Syllabus Sunday: Cycling. Sustainability. Radical Responsibility.

Oct 24

Published On Patreon Nov 24, 2019

Hi All, welcome to our Syllabus Sunday where we share information, books, journals, videos, podcast, and articles to educate you on topics related to mobility justice.

I’ve been thinking a lot about sustainability, cycling, the outdoors and responsibility with solidarity in movements. More so on protecting land from mass extraction or overuse for products to be outside and the land we ride our bikes on. Pressing on my mind is the question: how do we challenge this industry and community how we go outdoors/cycle and consume to how we connect and protect land we often extract for products and use to be outside?

Cycling as commuting or recreation holds many privileges many of us participate in as an entry point into how we change our relationship within the land of cities, mountains, rivers, oceans, and communities for the better. Something like cycling can transcend many minds and address issues like oil wars, lithium wars, and climate change, however, this industry and community lacks a conversation around the processes of displacement and extraction for our tools, tires, lube, cleaners, frames, helmets, bike lanes, clothing, snacks etc .

How can we challenge cyclist to question their relationship with consuming these products or amenities and being in solidarity with the communities exploited to create them?

The saying goes in my tribe: we all have a responsibility to community, place, and Earth. By centering this responsibility, we are empowered to act in accordance with our true value system.

The sustainability movement has moved many to take action with how we consume products, reusable straws for example, instead of channeling that interest into action with communities on the front lines of climate change. As if the only way to make change is buy ‘greener’ things. The reality is though, this is a distraction from the moral obligation of a given issue, melting ice caps, oil spills, lithium extraction proxy wars in recent Bolivia (needed for batteries, solar panels, ebikes, bike lights etc), all of which is no different from needing to not drive, or flying less when we have responsibilities to animals, glaciers and communities being displaced because our consumption.

Systems change gets conflated with consumer changes. Our consumerism is in fact pushing for more extraction where there is no reciprocal relationships. That means, being in solidarity with communities who are fighting for the land, and restoration efforts, and honoring relationships in connecting to landscape needs that needs to be part of our movement too.

It can get immobilizing when we learn about all the issues of consumerism and our impact but learning and supporting those on the front lines putting their lives at stake is inspiring and should always be centered in whatever work we do in mobility justice, climate change, and cycling activism.

City planning, cycling, and the outdoors is steeped in colonial languages. Conquering, adventure, fresh start, development, play grounds, exploring, wild, untouched etc. The ideas of Manifest Destiny that setters not only could, but were destined to explore and expand U.S. borders on land that already was home to First Nations.

As cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts we have the privilege of seeing changes first hand through our rides in our communities and the wilderness. Rising rents, shorter seasons, wild fires, melting ice caps, asthma, diabetes, etc. My hope is that these first-hand experiences are channeled into action, or more so, into a responsibility to take action.

The opposite of capitalism, the opposite of commodification, is relationship.

For too long we have conflated consumer change with systems change through actions like so-called sustainable consumerism. We can’t buy ourselves out of the problems we are in, we must look to relationship, stewardship, and community building as the antidote to a commodified world.

Let’s rethink our entitlement when it comes to our access of the spaces we ride our bikes. What does it mean to “protect” these places if we are not consulting the people who have been stewards of the land for time immemorial? Are we really “protecting” the land or creating equity if we are going out on rogue missions to “establish” bike lanes or mtb tracks without thinking about our impact on that space and the people who have called it home before colonization or who have been established for decades? How are we manipulating and exploiting environmental justice activism in order to serve our selfish needs to “opt” outside or explore by bike to "find ourselves"? How can we integrate a radical responsibility to communities and equitable mindset into our practices? Because it is clear that what has been considered “protection” in environmentalism in cycling or outdoor recreation is simply just code for continued and exclusive access for wealthy white people. Why is protecting the public’s recreational use of the land more important than protecting the rights of indigenous peoples who have always truly cared for and been in reciprocity with the land?

Some resources for further reading:

Orgs:

Terra Incognita

Natives Outdoors

Native Women Wilderness

Outside Voices

Beyond Boarding

Climb the Gap

Legendary Skies Enterprises

Honor the Earth

Books:

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States of America by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz