Friends of Trees stands with our Black colleagues, partners, and community members
If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together. -Lilla Watson
Friends of Trees is incensed and stands in solidarity with the Black community. We add our voice to the many groups and institutions this week calling for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Aubrey, and too many others.
It is undisputed that Black, Indigenous, and all people of color bear a disproportionate impact of racial injustice and its deadly consequences. Environmental justice is among these systemic inequalities. FOT acknowledges that the Black community is more impacted by respiratory illnesses due to poor air quality making them more vulnerable. At Friends of Trees, we believe the benefits of trees should be experienced by everyone: clean air, clean water, and healthy communities are human rights. We heartily commit to listening to community needs as we work for an environmentally just future where Black folks can breathe freely.
Just as trees are connected via their root systems and intertwine underground with fungi to exchange nutrients, carbon, and water in order to survive and thrive, so too are our human communities connected. When white supremacy and police brutality affect some, it is a blight on us all. Just like a tree community’s root systems, the onus is on those with resources to combat the disease.
Friends of Trees is responding to the call for action and encourages you to join. Each and every one of us can use our voices to support the Black community. We urge you to get involved.
Whitney Dorer, Interim Executive Director
Phoebe Krueger, Board Chair
Environmentalists For Black Lives Matter image by @greengirlleah
The Blueprint Foundation | The Black Parent Initiative | Black Lives Matter: PDX | Imagine Black | Equitable Giving Circle | The Black Resilience Fund | NAACP Portland | Eugene Springfield NAACP | Urban League of Portland | Coalition of Communities of Color | Momentum Alliance | Self Enhancement, Inc. | Campaign Zero | Don’t Shoot Portland | Black United Fund of Oregon