Donation Poll for Winter 2021

As part of my Real-Life Superhero mission, I donate at least 10% of the proceeds from all writing-related income to nonprofit organizations. Earlier this year, I decided that this should include (but not be limited to) a seasonal (quarterly) donation to a nonprofit organization based directly on how much writing income I had in the previous quarter.

I’ll be making my first such donation on Winter Solstice 2021 — and you can help decide where I donate!

The theme I’ve chosen for this winter’s donation is Indigenous Climate Justice. Given my own emphasis on climate, most if not all of these donations will have some connection to the climate crisis and climate justice. But these organizations have a mission related to climate justice and are either indigenous-led or include support for indigenous communities and causes in their work.

This time around, the winner of the poll will receive $25. If you want to help decide who receives this winter’s donation, please vote in the poll.

Here are the seven potential recipients in no particular order:

• Indigenous Environmental Network. Established in 1990 within the United States, IEN was formed by grassroots Indigenous peoples and individuals to address environmental and economic justice issues (EJ). IEN’s activities include building the capacity of Indigenous communities and tribal governments to develop mechanisms to protect our sacred sites, land, water, air, natural resources, health of both our people and all living things, and to build economically sustainable communities.IEN accomplishes this by maintaining an informational clearinghouse, organizing campaigns, direct actions and public awareness, building the capacity of community and tribes to address EJ issues, development of initiatives to impact policy, and building alliances among Indigenous communities, tribes, inter-tribal and Indigenous organizations, people-of-color/ethnic organizations, faith-based and women groups, youth, labor, environmental organizations and others. IEN convenes local, regional and national meetings on environmental and economic justice issues, and provides support, resources and referral to Indigenous communities and youth throughout primarily North America – and in recent years – globally.
  
• Climate Justice Alliance. Climate Justice Alliance (CJA) formed in 2013 to create a new center of gravity in the climate movement by uniting frontline communities and organizations into a formidable force. Our translocal organizing strategy and mobilizing capacity is building a Just Transition away from extractive systems of production, consumption and political oppression, and towards resilient, regenerative and equitable economies. We believe that the process of transition must place race, gender and class at the center of the solutions equation in order to make it a truly Just Transition. Climate Justice Alliance members have won significant victories against polluting and extractive industries. We are building local alternatives that center traditional ecological and cultural knowledge and create a pathway for a regenerative future.
  
• Honor the Earth. Our mission is to create awareness and support for Native environmental issues and to develop needed financial and political resources for the survival of sustainable Native communities. Honor the Earth develops these resources by using music, the arts, the media, and Indigenous wisdom to ask people to recognize our joint dependency on the Earth and be a voice for those not heard. As a unique national Native initiative, Honor the Earth works to a) raise public awareness and b) raise and direct funds to grassroots Native environmental groups. We are the only Native organization that provides both financial support and organizing support to Native environmental initiatives. This model is based on strategic analysis of what is needed to forge change in Indian country, and it is based deep in our communities, histories, and long-term struggles to protect the earth.
  
• Line 3 Legal Defense Fund. The Line 3 Legal Defense Fund provides support to people facing arrest, jail time, and state repression because of their opposition to Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline project. We are a volunteer-run nonprofit organization that is based out of the Twin Cities. We were founded in 2019 and will continue to operate for as long as is needed. We are so grateful for the risks that water protectors have taken, and so excited to support them! We are flexible and adaptable to the needs of defendants, and will respond to requests on a case by case basis. We rely on community donations to help as many defendants as possible.
  
• Seeding Sovereignty. Seeding Sovereignty, an Indigenous-led collective, works to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation. By investing in Indigenous folks and communities of the global majority, we cross the threshold of liberation together.
  
• Water Protector Legal Collective. The Water Protector Legal Collective is an Indigenous-led legal nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for Indigenous peoples and Original Nations, the Earth, and climate justice movements. Born out of the #NoDAPL movement, WPLC’s founding mission was to serve as the on-the-ground legal team for the Indigenous-led resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. Since we first arrived at the request of tribal leadership and set up a legal tent in Oceti Sakowin, WPLC has been providing legal support to the Water Protector Movement. We are guided by our shared vision of a world that is grounded in our belief that Indigenous peoples have a unique and profoundly important role to play to stem the tide of the unfolding climate emergency we live in. This vision is in part a result of the inspiration we draw from the transformative experiences that some of us glimpsed, and others of us lived at the #NoDAPL resistance camps at Standing Rock.
  
• Center for Protest Law & Litigation. With over two decades of bringing high-impact, complex, civil rights and First Amendment litigation, our attorneys have been at the forefront defending the rights of movements for racial, climate, and social justice.

If you have any other suggestions that fit the theme, please use the “Other” option to suggest them. I may even add your suggestion to the poll if I have a chance to review it before the poll ends.

One of the main reasons why I’m doing these seasonal donations is to invite my readers and followers to learn more about these organizations and support them in whatever ways they can. There are many ways to show your support including voting in the poll, spreading the word, volunteering, and donating.

Whatever form your support may take, that support is much appreciated. These groups are all doing far more serious and impactful work than I am. If my creative writing skills and superhero antics inspire more people to show support for these groups, then it’s all worth it.

Thank you for your interest and support! As always, if you have any questions or other feedback, please contact me. I look forward to tallying your votes and donating to an organization doing good work for indigenous climate justice.