On November 29th, Boston City Council unanimously passed a plastic bag ordinance that aims to reduce our reliance on disposable plastic bags. Stores will charge a 5-cent fee for each paper or sturdy plastic bag that they sell customers who come without a reusable bag. Despite eloquent statements by councilors Ayanna Pressley (at-large) and Tito […]
environmentalists
Labor Day, American Values and the Status Quo
For the past two years I’ve traveled across the country to film festivals, labor events and public forums to show my documentary, “Farewell to Factory Towns?” With Labor Day on the horizon, I’d like to offer a few thoughts on the reactions of audiences to the film. While relatively diverse, the audiences generally support the […]
Adventures in Sustainability on a Budget
I began to eat organic after witnessing first-hand the effects of pesticides on migrant farm workers. I tried to stop using electricity from coal-fired power plants after I watched my students in Washington, DC struggle to breathe on “red-alert” air quality days. I read about the permanently disabling effects that some glues have on workers […]
Food, fracking, and farms: Climate issues are class issues
I’m often disappointed by the narrow scope of the environmental movement’s rhetoric and, more importantly, the narrow scope of its constituency. It’s no secret that the mainstream environmental movement is largely an affluent, white effort. As an “environmentalist” (I’ll explain the quotes in a bit), I don’t think this is particularly surprising—the struggle for class, […]
Climate Justice Work Must Include Marginalized People
Late last year, I attended a 350.org divestment rally for climate justice at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Although the organizers made no claims to work intersectionally, and made no promise cross-class organizing, I left feeling deflated and angry at what seemed to be an effort to pander to wealthy white men at the […]
Two more cars & class stories
We obviously hit a nerve with the two recent stories about cars and class. Besides the long and intense comments under the posts, I received two more moving stories submitted to Classism Exposed. The first writer shared this story anonymously: “My husband is about to sell his car so we can save some money. He […]
Roadblocks and Detours: Classism En Route to Drivers Ed
I was shocked when a well-known environmentalist criticized my students’ campaign to make drivers education accessible to low-income students. The campaign ran into a lot of classism, but that was the low point. When I was in high school, drivers training was part of the public school curriculum. Obtaining one’s drivers permit and license were […]
