4 Comments

Super post and a critical perspective. The Global North should give the reins to the South and let it lead. It has the ancestral knowledge and practical solutions. *And* it already mostly has the community-first mindset that we must adopt in the North if we're to survive this crisis.

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Jul 18Liked by Gen Dread

Thank you for this perspective John Jamir Aruta, stated so simply and elegantly. Not easy subject matter but foundational points about the global North narrative that pertains across so much of the environmental landscape, even in relation to categorising emotions as you say. Good to see Indigenous responses, that are vastly different to Western psychology, gaining exposure. Also value your foregrounding the intrinsic nature of community in global South settings, often interpreted through an individualised global North lens. We need more voices like yours to change the dialogue, the questions, the narrative, and we need funders to hear and register the difference to undo the damaging inheritance of colonial power relations. Much appreciation.

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founding

I’m shocked at the scrutiny your work has been subjected to Dr. Aruta. Thank you and Gen Dread for, in the words of *Noel Kok, “(changing) the story” by “(changing) the storyteller”.

*Quoted in “Intertwined” by Rebecca Kormos, 2024 and shared in conversation by Jill Tiefenthaler, first female CEO of the National Geographic Society, on worldwide grant funding.

“Intertwined” delves deeply into climate justice issues globally. I want to learn more about the work of Midori Nicolson, merging Indigenous knowledge and Western conservation principles.

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On this topic, does anyone have recommendations for Substacks by global south or First Nations activists and thinkers?

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