Stories
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Equity, Dignity, and Justice at UEC
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Hi everyone! I’m Kirsten, one of the Environmental Educators at the UEC. Usually, I’d be here to tell you about the many ways you can connect with nature in your own neighborhood, but this time I’d like to share with you some information about another equally important part of my work at Urban Ecology Center: the Equity, Dignity, and Justice (EDJ) committee.
So far the EDJ committee has largely focused internally, on learning about oppression alongside our fellow staff at the UEC. Now, with the public release of our anti-racism commitments, we felt it’s time to share the history of this work at the UEC and honor the work that many folks have done that led to this point. Que the proverbial slide-show!
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Three Vignettes and a Reflection on Race
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As a white man in a managerial role, I recognize that I have a limited scope of experience when it comes to discussing issues of racial justice and how it relates to our work at the Urban Ecology Center. I also recognize that too often white voices have remained silent on these issues when we should have spoken up, and so on the occasion of the official release of our organizations Equity, Dignity, & Justice Anti-Racism Action Statement I’m humbly offering these reflections to add another voice to the chorus of Black and Brown voices that we all should be listening to with greater sincerity.
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The American Mink (Neovison vison)
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The mink is a squirrel-sized member of the mustelid family that includes the otter, wolverine, badger, fisher, and other weasels. Also, a member of this family is their domesticated European cousin, the ferret. Like the otter, the mink is an excellent swimmer, rarely seen far from water. Also like otters, minks are particularly playful and extremely curious. Like many weasels, they like to enter and travel through burrows and cavities but rarely dig their own. Minks have extremely fast metabolisms and are seldom seen sitting still, constantly looking for their next meal. They are such effective hunters that they will frequently “cache” their kills and save them for later. Caches have been found with as many as 50 fish stored. Minks also have the misfortune of being born with extremely soft, silky dark brown fur that humans have coveted for as far back as our history with these creatures goes.
