We Need to Care About the Dakota Access Pipeline

German Shepherds have always freaked me out. I remember being  about 7 years old and watching a documentary about the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s with my father and seeing footage and pictures of men, women, and children, all of whom shared my dark skin, being attacked by German Shepherds in the street during a protest. I remember being confused about why the police were not stopping the dogs, and then I realized the police were telling the dogs to do it. I never looked at law enforcement or German Shepherds the same way again. I know that not all cops, or all German Shepherds are bad, but it is hard to get those pictures out of my head, and I have to work against that image when I see them.

A few days ago an image popped up on my Facebook news feed. It was of a German Sheppard being controlled by what turned out to be a private security officer. The dog’s mouth was dripping with blood. Human blood. I felt like I was 7 years old again.

A few months ago I had a conversation with a fellow graduate of Wesley Seminary. She and I talked about just how important intersectionality is to any justice movement. We talked about how it is as if the system has been rigged so that oppressed people are kept away from other oppressed people. In some cases we seem to be pitted against each other. We talked about the ways in which Black folks and poor White folks had been made into enemies by those who benefit from the control and continued disenfranchisement of both groups.  We also discussed how the beginnings of the abolition and women’s rights movement had the same core people at their helm. The movements were split in two when White women were convinced that they would not be able to gain their rights if they stayed attached to the cause of Black freedom. We still see these things happening today.

Right now in North Dakota the Standing Rock Sioux and their allies are protecting their land. In Flint, Michigan, many poor Black families still have no access to clean water. In the mountains of West Virginia, families that have known nothing but coal mining for generations are dealing with the fall out of the environmental destruction from the mines. They rely on the mines for their livelihood, all the while drinking contaminated water, breathing contaminated air, and watching their homes literally disappear under mudslides. We all need clean water, clean air, and safe earth to survive. The people who are most disproportionately  affected by environmental destruction are the poor and people of color. These people groups are also the ones who most often face discrimination in many forms. Imagine how we could change the world if we stopped buying into the narratives that have taught us to stay away from each other. Imagine what we could get done if we all protested, all changed laws, all worked together to stop the environmental destruction that is threatening  to completely devastate our communities.

Genesis 1:28 tells us that God has given us dominion over the Earth. We are called to be stewards of the resources that have been provided to us. Many of us have not done our jobs very well. We have also been called to love God and neighbor. That is also a job that many of us are failing to do. These jobs are deeply connected. We have a responsibility to care for each other and the Earth, both are gifts from God.