Voices of the Valley
This category includes Focus On… pages and blog posts, but most posts on the Alliance’s own blogs are not categorized as ‘Voices of the Valley’, so you might be interested in looking at them as well:
- Out of Left Field (Martin’s blog)
- Peter’s blog
- The Big Picture (Joris Rosse’s blog)
You can also access Voices of the Valley essays that were published in the Alliance’s Sustainable Lehigh Valley booklet through these links: 2004 – 2005 – 2006 – 2007 – 2008 – 2009 – 2010 – 2011 – 2012 –2013– 2014 – 2015 – 2016 – 2017 – 2018
You can find other Voices of the Valley content that was not published in the booklet) — search for the Voices of the Valley category.
Colonialism
The U.S. was built through settler colonialism, which involves taking over lands already in use by other people, displacing the people and often destroying their cultures. (Sometimes the goal was simply to use the land for their own settlements; in other cases the goal was to extract minerals & other resources. In the U.S. & Canada, settlers not only made war on the Indigenous peoples, they made a conscious and concerted effort to burn their cultures out of the children’s mind through systems of residential schools.
The most visible example of settler colonialism in progress today is Israel’s illegal occupation of territory in Palestine.
We are just beginning to develop this topic, but here are some related posts on this website:
- Decolonizing America for a Sustainable Future
- Acknowledging the Lenni-Lenape
- Columbus Day
- Thanksgiving & Colonialism
Recommended articles
- We must fully unpack the complicated evils of our justice system in order to build the sophisticated solutions we need
- The Myth of the Wheat King and the Killing of Colten Boushi | The Conversation
- White People Have No Culture | Terra Incognita
- Why I’m Fighting to decolonize Canada’s Education System | Flare
- Sexual Assault and Violence Across Industries… | Terra Incognita
- The Colonial Roots of Gun Culture | In These Times
Books
- As We Have Always Done, by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
- When They Call You a Terrorist, by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & ashe bandele
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The Moon Glistens in the Snow
by Matt Wolf The moon glistens in the snow I listen to the finally silent room I move my fingers a bit and then look up there is one light on in the entire house how many are awake around … more
Tree Branches
by Joy Miller Tree branches dancing in the strong winds! Reaching and swaying in these winds. Each branch strong from the top of the trunk to the bottom of the trunk swaying in the winds! Each branch wanting to bend … more
Green Pond
by Matt Wolff I see them flying overhead blue sky above wetness on their skinny ankles their beaks press in the soil for food nothing near like this for them so many come from so many places a superior form … more
From the Body, Through the Mind, and Back to the Body
by Ken Burak The climate problem is all in our heads. Our minds and our perspectives on the environment and our place in it, or as it, are the source of the problem. Surely we must engage in sustainable life … more
Stewarding our Environmental ‘Commons’ via the ‘Sustainability Commons’
by Tom Moroz The commons were traditionally defined as the elements of the environment—forests, atmosphere, rivers, fisheries, or grazing land—that are shared, used, and enjoyed by all. In our digital age, ‘the commons’ is also used to describe the information available … more
Economy and Environment—Must We Choose?
by Lindsay Meiman As I was walking to class with a friend the other day, he casually asked me, “why do you care so much about sustainability?” I paused in my tracks, taken aback by the immensity of possible explanations … more
Sustainable Travel
by Scott Slingerland I believe that most people truly care and have the highest respect for human life, clean air, and clean water. Yet, people are conditioned and desensitized to things that kill us every day—traffic crashes and vehicle emissions. … more
Sharing My Grandfather’s Tale
by Richard Lane If we want to know how it was, before change and the possible future, we can turn to the “Old Ones”. They will tell us the stories; if we only but listen. In one of the many … more
Drawing Down Atmospheric Carbon
by Rebecca Canright As a student studying sustainability at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, I am encouraged by the recent research that Paul Hawken and his colleagues have conducted on the 100 most effective solutions to global warming. The … more