OPINION

who impose it. These unbalanced and artificial systems treat everything, everyone and environments as things to be owned, sold, exploited and endlessly extracted from. Effective and holistic solutions will come from Indigenous, community led and Earth-based cultures who hold timeless knowledge of a balanced way of living.” We seek meaningful involvement and for our leadership to be respected and resourced. FLOWS team member Alejandro Murillo offers calls to action: “We ask for investment in people, organizations and grassroots efforts that do not conform to the dominant narratives and systems. We ask that people raise their voices in planning and budgetary meetings to allocate support and funds for underrepresented people and organizations. We ask people who are currently in positions of power to engage in their own deep personal work around their privilege and how they’ve benefited from it. Do you open doors for people who are the change or do you stand in the way?”

FLOWS also strives for economic justice and believes that our communities expertise and time need to be properly compensated.

FLOWS Program Coordinator

Rinchen Indya Love shares how removing barriers can help with participation for underinvested community members. This looks like “creating a stipend mentorship program with interpretation access,childcare and high quality food.” FLOWS not only works to gain access to these rights that every family should have, but also attempts to make it accessible.

As Winona LaDuke says, “This is a time of truth telling.” A time to acknowledge and accept the harm committed upon Black, Indigenous and People of Color by the violent imposition of European human centric values, systems and infrastructures. Governments, police, legal systems, political systems, oil and gas monoliths, academia, science, pharmacology and technology fields uphold, participate and protect themselves in the destruction of people and environments. It’s time to reconcile that these are not the measures of successful and “civilized” nations. It’s time for leaders who know a better way. Will racism be what prevents us from finding the collective solutions we all need to unite on?

We at FLOWS celebrate the inherent knowledge of our communities. Our upbringings and connections to our homelands and cultures offer us a richness in perspectives and experiences. We give gratitude to our ancestors and all those who have dedicated themselves to protecting and respecting waters, air, soil, plants, foods and ecosystems for all life. We walk in the footsteps of our ancestors, grandparents and mentors and continue creating pathways for our BlPOC kin and underrepresented communities. Our presence is “ resiliencia ( resilience) and resistancia (resistance) ,” as Castro-Campos puts it , until the days when defending the very sources and sustenance of life aren’t tremendous acts of courage or uphill battles but gifts and joyful responsibilities we all collectively participate.

The Foundations for Leaders

Organizing for Water and Sustainability (FLOWS) Program housed at the CU Boulder Environmental Center brings attention to the leadership of underrepresented and underinvested voices in the sustainability and environmental and climate justice world. We partner with the City of Boulder and Boulder Housing Partners.

This opinion column does not necessarily reflect the views of Boulder Weekly.