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A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

Welcome
DR. KHAULA MURTADHA, EDITOR

 “Anthropocene” is a word that in the past I would 
never have used, but like I said--in the past. I 
would not have used it in conversations with 
friends, colleagues or community research part-
ners but will now challenge myself to do so. The 
word combines the root "anthropo", meaning "hu-
man" with the root "-cene", the standard ending 
for "epoch" in earthly time. The word forces me 
to think about and feel the pain of this period of 
human dominance where  unchecked, world-wide 
money-making, money spinning, unbridled eco-
nomic systems threaten humanity as it heaps upon 
us all and generations to come, what may become 
irreversible ecological harm. “We are living in a 
time many people refer to as the Anthropocene. 
Humans have become the single most influential 
species on the planet, causing significant global 
warming and other changes to land, environment, 
water, organisms and the atmosphere.” 

According to Lutz and Neis, in Making and Moving 
Knowledge (2008), the principal challenge for 
human-kind in the 21st century “. . . will be to 
achieve a truly sustainable relationship with the 
environment while developing socio-economic 
and cultural systems that ensure human rights, 
comfort and dignity.” Environmental justice, in 
practice, suggests an engagement with move-
ments, expanding the conception of social justice 
and the reality of injustices, in neighborhoods, in 
the air, in one’s food, at the workplace, in schools 
or where we recreate (Schlosberg, 2013). For this 
issue, the scope of contributions is broad, defining 
environmental justice within a number of contexts. 
For example, a submission described particulate 
matter and the effects on urban environments, 
another author discusses issues with water quality 
and the work of citizen scientists. The contributors 
contextualized but also personalized the notions of 
environmental justice.  

Community engaged participatory policy work is 
explored in this issue as one approach with the 
potential to inspire this change. Our policy segment 
tells how public policy that is participatory in nature 
can contribute to environmental justice. Contributors 
explore how issues make it to political and policy 
agendas and how to influence the influencers who 
control these agendas. We invited policy briefs and 
articles reflecting analysis, formulation, implementa-
tion, and policy evaluation. 

Concepts are clarified for us all to understand.  For 
example, we can understand that hot air dries out 
soil – the soil becomes less absorbent. So when 
there are heavy rains more flooding occurs. Witness 
the loss of lives during the perilous August, 2021 
flooding of Tennessee communities. Elsewhere, 
United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change delivers gloom-filled, if unsurprising, news 
that in the coming decades we will expereince1.5 
degrees Celsius of warming. But with the right 
priorities, avoiding further warming remains within 
our reach, even as the intensity of natural disasters 
continues to mount. “The steps are clear: To reach 
net-zero emissions by 2050, fossil fuel use must be 
curtailed as promptly as possible, though removing 
carbon from the atmosphere will likely be necessary 
to mitigate the emissions that remain. A collective 
sense of urgency is key.” It is evident, we cannot 
wait, as members of communities, as a nation, as the 
human population on this planet, we can’t wait for 
decades before we make changes in our lives. 

Co-authors for this special issue considered intersec-
tions of environmental justice and racism; tackling 
the ugly disproportionate impacts of environmental 
hazards on marginalized, minoritized urban and 
rural communities. The damage done is exponential 
in effect, and as a result these same communities 
are disproportionately hit by the COVID 19 virus as 

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A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S

well as its now more contagious variants and they, 
our neighbors, continue to live amidst the costs of 
hospital bills and overdue rent payments. These are 
deep, serious concerns.  To call attention to and to 
give voice to these concerns, community engaged 
researchers and community catalysts (people with 
boots on the ground fighting for equity) are un-
dertaking action-oriented inquiry. They are asking 
tough questions but we ask “who is listening?” Who 
is engaged in critical conversations and activism out 
of necessity in this anthropocene era? Are we as a 
public listening to the research, and are we willing to 
act?  Can we learn from the intersections of race, eco-
nomic status and environmental injustices apparent 
in Flint, Michigan and take action when we see this 
happening again and again in redlined, historically 
segregated communities. 

Can we carefully listen to the voices of incarcerated 
women and men to help us dismantle the systemic 
racism pervasive in the criminal justice system?  Can 
we act to lift and make resounding Black, LatinX and 
low income voices heard to expose the environmen-
tal hazards in their communities while having less 
access to our legal and political systems than White 
wealthy communities? Can we act? 

Education and action must occur on the global scale. 
Consider the words of the youngest Nobel Prize 
laureate and activist for female education, Malala 
Yousafzai, who told the 2021 Girls Education Day 
summit that improving education had to be a key 
part of pandemic recovery. Malala spoke to the 
importance of investing in education, particularly 
for girls who had fewer opportunities just because of 
their gender. “The world is facing a girls' education 
crisis," she said, “. . .with more than 130 million out 
of school around the world and many millions more 
at risk of not returning after the pandemic. . .their 
futures are worth fighting for." Malala and we, the 
editors, fear for our Afghan sisters and their families. 

We are compelled to amp the UN “Sustainable De-
velopment Goals” (SDGs).  According to the United 
Nations agenda for Sustainable Development “We 
are determined to end poverty and hunger, in all 

their forms and dimensions, and to ensure that all 
human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and 
equality and in a healthy environment.” There are 
17 Goals: No poverty. Zero Hunger. Good Health 
and Well-Being; Quality Education; Gender Equal-
ity; Clean Water and Sanitation; Decent Work and 
Economic Growth; Industry, Innovation and Infra-
structure; Reduced Inequalities; Sustainable Cities 
and Communities; Responsible Consumption and 
Production; Climate Action; Life Below Water; Life 
on Land; Peace Justice and Strong Institutions; and 
Partnerships for the Goals. 

Need to know more?  Please check out United 
Nations Sustainable Devel-opment – 17 Goals to 
Transform Our World ; Trans-forming our world: 
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development | 
Department of Economic and Social Affairs (un.org)

It is clear our humanity stands at a critical junc-
ture. We have entered a new geologic era called the 
“Anthropocene,” because we humans have caused 
vast ecosystem devastation disordering the plan-
et’s climate; driving species disappearance, while 
generating unfathomable amounts of toxic waste and 
unconscionably wasting life. We have perpetuated is-
sues of racism and injustice to people, many of whom 
now are refugees, fleeing from dangers of genocide. 
Yet we say we want systems of justice. It’s been said 
that justice begins where inequality ends-- and I 
would add that accountability is needed to reach that 
juncture.

7 V O L .  3 ,  I S S U E  1

" Humans have become 
the single most influential 

species on the planet, causing 
significant global warming and 

other changes to land, environ-
ment, water, organisms, and the 
atmosphere."




