• Beyond Binaries: LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Environmental Movements with Brandon Rothrock
    Jul 2 2024

    Brandon Rothrock (he/him) is a queer geographer supporting fellow LGBTQ+ environmentalists as they navigate their careers. Through his research and advocacy, he advances environmental justice for marginalized communities. Brandon’s experience in higher education, sustainability issues, and energy policy demonstrates his commitment to a better world for everyone, especially those historically discriminated against. He uses his connections and knowledge to help advance social change while embracing his identity and communities.

    Brandon is also a Board Member for OUT for Sustainability (OUT4S), a U.S.-based non-profit that “co-creates a platform for environmental justice and climate resilience by and for the LGBTQIA+ community.”


    Connect with Brandon Rothrock

    Website

    Resources


    Support Out 4 Sustainability

    Website

    Instagram


    Brandon’s Affiliations

    Environmental Defense Fund

    Agents of Change in Environmental Justice Fellowship


    Resources

    Just Solutions’ Post on the LGBTQ’s vulnerability to climate change

    Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney

    Fire & Flood DocuSeries

    Can’t Stop Change: Queer Climate Stories from the Florida Frontlines


    Definitions

    LGBTQIA+: stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual and the + symbol stands for other individuals who identify outside of sexual and gender norms

    Environmental Justice: a movement to address environmental injustices, including air pollution and land use, that disproportionately harm historically marginalized communities, including Black, Indigenous, People of Color and LGBTQIIA+


    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com

    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    27 mins
  • A Year of Social Justice: Reflections on 2023
    Apr 5 2024

    When we understand what brought us to where we are today, we can decide where to go from here. In this episode, co-hosts Tania Roa + Adriana Maria Medina discuss social justice events in 2023 that led to collective action. As we reflect, we can learn from them and determine our priorities for 2024. It’s a new year, but our struggles are the same.


    *Please note: some of the events we discuss include violence, police brutality, and Palestine.


    Resources for events mentioned in this episode, and organizations supporting the causes mentioned, are below. Also, as always, scroll to find definitions.


    U.S. News

    • Former Officers Charged in Tyre Nichols' Death

    • East Palestine, Ohio Train Derailment

    • Tortuguita Shot Protecting Atlanta Forest

    • Willow Project for Alaska Campaign


    U.S. Organizations to Support

    Color of Change

    Stop Cop City

    Alaska Conservation Foundation


    International News

    • Plastic Crisis and Great Pacific Garbage Patch

    • Panama's High Court Stops Canadian Mining Attempt

    • Ecuador Stops Oil Drilling in Amazon

    • Latest on Palestine and South Africa Sues Israel

    • Crisis in Sudan

    • Democratic Republic of Congo Calls for Peace


    International Organizations to Support

    4Ocean

    Amazon Watch

    Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

    International Rescue Committee


    Definitions

    Biodiversity: short for biological diversity; it is the variety of life on Earth and includes the variety of genetic, species, and ecosystem levels

    Occupation: when one group or country takes control over another territory through force, and the invading group establishes its own law in the now occupied region

    Zionism: a nationalist movement that emerged in the 19th century with a goal of establishing a homeland, protected by law, for Jewish people in Palestine - a region roughly corresponding to the Land of Israel in Jewish tradition

    Anti Semitism: hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews

    Genocide: the intentional destruction of a national, ethnic, or racial group in whole or in part

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    34 mins
  • Activism, But Make It Fashionable with Chi.qc
    Nov 21 2023

    Chi Bailey, lover of God and high quality clothing, expresses his spirituality and fashion taste through his brand Chi qc™. All pieces are upcycled, hand crafted, and sweatshop free, speaking out against the harmful impacts of fast fashion on people and the planet. Low quality clothes produced in mass volumes degrade the environment, mistreat garment workers, and encourage consumers to buy more clothes than they need. Chi shows us another way of living that respects God’s creation.


    Chi is of African and Korean descent, and his cultural upbringing also plays a role in his creativity. Chi qc™ inspires us to be more childlike through its Born Again Garments that incorporates colorful, playful designs with deep storytelling.


    Closing the Gap recognizes that Charlotte, North Carolina is unceded land of the Cheraw Indigenous people.


    Support Chi qc™

    Website

    Instagram

    YouTube


    Definitions

    Fast fashion - mass-producing trending clothes at a low cost to incentivize consumers to buy quickly, often characterized with cheap quality, environmental pollution, and severely low wages

    Upcycling- the process of transforming unwanted or used materials into new products

    Slow fashion - an aspect of sustainable fashion and a concept describing the opposite to fast fashion, advocating for clothing manufacturing and consumption that respects people, environment and animals


    Fast Fashion Articles

    Slow Fashion: For Your Wallet and the Planet (page 4)

    Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

    The Best Small Businesses in Los Angeles


    Work Labor Conditions and Rights Articles

    Garment Industry

    Coal Mining

    Chocolate Industry


    Slow fashion brands mentioned

    Reformation

    Industry of All Nations

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    26 mins
  • Leaning Into Change
    Oct 25 2023

    Closing the Gap co-hosts Tania Roa and Adriana Medina welcome you back to the podcast with a new season: Season 2. To start off the season, Tania discusses her summer living in Colombia and Adriana shares her first impressions of her new home in New York City, unceded land of the Lenape or Lenapehoking people.


    Some themes arose from these major moves including authenticity, leaning into change, and being an active participant in one's community.


    Resources

    Palenque's Famous Band: ⁠Kombilesa Mí⁠

    ⁠Dr. Shamell Bell of Black Lives Matter⁠


    New York City Events

    Rest in Power O'Shae Sibley

    Eric Adams on NYC Migrants

    Eric Adams Investment on NYPD Robot Dogs

    NYC Flooding Shutting Down Subways


    Definitions

    Generational trauma - psychological and emotional wounds that have accumulated over time and transferred to future generations

    Gentrification - the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses

    Voguing - a type of dance that imitates the characteristic poses struck by a model on a runway (history of voguing)

    Liberation - freedom from oppression, or freedom from limits on thought or behavior

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com.


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    33 mins
  • Identifying as a Minority in the U.S.
    Mar 23 2023

    It's our last episode of Season 1! Tania & Adriana take time to reflect on the past season and celebrate the beautiful, progress-oriented community we've all built - that includes you! We then discuss something very close to our hearts: what it's like to live in the United States when you lack certain powers or privileges, and when you possess others. The mixed emotions including frustration, despair, and the urge to take action are ones many people experience. By sharing our perspectives, we hope to inspire you to share your story. It's time for us minorities, or marginalized/underrepresented people, to take up space and show up for our communities.


    Definitions: Reparations - making amends through financial compensation or other means to try to right wrongs


    Organizations to support:

    Regional-Based Organizations

    ⁠Little Miss Flint

    Trans Defense Fund Los Angeles


    National-Based Organizations

    United We Dream

    Indigenous Peoples Movement

    Movement for Black Lives

    Dear Asian Youth

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    29 mins
  • Climate Justice is Social Justice: Climate Operation
    Feb 9 2023

    Meet our first international guest: Heizal Patricia Nagginda of Uganda. Heizal founded Climate Operation to create a place where all people can learn about the climate crisis, how it impacts them, and what they can do to address it. Climate Operation began as a regional hub and is now an international space that has reached thousands of people. To promote creativity and accessibility, Climate Operation uses different mediums to get the message across, including tool kits and comic books. In all of her work, Heizal highlights the connections between climate and social justice, such as the effects weather extremes have on people who contributed the least to greenhouse gas emissions, yet are feeling the worst impacts of climate change.


    Climate Operation:

    Website

    Climate Education Directory

    11th Hour Climate Education Comic Book

    Follow Climate Operation on Instagram


    Other Resources:

    Tania’s article on climate migration

    Tania & Heizal’s chat on Indigenous voices in conservation

    How to take climate action venn diagram

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    30 mins
  • The Gente in Gentrification
    Dec 27 2022

    Gentrification impacts communities around the world. It can lead to increased cost of living, displacement of long-term residents, and discriminatory behavior. We analyze gentrification trends in México City, Puerto Vallarta, and California and use them as examples of a larger issue. To allocate resources fairly, policies and practices should be created and implemented by local communities rather than foreign investors, who tend to prioritize profit over people's well-being. As travelers and as immigrants, we acknowledge that by us moving to new areas we influence the local culture, and we can do so in a way without uprooting the lives of those who were there before us. ("Gente" means "people" in Spanish)

    At Closing the Gap we acknowledge that the above-mentioned places lie on Indigenous land.


    Speak up for Iran:

    Mohsen Shekari

    Middle East Matters Action Items

    Persian with Purpose Action Items


    Resources:

    Community Land & Investment Trusts Explained

    Rent control groups: @housingjustice4all, @streetwatchla, @latenats, @oaklandtenatsunion


    Definitions:

    Gentrification - the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses

    Digital Nomad - people who travel while working remotely using technology and the internet

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    33 mins
  • Community Building Against Oppression: Melanated Youth
    Nov 22 2022

    Students Ahsha Jones and Chloe Serrano founded Melanated Youth, a BIPOC youth-led coalition that uplifts members of the community who need it most. The coalition provides resources and organizes demonstrations to end inequality on all fronts through mutual aids, protests, and discourse. Ahsha and Chloe are based in Orange County, California, but they plan to expand the coalition's impact across the nation. This action-led group relies on the support of fellow community members who volunteer, donate, or participate in Melanated Youth's events. Their anti-oppression efforts are "by the people, for the people."

    Melanated Youth and Closing the Gap acknowledge that Orange County lies on unceded Tongva land.


    Melanated Youth Resources:

    Website

    Social Media - Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn


    Support Iranian Protests:

    Middle East Matters Action Items


    Definitions:

    Decolonize - to free from the dominating influence of a colonizing power

    AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander)

    Femicide - an extreme form of gender-based violence where women are killed because they are female

    Xenophobic - prejudice against people from other countries

    Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @closingthegappod ✨

    We want to hear from you! Email us at closingthegappod@gmail.com


    Cover art by Vivian Garcia (@viv_doodles)

    Intro and Outro music: Clocks by Smith the Mister (All rights and credit go to Smith the Mister. No copyright infringements intended)

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    23 mins