It wasn’t until Black History Month that I realized how white the environmental movement can seem.

Earlier in February, I wanted to profile Black Canadians involved in the movement, a cause I am passionate about and am lucky enough to work in. A quick Google search didn’t turn up anyone.

It’s a misconception that the environmental movement is for older white people. For generations, Indigenous people have been and continue to be stewards of the land. Young and Indigenous people in Canada are increasingly playing leadership roles and taking space in the movement. All of this summer’s countrywide climate strikes were led by young people, including people of colour.

However, being in this movement as a young Black woman can feel isolating. It’s as if you’re getting a filler seat at a table, a table you know so well.

The environment and Black history are closely intertwined. The original inhabitants of Mother Earth were Black, living sustainably for thousands of years in Africa. For much of their history, they were farmers, providing for their families through sustainable agriculture. Then came slavery. Africans who were kidnapped and forced onto ships to North America or Europe learned of the hardships of the sea. Those who survived were enslaved and forced to labour in fields. They farmed so successfully that North America’s agriculture-based economy developed to be a world leader. The slaves, however, were not considered humans by law.

Centuries later, Black and other people of colour’s fate with the environment is still convoluted. The effects of climate change are felt at a dramatic rate in developing countries. As a Caribbean-Canadian, I know that on our islands, hurricanes and storms are getting stronger, wetter and more damaging every year.

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, India is where the effects of climate change will be felt the strongest. The IPCC also notes that sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most vulnerable places to climate change. People of colour continue to be at the front lines of the damaging effects of climate change.

Water is the primary element through which the effects of climate change are felt. It’s become a reality in Canada, especially in recent years with the devastating floods in Quebec and Ontario, and the extreme snowstorms in Atlantic Canada.

However, this reality is not new for many Canadians, specifically those in Northern communities directly affected by melting polar ice caps. Many Indigenous communities have drinking water advisories. According to a report by the David Suzuki Foundation, there are currently more than 100 communities without clean drinking water in Canada.

The solutions to climate change, however, are not foreign to people of colour. Adopting a vegetarian diet, conserving water, and eating sustainability and locally have been practised by our ancestors for thousands of years.

Here in Canada, Indigenous people have been providing solutions to climate change throughout their history. Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a David Suzuki Foundation fellow, witnessed the devastation from an oil spill in her community of Little Buffalo in Northern Alberta. It contaminated the water and land on which the Lubicon Cree had lived for generations. Melina helped her community establish the Pîtâpan Solar Project, which provided 20.8 kilowatts of renewable energy to the community.

My own history with nature started at a young age. I am an immigrant to Canada, by way of the Pacific Northwest. Growing up, I called Mount St. Helens my backyard. Then I moved to Haiti, where my parents are originally from. My parents studied and worked in agronomy, and reforestation has long been a topic at our kitchen table.

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Weekends were spent in nature or discussing the damaging effects of charcoal production on the Haitian pine forest. My family is from the northwestern side of the island. The mountains, such as Mole-Saint-Nicolas, were our refuge. If you’ve ever seen a barren Haitian mountaintop, you can see firsthand the effects of climate change, not to mention out-of-control logging.

The Canadian environmental movement needs to make room for other perspectives — to truly represent all people living in Canada, specifically those most affected by climate change. As the impacts of climate change grow worse, our voices are only going to get louder. It’s past time for them to be heard.

Aisha Poitevien is a development officer for the David Suzuki Foundation.

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