Representation Matters
by Matthew VanSweden
Winter of 2019. Grand Rapids, MI. Michigan Climate Action Summit.
Bryan Newland, a citizen of the Bay Mills Indian Community (Ojibwe) in northern Michigan, stood up in front of a room full of mostly white men and said unapologetically, “the values, ethics, and wisdom you need to address climate change are alive and well within indigenous communities all across the country.” He went on to say, “We may not have a lot of advanced degrees (although some of us certainly do), but we know things.”
Representation (in academia) matters.
Spring of 2019. Portland, OR. Living Futures Conference.
I was in a room full of passionate (still primarily white) environmentalists dedicated to cultivating a just and livable future. It was just after the 2018 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) informed us, in the strongest possible terms, that the clock is ticking on climate action. We had just over ten years (at the time), and we had a tremendous amount of work to do. There was an incredible sense of urgency at this event.
The overwhelming message of this Indigenous Placemaking session was to slow down and listen to those that have come before. The tension between the need to slow down and the urgency of climate action was palpable. I asked the question, “how is it that we should move forward quickly, slowly?”
There was a laugh, a pause, and then a thoughtful response, “Maybe you should let those connected to the wisdom of those that have come before lead. If we start with wisdom, we can get where we need to go quicker.”
Representation (in response to a crisis) matters.
Fall of 2019. Detroit, MI. Sustainable Detroit Forum.
Malik Yakini, activist and educator dedicated to alleviating the impact of racism and white privilege on the food system, was sitting on a panel of three other white folks talking about food justice in Detroit. He said black urban farmers have been around a long time but are being displaced by white suburban transplants that feel their calling is to save poor black communities. Malik says all the values, skills, and knowledge base are well established in black communities, but systemic racism constantly threatens their food sovereignty.
Representation (where, how, and by whom food is grown) matters.
Summer of 2020. Virtual Webcast. West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum.
A white male Michigan Representative described advocating for business relief during the sharpest economic downturn in modern history due to COVID-19. Several women of color business owners shared their struggle and frustration in accessing this support simply because lawmakers didn’t design the distribution apparatus with them in mind.
Representation (where policymaking happens) matters.
Fall of 2020. Virtual Lecture. Kendall College of Art and Design’s Masters of Architecture Program.
A white practitioner and educator in Detroit was sharing his story about the role of design in the age of racial unrest. He included some statistics about racial diversity within schools of architecture (about a 50-50 white to BIPOC students split) and how that dramatically shifts to roughly an 80-20 racial split measured when students finish the licensure process.
He stopped there (for his point was made). However, if you continue this exercise, the architecture profession’s homogenization becomes even more extreme, a 95-5 split along racial lines among owners and leaders of architecture firms.
This is both a tremendous problem AND tremendous opportunity. The design of the built environment impacts much of our lives. It has the power to improve our experiences, connect us to profound truths about ourselves and the universe, and foster empathy and a sense of community. It also has the power to kill and destroy, to subjugate and oppress, to maim and to poison.
For example, in the early twentieth century, urban planning zoning separated industrial and residential spaces due to poor air quality. However, deeds, homeowner associations, and banking policies prohibited black and brown folks from living in these new distanced and non-industry-adjacent neighborhoods. These discriminatory practices are today collectively referred to as redlining.
Thus, in 2018, 68% of people of color live within thirty miles of a fossil fuel-burning power plant. Particulate matter emissions from these plants poison black and brown children who are three times more likely to suffer from chronic asthma, a disease that costs over $2500 per person annually. Buildings account for 36% of global energy use making renewable energy and net-zero buildings issues of racial justice.
Practitioners often cite architecture as being a “superhero profession.” It has an oversized impact on global issues and our lives. Architects, developers, and engineers determine seventy percent of a building’s impact before utilizing a single percent of the project’s first costs on design. And the stakeholders most impacted by these design decisions are rarely empowered to have any agency over these decisions.
Representation (where design decisions are made) matters.
David Orr, back in 2002, wrote a book called The Nature of Design in which he says, “What we now call ‘sustainability’ must begin with an acknowledgment that we have important things to relearn about the arts of longevity from earlier cultures and other societies.” I believe Malik Yakini, Bryan Newland, and others are telling us the same thing; that the way forward is to reflect and learn from the past in service of those who will come—Indigenous seven (past and future) generational thinking. Invite those who are actively connected to the wisdom of the earth into spaces wherever decisions are being made.
I think we would all do well to recognize that those here now come from a deep tradition in ecological knowledge that surpasses what academia is producing. The way forward starts by realizing the limits of settler perspectives and worldviews. We need to slow down, pay attention, be curious, imagine audaciously, and invite more individuals and their communities to share their lived experiences so that we can begin to cultivate an inclusive and informed way forward; towards life.