Our ongoing commitment to racial and environmental justice: Reflections one year later

One year ago, the staff, members, and supporters of the Iowa Environmental Council stood witness to the brutal murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis. We now stand witness again to the movement that was already in progress, but has grown following his senseless death and to the deaths of so many other black and brown lives throughout our country. We continue to add our voice to the chorus calling for this to stop.  

At IEC, it also brought us to a point of a long overdue reckoning with our own complicity in the systems of racialized oppression in which we all live, move, and breathe. Over the last year, we have sharpened our commitment to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, developing a set of principles to guide our work and develop relationships to support, uplift, and learn from the work of people of color around the state. 

As we mark this moment with rallies and vigils around the world, throughout the nation, and in Des Moines, IEC continues to bear witness and re-commit to our own work in the struggle toward being part of the anti-racist movement. 

We pause to remember those that lost their lives because of racism and injustice. We honor their memory by committing to breaking down the systems that uphold white supremacy and racism, knowing we have been and still are complicit in these systems. 

1. environmental justice
2. jedi
3. racial justice