Week 10 Reflections

I particularly enjoyed this week’s readings due to their personal nature, specifically, the first person accounts of the California Wildfires and mine shutdown at the hand of Ende Gelande. In academia, I truly appreciate personal narratives or first person accounts of events because they bring an edge of humanity to often dense, lengthy, often data based articles. In the Mark article, a father and Water Agency employee described the process of surviving a wildfire that engulfed his home and destroyed his entire neighborhood. In the article, there were moments described where civilians were fleeing, discussing their evacuation plans, and grabbing “go-bags.” These moments reminded me of when we are asked about potential “go-bags” of our own in class, and the lack thereof during Hurricane Katrina. The recounting of  the fire from someone who endured it enabled me to not only reflect on in class discussion, but juxtapose it to my own experiences in able to see how climate change has impacted our own individual experiences respectively.

In the Giacomini article, the importance of community and preserving common resources was reiterated multiple times.  Further, the article delves deeper into the vitality of this when discussing how now, and historically, women are the ones who utilize, defend, and access material commons. (Giacomini, 90) In this article, a woman discussed her experience of the mine shutdown at the hand of Ende Gelande. Prior to this reading, I had not heard of Ende Gelande, and found her story very interesting. This article enabled me to see women-led and minority-led activism on a global perspective, as well.

Lastly, I found the Ten Principles for Just Climate Change, tied into both articles at their core, and their mission and desire for a better, cleaner, more just climate.