Blog Post 1

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After scouring the internet, I found that blog posts may be difficult to come across. I believe the search engine I used automatically weeded them out, but after some digging I unearthed an environmental justice blog post called lets rap about flint.

After reading this blog written by Jade Pearce, I have come to the conclusion that her intended audience was the modern youth living in Flint. I say this because most of the rappers she references are rappers that I believe a younger crowd may listen to. I also believe that most people who don’t live in Flint have forgotten about the water crisis all together. With all of this being said, I don’t believe she will reach her target audience, blogs have become a dated tool that few rarely stumble upon. Blogs are the walkman as compared to the shiny new I-pod, or in our case podcast. Moving on, Jade appeals to her intended readers by peddling a message of hope. A message of hope may be what her readers actually need. Overall, this blog post hasn’t increased my awareness of environmental justice. There was no justice served within this blog, it was a simple message about the problem and a potential solution. I think if you want to see real justice you need to physically make a change in person.

The definition of environmental justice may seem like a complicated one to most. Even to me it is a fairly complicated topic to understand. But simply put, environmental justice is the enforcement of environmental regulations and policies as to not negatively effect one class, group, or race more than another. Unfortunately, environmental justice goes hand in hand with other issues such as poverty, racism and sexism. The environmental justice movement strives to make the world a better, more inhabitable place for everyone.

If you are still struggling to grasp the concept of environmental justice, let me give you an example. Air pollution is a very real and relevant topic in our current society. However, where exactly is air pollution is the highest? Well, generally you’ll find this type of pollution coming from industrial plants, which you happen to find near low income residential communities. People in these low income communities outside of industrial plants are generally exposed to more air pollution that will lead to serious health issues. The unfortunate truth is that they can’t afford to move anywhere else to escape this crutch. The environmental justice movement is one that strives to increase these peoples quality of life.

To reiterate, environmental justice is about improving the quality of life of those who are affected by man made environmental problems. My personal opinion is that I don’t believe this movement is big enough to make a difference. With temperatures and sea levels rising, I think we will have more problems than we can physically deal with.