Women's History Month Wrap Up

Women have long been power houses in any movement they’ve joined.  This is no different for the women that have both joined and led movements of environmentalism around the world.  This past month we have highlighted just a small number of women doing great work to ensure more people are involved in caring for this great earth and those inhabiting it.  

It is no coincidence that we call the earth, Mother Earth.  From this incredible planet sparks life.  The plants and animals that feed us, the medicines that heal us, the waters that nourish us.  Our lives are in the hands of this incredible mother that cares for us no matter how harsh or ungrateful we may be.  The ways in which the earth nourishes us, are the ways in which women around the world care for their communities.  These communities are the spark for women to stand up and fight for the earth, to arrange recycling programs, and start education around seed sharing and sustainable planting.  The innate love that a woman holds ties her to this earth.  The love that God has shown us in creating such an incredible place to keep us not only alive, but hopefully thriving.  We acknowledge and appreciate these continuous works of women, not only in March, but every day of the year.

Women we uplifted this Women’s History Month:

-Violet Sage Walker’s NowThis video: Video onTwitter: linkhttps://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1359880622366457860
Video on FB: Ocean-Going Tribe Wants to Buy Back California Coast Land

-May Boeve, co-founder 350.org, organization dedicated to connect leaders across the globe against climate change.  Goal of org is to reduce levels of carbon dioxide so global warming is not a threat.  Combatting the fossil fuel industry.

-Reverend Mariama Hammond White’s NowThis video: https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1367860704737304579 

-Vanessa Nakate, 23 year old activist from Uganda.  Protests Ugandan parliament because of rising temperatures in her country.  

-Isatou Ceesay, Gambian activist given the nickname of ‘Queen of Recycling’.  Started recycling movement One Plastic Bag, works to educate citizens on recycling and reducing the amount of waste created. http://oneplasticbag.com/  

-Margaret Bullit-Jonas
"How does our perception change when we begin to experience the natural world as sacred? How does our heart change when we begin to care not only about our own children and grandchildren, but also about future generations?" https://revivingcreation.org


-Ruth Ivory-Moore, Ruth informs, equips and encourages ELCA members, congregations and synods to engage in advocacy as a faith practice focused on stewardship of creation, creation justice, sustainability, energy use, investments and engagement with people living in poverty and struggling with hunger with the underlying principle of leaving no one behind.  Behind God, family is  most important and drives her enthusiasm and love for this work in preparing for future generations.

-Wangary Maathai, land conservationist and women’s rights activist.  Founded the Green Belt movement which focuses on environmental conservation and women’s rights in Kenya.  Awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 due to her approach to sustainable development, democracy and peace. http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/ 

-Vandana Shiva, Indian environmentalist working on defense of biodiversity.  Founded Navdanya, a research institute aimed at protecting diversity and integrity of native seeds in conjunction with fair trade practices.  http://www.navdanya.org/ 

-Sarah Macias, working on bringing examples of sustainable farming practices to more of Texas.
https://www.sistergrovefarm.com/

-"Maybe Latinx communities don't call it environmentalism, but they are actually conserving resources," Marce Gutiérrez-Graudiņš, Founder and Director of Azul. https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/1377016031248453632

Quotes from https://www.glspirit.com/post/the-wisdom-and-voices-of-women?postId=605153b5ede16b0057ec6b69 

-“To think that we little human beings can really do this without the intervention of something much deeper and bigger than ourselves is a bit arrogant, I feel. And so it seems to me that all of the faith traditions can come together. We all have a piece of this truth and that if we can all come together and understand the best of our own and how to work together, that we might actually be able to have a shot at addressing this." -Michele Naar-Obed, a member of the Hildegard House Catholic Worker in Duluth, Minnesota and part of “The Four Necessity Valve Turners,” who await trial for attempting to turn off a valve on Enbridge Energy Corporation’s Line 3 pipeline.

-“We get maybe overeager as to what we can do to help, and then we don’t really sit back and really listen to the environment. Or really watch and observe it. It has its own cycles. Resilience has been a huge theme in my life up to this point. And I think resilience is something that we see all the time in nature. So, I feel we have a lot to learn in terms of patience, resilience, understanding, appreciation from our lakes.”  -Stephanie Prechter, a Michigan-based professional photographer whose work has also included suicide prevention and promoting brain health.

“I read a chapter by a woman named Jennifer Harvey in a book called Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry. That was a book done in collaboration with white descendants of settlers, Christians 
in Canada, as well as indigenous thinkers, both Christian and non-Christian. And Jennifer Harvey wrote an article that really pricked my conscience and got me thinking. She said, ‘Christians who are concerned about the environment and working for the land must take seriously (and if they don't take it seriously, it's almost as good as not doing it at all) must take seriously the idea of reparations or return of land to the people whose land this originally was, must take seriously land reparation to Indigenous communities.’” -Brenna Cussen-Anglada, a member of the St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm in southwest Wisconsin and part of “The Four Necessity Valve Turners,” who await trial for attempting to turn off a valve on Enbridge Energy Corporation’s Line 3 pipeline.