In September 2016, I traveled to Durban, South Africa to join grantmaking advisors working with Global Greengrants Fund around the world for several days of conversations about climate change, fossil fuels, the safety of environmental activists, and our ongoing work together.
While joining hundreds of thousands of people at the Women’s March on Colorado, I was reminded of that trip to Durban—and particularly of the day that I spent touring the city with Desmond D’Sa, a Goldman Prize winner and Global Greengrants grantee who is fighting toxic waste with the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance.
This tour was unlike any other I’ve been on when traveling to a new city. Instead of visiting famous landmarks, taking in the architecture, or sampling local treats at local farmers markets (my favorite stop while exploring any city), Desmond brought me and a group of eight others to the most polluted places in Durban.
We spent the day discussing environmental injustice, the persisting impacts of racism from the apartheid era, and the continued prioritization of profit over people and planet.
We visited communities that were built next to oil refineries, chemical companies, and paper mills—where only a chain-link fence separates homes from these polluting industrial complexes.
We visited a school, where too many of the students suffer from asthma, leukemia, and cancer because of the toxins in the air and water.
During a stop at a landfill site, we saw where medical waste, cyanide, mercury, and needles have been deposited for years. The landfill is across the road from a township where black residents were relocated many years ago. Until just recently, there was no fence to prevent children, cattle, and goats from walking next to the landfill—which also has no liner to prevent the chemicals from entering the earth or toxic fumes from entering peoples’ eyes, nose, and lungs.
Throughout our tour, Desmond pointed out the devastation and inequity, but also remained resolute that his voice and actions are important. He poignantly asked: “Can we eat oil and chemicals? Can we eat the money these companies are earning?” And then he answered his own question: “We cannot eat the oil and the money. And so we fight. And we advocate for people.”
When our tour came to an end, Desmond sent us off with some words of encouragement:
“It is important to know that we have allies that we can work with across the globe. We need to stand up for one another and we need each other’s voices, because even small actions help people feel that they are not alone in this fight. And change will only occur from all of us coming together.”
While marching through the streets of Denver on January 21, I was once again galvanized by Desmond’s words. I continue to take comfort in knowing that Desmond and I, despite being separated by thousands of miles, are fighting for environmental and social justice for all people.
Because climate change is real. And black lives matter. And love is love. And no human being is illegal. And women’s rights are human rights.
By Courtney Banayad, Deputy Director of Partnerships
Photo Credit: Goldman Environmental Prize