Swim Drink Fish statement against racism and hatred

June 2, 2020

Friends and colleagues are suffering and you should not wonder where we stand. We condemn acts of violence and hatred against Black people. We condemn acts of violence and hatred against Indigenous and minority communities.

Hatred and racism are antithetical to environmentalism. By calling ourselves environmentalists, we are saying we advocate for life and the places that sustain life.

You can tell a lot about the state of a society by the state of its water. People of colour are unfairly and disproportionately impacted by pollution, habitat destruction, and limited access to nature. These are injustices that the environmental movement, including Swim Drink Fish, have an obligation to address. We take that obligation seriously.

The first thing anyone learns when they study nature is that all living things are part of a global community. Each person, plant, animal, and waterbody is connected and interdependent. What happens to one living thing eventually affects all living things. Nothing happens in isolation. That’s the nature of nature.

With each action we take, we shape the world around us and the world our great-great-grandchildren will live in.

Each day our actions determine whether the world we create will be better or worse than the world that created us.

Today, like every day, we choose to respect life. We reflect on how we can do better. We continue to challenge ourselves and our community to listen to one another, advocate for one another, and support one another. We choose to respect equality. We choose to work to protect people and places so that everyone can experience life on this planet.