Personal stories are essential in making connections. MDEHR is committed to sharing personal stories that make a human connection with how our environment shapes us both positively and negatively, the impact of pollution and climate change, and advocating to address environmental and public health disparities. We, as humans, deserve to have a healthful environment and a stable climate to be our best selves and to thrive, now and in the future.
Our first story comes from Niya Khanjar. Niya is a sophomore at the University of Maryland College Park, and she is a youth leader in Sunrise Movement UMD. Niya shares her personal story about her experiences with nature, her concerns about the impact of climate change, and her experience with environmental injustice from a scientific and academic perspective. You can watch this clip of Niya’s story on Instagram here. MDEHR also shared another short clip where Niya shares what the right to a healthful environment and stable climate means to her and why she wants to protect that right for everyone. You can watch that clip here.
MDEHR will be featuring personal stories in our monthly campaign updates, our blog, and on our social media platforms for the next couple of months. Madeline Buscone, our MDEHR Communications Intern, interviewed Niya, Monica Brooks with Concerned Citizens Against Industrical CAFOs (CCAIC), and Meleny Thomas and Shashawnda Campbell with South Baltimore Land Trust. These stories will inform our focus on specific environmental health issues. MDEHR will share data and reports that further characterize the environmental and public health impacts of air and water pollution. MDEHR will also be blogging about how passing an environmental human rights amendment to our state constitution is part of the solution to protect environmental health, public health, and a stable climate.
Do you have a story you want to share about how your environment has impacted you positively or negatively and why you value a healthful environment and a stable climate? Please reach out to claire@mdehr.org. MDEHR will continue to feature personal stories as a way to help educate about why protecting our fundamental right to a healthful environment and a stable climate is meaningful and essential for Marylanders today and for future generations.
