There’s Something in the Water

A study guide of Ingrid Waldron’s book ‘There’s Something in the Water.’

Praxis

Apply what you’ve just learned in your own life and organizing. Consider these questions below as you reflect on your activism against environmental reacism.

Pillar IV of CEJ talks about the multi-scalar approach to environmental justice. When thinking about the scale of change that needs to take place, get overwhelmed, burnt out, or lose hope. How do we create support systems for tackling each of these issues?

  1. Pillar IV of CEJ talks about the multi-scalar approach to environmental justice. When thinking about the scale of change that needs to take place, get overwhelmed, burnt out, or lose hope. How do we create support systems for tackling each of these issues?

  2. This book was based specifically in Nova Scotia, CA, but environmental racism is an international issue. In what ways have you seen environmental racism happening at the international, national, and local levels? Has environmental racism impacted your or a nearby community? 

  3. In the book, Waldron challenges our idea of racism as an explicit, evil act, and instead suggests that that thinking alleviates the majority of racist acts which occur in less explicit ways. With that in mind, in what ways might you be contributing to or benefitting from environmentally racist acts? How can you, as an individual, push back on environmental racism?

  4. In what ways would a culturally relevant participatory democracy change the ways Black and Indigenous environmental issues are handled? How might this strategy be implemented both in and outside of Nova Scotia? In what ways would a culturally relevant participatory democracy change the ways Black and Indigenous environmental issues are handled? How might this strategy be implemented? Should it be implemented in your opinion?

Additional Readings & Resources

Resources for Policy

Resources for Community

  • ENRICH

    • Africville Story Map: Using historical maps, the Africville map traces the history of environmental racism by showing the industrial facilities near Africville through the 19th and 20th centuries. 

    • ENRICH Project Map: online, interactive, open-source, community-based map that shows the location of facilities near Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian communities across the province.

  • Water For Life: Nova Scotia's Water Resource Management Strategy

  • Water monitoring project: collaboration between the Africa Nova Scotian members and the Lincolnville Reserve Land Voice Council to design and create the Lincolnville Water Monitoring Program. Three objectives of the project:

    • Was the contaminated water flowing from the landfill into the community?

    • For the community to build their own capacity for water testing,

    • And to provide the community with basic knowledge about contaminants and groundwater testing.

  • Rural Water Watch, created by Waldron. This was designed to equip the Nova Scotian communities with knowledge on their drinking water resources.

Resources for Further Research and Action

Some Environmental Justice Instagram Accounts

Source

Waldron, Ingrid. There's something in the water: Environmental racism in indigenous and black communities. Fernwood Publishing, 2018.

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