I interviewed Phoenix Armenta, my supervisor and the coordinator of the Resilient Communities Initiative, about her experience in the field of environmental justice, community organizing, and what inspires her. I felt that this was a really important interview to conduct because Phoenix’s unique blend of experiences always emerged in our work together and I wanted to find out more about what had brought her to this work and inspired such passion. It was also great to have the interview at the end of my work this summer because it was a way for both of us to reflect back on the work we had been doing and for me to see context for the experiences that Phoenix brings to the table. Hearing about what inspired Phoenix’s connection to environmental justice is fascinating because it demonstrates how very pervasive environmental issues are in ALL kinds of social, health, and community-based work. This interview makes a great argument for thinking about issues and movement work as interdisciplinary and intertwined.
Loved this interview! There are many takeaways (including that you should totally count Phoenix as a mentor) that I see. One is that framing your work as environmental justice even if it’s not in the field of “environmental justice” is key to finding your path through a lot of different experiences. Another is that community organizing requires love of community — and that the “beloved community” approach is useful in lots of different contexts and is, perhaps, at the core of it all. And another is that money is a kind of power, but that there are other kinds of power that need support, particularly if foundations are not funding radical change. Is that other power electoral? Partly. Does it come from public funding? Sometimes. I guess the question I’m left with is: How do we build power and unity without money? These days I am wondering how much demonstrations and protest are moving the needle in a positive direction.