INTERCONNECTIVITY AND HOPEFUL INSIGHT WITH LEAH THOMAS

Leah Thomas has always been one with the natural world. She grew up in the Midwest spending her days exploring the outdoors, and she now honors that relationship by finding time to connect with nature, even amidst her hectic schedule. Her dedication to our earth and climate awareness has not wavered, but through the years what has evolved is her understanding of environmentalism in relation to other social justice movements, such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the push for LGBTQ+ rights, and many more.

One notion crucial to her understanding of the earth’s cycles is interconnectivity. As Leah matured and delved deeper into her passion for activism, she realized that this concept goes so much deeper than just precipitation cycles, but interconnectivity involves human life and the ways in which we interact and intersect with the world around us. Environmentalism does not just involve climate scientists and gardening enthusiasts, but it can involve everyone who is willing to break down the barriers that often surround the movement as a whole.

With the goal of reverberating this powerful message far and wide, Leah and her community of committed changemakers became “Intersectional Environmentalist,” an organization that yielded an original book penned by Leah and a tight-knit group of those who want to make environmental science fun, and more than anything else, approachable.

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How did your journey with environmentalism begin and what sparked your passion for activism?
I grew up in the Midwest in St. Louis and I was always outside, which is something that is innate to my personality. My mom is traditional and wanted me to go to school to get a science degree. I guess maybe she knew me a little bit better than I knew myself at the time. I ended up falling in love with environmental science. After that, I was a park service ranger intern, and I participated in some climate activism and social justice activism when I was in school, which was kind of the kickoff point of the Black Lives Matter movement as well. I started thinking about how I could combine these two movements that I was a part of and focusing on, 'Okay, who's being impacted the most by environmental hazards?' So, it was going to school to study environmental science and then getting involved in activism that really brought me to where I am now.

It came full circle. I love how you kind of say that growing up around nature led you on that path as well because it wasn't until I studied environmental science at school that I also started to build that relationship with the natural world.

You spoke about bridging two different spaces together, which eventually led to the term 'eco-communicator.' Why did you think this was like a novel concept that needed to be introduced to the space of environmentalism?
Piggybacking off of what you said, spending time in nature is what made me start to see all these different connections. Especially being in California with the beach, the desert, and the forest was so healing for me, especially during the origins of the Black Lives Matter movement. I was seeing protests and all these images of reporters being arrested and nature provided comfort. I started thinking, 'What if everyone had access to these healing spaces?' A lot of communities don't have enough community gardens or parks and they're really inaccessible. So, that was the first thought starter: how can we increase outdoor equity? I coined the term because when I was studying environmental science. It felt like only the people who were in the program could understand the climate crisis. But that makes no sense. I started realizing that we need not to gatekeep environmental information at these academic institutions, and we can actually activate more people to care for the planet if we can just say the same thing in different ways and meet people where they're at. I just wanted to use my love of writing, digital communications, and social media to find new ways to activate different people about the climate and environmentalism.

The notion of accessibility is so important in this world. Such terms seem daunting when you feel like you're not a part of them, so making these concepts more approachable is key. I know that's what you deal with in your non-profit as well. What are the primary goals of the nonprofit?
It started out when I began to talk about intersectionality, environmentalism, and climate justice. There were a lot of people who knew what I was talking about, but there was a huge demographic of people who were like, 'I've never actually heard of this.' Some takes on environmentalism are John Muir-esque, but where do disability justice, ecology, racial justice, and environmental justice come in? So again, I didn't want to shame people for not knowing these niche topics, and I wanted to make them as accessible as possible because the goal is to get everyone to see themselves reflected in environmental education. We wanted to engage communities that often aren't talked to within the environmental space so we could activate more people to care. That's basically the ethos of our nonprofit, just showing people different pathways to environmentalism.

And then with our current programming, just to break it down even further, we have something called 'Earth Sessions,' which are these intimate community-driven environmental justice concerts. You show up, you learn from environmental nonprofits through a lecture, and then you get to listen to a musical performance at the end. We've had an orchestra group do Olivia Rodrigo or Frank Ocean. We just had Raveena, whom I adore. We're trying to reimagine environmental education in a fun way. And then our other really big program that we do is to give away free books. At each of our popups and concerts, we curate books that are often left out of environmental curriculums. These books are written by BIPOC, people in the LGBTQ+ community, or are about disability justice and intersections between that and environmentalism. We just started this year and we've given away more than 500 books, and next year we're planning to go from 500 to 5,000 books.

That's amazing. It sounds like you're doing amazing work to connect people with the earth, but how do you continually honor your relationship with the natural world? How do you feel like that relationship has evolved as you've gotten more invested in your work?
I remember last Earth Day; I spent all day inside and I realized something was wrong. I was telling everyone to go be in the environment, but doing advocacy work, I actually was inside my house on a computer and not doing what I needed to do. So, after last Earth Day, I made the decision to really prioritize my relationship with the natural world because that's what inspires me to do this work in the first place. This is a hippy-dippy thing to do, but I love cloud-watching and listening to music. I'm trying to have those grounding moments where it's just me and the earth. And then something that I do that a lot of people don't know about because I'm never publishing it, well, we'll see. But I write poetry about the earth and just finding different moments to appreciate.

What is the story of how 'Intersectional Environmentalist' came to be?
I found that I liked writing and specifically op-eds and persuasive writing. In one of my first pieces of writing, I discussed my private school experience in St. Louis on LinkedIn and being one of the only Black students, and it went viral locally. It was a cool feeling being seen for the first time. So, I realized, 'Oh my God, there's this amazing opportunity to write something from my personal experience that can be healing for other people.' That's what made me want to write or just use different forms of communication. 'Intersectional Environmentalist,' or IE as an org, started during the summer of 2020 because four friends of mine got together while I was going viral, which was funny at the time. We thought, well if there's all this momentum, we need to channel it into something that's more of a collective of people just to show people: here are the organizations that you can support. It was a nice way to divert that one viral moment into something that could be a little bit more long-lasting about environmental education and less of an individual focus. In many ways, it was like a collective consciousness of a lot of people of color, women, and people in the LGBTQ+ community who all felt that their identity was central to environmental work. First, it started out as a website, then an Instagram page, and then we dabbled in everything from consulting to student-made documentaries and podcasts. Now after two years, we've narrowed our focus but are doing any and everything to educate.

When you first set out, you mentioned this large online community. Once you started bringing this to social media, what were you hoping that people were taking from it?
The first thing was really about representation. Saying, 'We are here.' We wanted to make sure people knew that there are all these different topics and that we need to educate people about indigenous resistance in the environmental space and the many people who have been left out of the environmental conversation for so long. I specifically worked in the outdoor industry, and I was on a communications team and I don't know how many times I would hear some sort of iteration of, 'Well, it's not that we don't want to include certain people, we just can't find them.' So now I'm saying, 'Well, here you go.' If you need a niche, sustainable, indigenous activist, here you go. It was like a resource or a database; that was the initial intention.

Community involvement is one of the most important ways to foster environmental consideration. But on a broader note, what do you think the key to making environmental education more accessible is, for any audience?
It's about meeting people where they're at. It’s about education. We are a part of a great big ecosystem. This is not taught in many schools or cities. Many people grow up thinking nature is something that you go to. We don't exist separately from nature. So, when you learn about concepts like 'Leave No Trace,' it's not just for the wilderness. It's also important to think of sustainability as how we sustain ourselves, our communities, and the planet. That's something that would raise a whole new generation of compassionate and empathetic people who care about the global community. Infusing those messages is so central, no matter what field you're in.

What are some tips for living a more conscious and ethical lifestyle that you share through social media or that you could share with anyone who reads this interview?
Start with the basics and nothing is too basic. Have a reusable, water bottle and reusable bags; those sorts of things make a difference. Next you can elevate and dabble in composting if that's something available to you. You can also take your time to learn about environmentalism when you can and doing little things to learn how to make those small behavior changes. Start with small lifestyle changes and view nothing as too hefty.

I agree. It can be so small and it's just a way to start to turn that switch on in your brain. What do you hope the future of environmentalism looks like?
I hope the future of environmentalism is rooted in climate optimism. We have had a decade of climate doom, which we needed. But I think we've successfully scared people so we have to swing the pendulum back somewhat . I want people to learn about, yes, the climate crisis and the solutions that are available. So, talking about regenerative agriculture and cool innovations. I also want the future of environmentalism and education to be rooted in diversity. As I said, I think it would be so cool if environmental programs had a class on society and the environment. I would love to teach such a class one day. I wish I would've learned these things in school. I hope those things don't have to be niche and if people want to dive into the world of environmentalism, they know that it's not just white men, but there are also badass ecofeminists, disability justice advocates, outdoor drag queens, and more. I just hope those things become the standard.

Article by Kayla Curtis-Evans, Contributing Sustainable Editor PhotoBook Magazine
Tearsheets by Alexa Dyer, Graphic Design Coordinator, PhotoBook Magazine

Sustainable WatchAlison HernonNovember 18, 2022#Midwest, #nature, #climate change, #earth, #environment, #BLM, #LBBTQ, #St. Louis, #science, #climate activism, #sustainableliving, #sustainablefuture