Luis Poza
Name: Luis Poza
E-mail: luis.e.poza@gmail.com
Why I want to be part of The Envirolution:
Years of frustrated environmental activism in high school and college taught me that real change had to be systemic, not issue-oriented and from campaign to campaign. I realized that the same reasons people exploit the environment (they objectify it, value it for what it can earn them in a financial sense within industrial capitalism, rather than recognizing any intrinsic rights and worth) are the same reasons people of color, women, children, and those in poverty get marginalized and exploited as well. I turned my attention to education, hoping that building fundamental knowledge and critical thinking skills, as well as awareness of environmental issues, would bring whole new sectors into the political arena to start assuring these ecological and social gains. As with environmental activism, my efforts and good intentions yielded results within my immediate sphere of influence, but little progress in terms of larger structures.
How does one change a whole nation's (or planet's, for that matter) public education infrastructure? Health system? Criminal justice codes? Self-destructive industrial and agricultural sectors? Insistence on violence as a solution to problems? And most importantly, feeling of entitlement by the powerful to exploit those of lower status, both human and non-human? The task overwhelms me still, but I see among my coworkers, classmates, friends, relatives, and neighbors a shared awareness of the heightening urgency of such a task. The awareness draws us together. It sparks conversations, motivates volunteering projects, and even ambitious enterprise. The Envirolution is the perfect forum for all of us. A whole generation charged with essentially redesigning a whole model for civilization, and the Three Spheres framework is the key. Here, the teachers, engineers, park rangers, musicians, doctors, lawyers, journalists, and activists can merge fields, building on each other's ideas. Good ideas inevitably spread, especially when so much is at stake. And that's why I want to be part of The Envirolution.
What I can contribute to The Envirolution:
Most importantly, I bring passion to the pursuit of solutions. I want to be able to tell my children that our generation overcame institutions and individuals with vested interests in exploiting others and the Earth itself to at least begin the shift towards sustainability and the collective good. Thus, I bring my 16 years of overseas experience, resiliency and insight gained from teaching in low income neighborhoods, knowledge and skills afforded by a sound education, and my unearned privilege associated with being a healthy, fair-skinned, middle-class male into advancing awareness and action for this movement.
What I am currently working on for The Envirolution:
In August '07 I'll be finishing up a graduate degree in Climate and Society, an interdisciplinary program based on understanding the climate system, its natural variability, anthropogenic impacts, and implications for world populations, especially those in developing nations. First and foremost, however, I am a classroom teacher for early elementary students, teaching not only the state mandated content standards, but also contextualizing them in a foundation of critical thinking, social justice, environmental protection, and equity.
What I am into, besides The Envirolution:
I love working with kids of all ages, because their optimism, sense of fairness, resiliency, and inquisitiveness (all of which can sometimes be fairly well hidden, but always there) inspire me like almost nothing else. Also, I like spending time outdoors, reading, listening to music, and playing team sports.
Suggested article, website, book:
Just one? It would have to be Derrick Jensen's Culture of Make Believe, which ties together the Three Spheres framework like no other book I've read. Close behind is Edward Abbey's The Monkeywrench Gang, because it's just hella fun.
E-mail: luis.e.poza@gmail.com
Why I want to be part of The Envirolution:
Years of frustrated environmental activism in high school and college taught me that real change had to be systemic, not issue-oriented and from campaign to campaign. I realized that the same reasons people exploit the environment (they objectify it, value it for what it can earn them in a financial sense within industrial capitalism, rather than recognizing any intrinsic rights and worth) are the same reasons people of color, women, children, and those in poverty get marginalized and exploited as well. I turned my attention to education, hoping that building fundamental knowledge and critical thinking skills, as well as awareness of environmental issues, would bring whole new sectors into the political arena to start assuring these ecological and social gains. As with environmental activism, my efforts and good intentions yielded results within my immediate sphere of influence, but little progress in terms of larger structures.
How does one change a whole nation's (or planet's, for that matter) public education infrastructure? Health system? Criminal justice codes? Self-destructive industrial and agricultural sectors? Insistence on violence as a solution to problems? And most importantly, feeling of entitlement by the powerful to exploit those of lower status, both human and non-human? The task overwhelms me still, but I see among my coworkers, classmates, friends, relatives, and neighbors a shared awareness of the heightening urgency of such a task. The awareness draws us together. It sparks conversations, motivates volunteering projects, and even ambitious enterprise. The Envirolution is the perfect forum for all of us. A whole generation charged with essentially redesigning a whole model for civilization, and the Three Spheres framework is the key. Here, the teachers, engineers, park rangers, musicians, doctors, lawyers, journalists, and activists can merge fields, building on each other's ideas. Good ideas inevitably spread, especially when so much is at stake. And that's why I want to be part of The Envirolution.
What I can contribute to The Envirolution:
Most importantly, I bring passion to the pursuit of solutions. I want to be able to tell my children that our generation overcame institutions and individuals with vested interests in exploiting others and the Earth itself to at least begin the shift towards sustainability and the collective good. Thus, I bring my 16 years of overseas experience, resiliency and insight gained from teaching in low income neighborhoods, knowledge and skills afforded by a sound education, and my unearned privilege associated with being a healthy, fair-skinned, middle-class male into advancing awareness and action for this movement.
What I am currently working on for The Envirolution:
In August '07 I'll be finishing up a graduate degree in Climate and Society, an interdisciplinary program based on understanding the climate system, its natural variability, anthropogenic impacts, and implications for world populations, especially those in developing nations. First and foremost, however, I am a classroom teacher for early elementary students, teaching not only the state mandated content standards, but also contextualizing them in a foundation of critical thinking, social justice, environmental protection, and equity.
What I am into, besides The Envirolution:
I love working with kids of all ages, because their optimism, sense of fairness, resiliency, and inquisitiveness (all of which can sometimes be fairly well hidden, but always there) inspire me like almost nothing else. Also, I like spending time outdoors, reading, listening to music, and playing team sports.
Suggested article, website, book:
Just one? It would have to be Derrick Jensen's Culture of Make Believe, which ties together the Three Spheres framework like no other book I've read. Close behind is Edward Abbey's The Monkeywrench Gang, because it's just hella fun.
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