This essay is part of #TheRisingTide4ClimateJustice’s Elephant in the Room series (link): a writing project calling out the institutions and ideas that contribute to environmental environmental injustice within the Birmingham community and across the South.
—
By Laura Quattrochi
We have a pandemic
It’s called the climate crisis
The Elephant in the room Is
our oppressors
We watch them
as they silently undress her
And strip her of her clean air & vast land by
fracking
Mining
Drilling
Beating
cheating
stealing
depleting
It’s demeaning
She gasps until her final breath
The GOP laughs
They refuse to get off their ass
And do something (why won’t you DO something?!)
Hear her cries
Before she dies
Talk is cheap
Stop spitting lies
Or else
This will be our demise
We must nurture her in order to save her
Do not savor the moment
Go out there and do something
We must do something
—
Laura is a Graduate Student at UAB pursuing a Masters in the Anthropology of Peace and Human Rights. She currently works at an environmental nonprofit based in Birmingham called Alabama Interfaith Power & Light. She loves cats, sunflowers, volunteering, rock climbing, and a good beer