As a journal focused on the built and natural environments, we at Terrain.org recognize the inseparable threads of racial justice, climate justice, and environmental justice as inherent in the soul of place. In our ongoing work toward becoming an anti-racist journal and organization, we acknowledge the ways that environmental publishing has privileged white voices, and we commit to change.
We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter in calling for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and so many others lost to police brutality; for the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women; and for all those who have lost their lives to state-sanctioned or state-ignored violence and white supremacy. We support those gathering in the streets for protest, for grief, for urgent demands for systemic change.
At Terrain.org, we recognize that stating our support for racial justice and stating our opposition to systemic racism alone are not enough. We must take action. Therefore, as we strive to transform the marginalization of essential and diverse voices, we commit to the following actions, which will begin immediately:
- We will seek and publish more diverse and underrepresented voices in Terrain.org.
- We will showcase a series of conversations between writers on race and place.
- We will expand the racial diversity of Terrain.org’s editors and editorial board and also expand the racial diversity of the Terrain Publishing Board of Directors, our parent organization.
- We will seek out and publish guest editorials and/or new series exploring social justice, climate justice, and environmental justice that amplify Black, Brown, and Indigenous voices.
- We will seek partnerships with social justice organizations to create ways for Terrain.org to promote Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other writers, artists, and community advocates of color.
- We will implement a plan to pay contributors, recognizing that those who are historically marginalized are those who may be least likely to be able to share their artistic work without compensation.
- We will continue to ensure, for the same reasons, that Terrain.org remains accessible to readers at no cost, now and always.
We invite your feedback for how we can do better, how we can achieve greater organizational diversity, and how we can use Terrain.org as a vehicle for breaking down systemic racism through literature, art, community, and place. Contact us at action@terrain.org to share your input.
Thank you,
Terrain.org Editors
Terrain.org Editorial Board
Terrain Publishing Board of Directors
