Dear Editor,
I write this on June 19, aka Juneteenth, a day that commemorates the date in 1865 when enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally received word of their emancipation - more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. As I reflect on today’s significance, I consider a triumph of the human spirit as well as an ongoing collective pursuit of true equality, one in which action is required to make freedom real.
The legacy of Juneteenth should remind us all that the movement for social justice and civil rights is a continuous collective journey.
Such fundamental frameworks for an equitable and inclusive society were reflected in a monthly prayer intention for May, when Pope Leo XIV asked us to pray for universal access to nourishing food and an end to food waste. The Holy Father asked, “Let us pray that everyone, from large producers to small consumers, be committed to avoid wasting food and to ensure that everyone has access to quality food.” He regards bread not as an object of consumption, but as a sign of communion and caring. He said communities should promote awareness campaigns and food banks to foster a more responsible lifestyle.
For me, as someone currently involved in an effort to divert food waste from our landfills, I see parallels between the Civil Rights Movement, commemorated by Juneteenth, and the Environmental Justice Movement, which advocates for zero-waste communities where landfills and toxic waste facilities are eliminated. Living near a landfill often leads to disproportionately higher rates of asthma, cancer, and developmental issues among families living in close proximity.
The push for zero waste goes beyond corporate recycling; it requires local economic development in which communities take control of how natural and human resources are used. Food scraps dumped in landfills produce toxic leachate and release methane, both of which are harmful to neighboring communities. Zero-waste solutions, such as local composting and recycling, actively reduce air and water pollution while protecting the health of nearby residents. The zero-waste movement emphasizes being more conscientious when purchasing food for consumption and composting food scraps to help close the loop in cultivating healthy local environments.
Of note, one example of growth of the modern environmental justice movement, directly involving civil rights tactics, occurred in 1982 in Warren County, North Carolina, where citizens used their bodies to block a toxic landfill from being placed in their Black community. This act of resistance against the placement of toxic waste can be regarded as a parallel to the Juneteenth celebration of freedom from forced labor.
Peter Wibell, Rutledge