Let’s Talk About People of Color’s Trauma in the Environmental Sector

We need to talk about trauma in the environmental field — a feeling not uncommon for people of color. In truth, the natural world in the United States cannot be viewed without trauma, as some of the greatest infractions toward people of color have happened in nature. North American soil is fraught with footprints of land theft, cultural erasure, violence, slavery, and white supremacy. As a black woman, I experienced how much this historical trauma lingers, as white supremacy is so embedded in the ideals of the environmental sector.

I have witnessed gun violence in the early 1990’s in Chicago, so trauma is not new to me. Chicago is a place where food deserts persist, natural spaces are scarce, and where environmental problems are on a long list of other more visible issues. Gun violence was common in my childhood and remains this way for far too many Chicago children. My upbringing has given me a sense of responsibility to bring change and is what partly drove me into the environmental field. Similarly, these types of firsthand experiences often catapult other people of color into the field as well.

However, I believe that racial composition for people of color in environmental organizations and agencies has remained at 12 to 16 percent for decades because of the trauma we face when entering the field…