be represented by animals and plants, which may be affected by climate change. The Climate and Health Alliance has reported that indigenous Australians have shown higher risks of respiratory illnesses and emergency medical care from air pollution and heat waves, as well as high rates of mental illnesses related to losing lands and culture because of climate change. To find out more about what young indigenous people are doing to fight climate change in Australia, check out Seed, Australia’s first indigenous youth climate justice network.

 

Asia: The traditions, generational knowledge, and subsistence lifestyle of Orang Asli, the indigenous groups of Malaysia, are threatened by climate change. Orang Asli make up nearly 12% of Malaysia’s population - that’s 2.1 million people whose culture and livelihoods are at risk due to climate change. The Temiar people of eastern Malaysia are severely impacted by deforestation, which is itself an important cause of climate change, as well as by its immediate impacts. The Temiar have a deep respect for the natural environment, but their land rights are not usually acknowledged. Logging has reduced local water supplies, prevented hunting and gathering traditional medicines, and seen burial lands disturbed.

 

Across the globe, indigenous peoples are under threat from climate change. Food sources, health, and traditions are all at risk for cultures that have lasted longer than most of our countries. Share with us what you would like to see your government do to support indigenous communities in your country with the impacts of climate change. What would you like to see the world do to support all indigenous communities under threat from a changing climate?