I pointed out the obvious last week, when I amplified a better voice than mine: Three of the threats to humanity we comfortable ones can no longer ignore, even if we wanted to, are interconnected.

Today, I direct your attention to a guest post in the Eugene, Oregon Register-Guard by Haley Case-Scott, a Siletz Tribal Member with the NAACP Eugene/Springfield. In case you haven’t come across the term before, BIPOC means Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

Communities that are most vulnerable to COVID-19 also are at an increased risk of being negatively impacted by climate change. The public and mental health of BIPOC communities is closely connected to the health of our environment. Those who experience the worst impacts caused by climate change contribute the least to the problem. In the current public health crisis, recent studies have begun to identify links between air pollution and the number of COVID-19 deaths, highlighting the disproportionate numbers that exist among vulnerable populations.

Police brutality, COVID-19 and climate change
by Haley Case-Scott, a Siletz Tribal Member with the NAACP Eugene/Springfield.

Remember Emma Lazarus? She wrote a poem once, about people “yearning to breathe free.” That. Let’s do that.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Write about your mother.

MA