PSR-LA Featured in Two Reports on Reproductive and Environmental Justice

PSR-LA’s movement building and policy change work at the intersection of reproductive and environmental justice has been featured in two select reports: Fertile Ground: Women Organizing at the Intersection of Environmental Justice and Reproductive Justice, published by the Movement Strategy Center, and Climate of Opportunity: Gender and Movement Building at the Intersection of Reproductive Justice and Environmental Justice, published by the Women’s Foundation of California.

Using the twin lenses of environmental justice and reproductive justice, PSR-LA is a featured group that is finding new ways to connect, frame, communicate, and organize around the issues that matter most to communities – the health of children, families, communities, cultures, and land. This intersectional approach is creating new alliances, political opportunities, and concrete wins.

A dual Executive Summary of the reports describes Movement Strategy Center’s Fertile Ground as a national scan of organizations working at the intersection of environmental health and justice and reproductive justice, while Climate of Opportunity shares the lessons learned from the EJ/RJ Collaborative, a two-year effort of the Women’s Foundation of California. Both reports provide an overview of this work and the significant opportunity for foundations and community based organizations to support and engage in movement building work.

An innovative, coalition-building approach is described:

A few EJ/RJ groups are playing an important role as bridge building organizations within the EJ/RJ intersection. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Los Angeles (PSR-LA) is illustrative of this role. Grounded in a social justice analysis and committed to movement building, deep and working relationships are being built across traditional organizing and advocacy divides. Martha Dina Arguello of PSR-LA has intentionally built strong relationships with people of color groups within EJ/RJ movements and notes, “We like working with local groups that have not been engaged in environmental health policy work and fi nding ways to bring their voices to the table.” PSR-LA and Breast Cancer Action spoke about how they often help frontline organizations and policy advocacy groups understand each other and build productive relationships. (Fertile Ground, page 10)

PSR-LA’s key role in this intersection, led by Executive Director Martha Dina Arguello and Environment and Health Coordinator Kathy Attar, demonstrates the organization’s deep commitment to social change that works to protect the health of all communities. In addressing the need for immediate chemical policy reform, Arguello is quoted : “We have the data. We know the information. We know there are toxic chemicals in our homes, schools, and workplaces and that we as women of color are often getting the highest level of exposure to the most dangerous chemicals. Now, our challenge is to build the power and find the strategies to change that.”

To learn more about PSR-LA’s program work that addresses environmental and reproductive justice, see our Issues pages, or contact Kathy Attar at (213) 689-9170, ext. 108, [email protected]

• Read about and download the dual Executive Summary of Fertile Ground and Climate of Opportunity from the Health & Environmental Funders Network. www.hefn.org

• Read about and download Fertile Ground: Women Organizing at the Intersection of Environmental Justice and Reproductive Justice. Movement Strategy Center, November 2009. www.movementstrategy.org

• Read about and download Climate of Opportunity: Gender and Movement Building at the Intersection of Reproductive Justice and Environmental Justice. Women’s Foundation of California, November 2009. www.womensfoundca.org

Images from PSR-LA’s photo galleries were used in the making of these reports. Browse through these some of these images:

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