The San Mateo RCD stands in solidarity with the Black community against systemic racism and injustice.
Racism and inequality are antithetical to our mission to help people – all people – help the land. We are committed to solidarity and to supporting Black conservationists.
We acknowledge the lack of diversity in conservation, and we have been giving a lot of thought to equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice in our lives and our work. We are asking ourselves tough questions and making improvements about how we recruit employees, how we notice opportunities to bid on projects, and fundamentally whether we are accessible to all members of our community. We are in service to everyone in our district. If you have ideas for how we can be better, please let us know. We are open to change and invite honest feedback.
We’d like to share a few humble suggestions on how our community can support and celebrate Black conservationists:
- Listen to and learn from Black voices. Follow #BlackInNature and #BlackinSTEM on social media to hear from engaging voices like Corina Newsome (@Hood_Naturalist), and check out SF Environment’s list of Black Environmentalists.
- Support organizations that are Black-led, and those that are working to bring more diversity into environmental and STEM work such as BlackAFinSTEM, Outdoor Afro, and Urban Habitat.
- Educate yourself on racism and the work of becoming anti-racist. You may want to dedicate 10 minutes a day to Justice in June, or sign up for Rachel Cargle’s free #DoTheWork Challenge. If you are white you may want to join a local Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) group.
- Here are some inspiring articles to get you started:
- ‘Black Birders Week’ Promotes Diversity and Takes on Racism in the Outdoors
- The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection by Dorceta E. Taylor
- Dr. Robert Bullard, Father of Environmental Justice
- The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations: Mainstream NGOs, Foundations & Government Agencies Report
In solidarity,
Kellyx Nelson
Bryanna Whitney
Sheena Sidhu
Amy Kaeser
Noah Katz
Kasey Butler
Adria Arko
Maaya Hensman
Sara Polgar
Joe Issel
Lau Hodges
Cleopatra Tuday
Andrew Hall
Jarrad Fisher
Jeff Raifsnider