Padres Pioneros en la lucha por un mundo sostenible

Padres Pioneros en la lucha por un mundo sostenibleParent Pioneers in the Struggle for a Sustainable Planet Rosa RiVera Furumoto (bio), Azeneth Martinez (bio), and Alonso Garcia (bio) Introduction Yo pienso que la contaminación plástica se ha hecho un problema global por tambien el consumismo. Tambien hace falta mucho como educación para las personas de como reciclar o tambien de como reducir la basura. Siento que esa falta de información a llevado a problemas globales que están ahorrita y siento que las fabricas o industrias grandes es más el dinero o las ganancias economicas. —Gloria Tejeda (pseudonym), Padres Pioneros Parent Leader In the passage above, Gloria responds to a question posed regarding her thoughts about plastic contamination. Her thoughtful and critical analysis points to the role of capitalist profit and consumerism in fueling the plastic contamination problem. She also suggests some possible solutions such as educating people about reducing plastic waste and recycling. Gloria Tejeda (pseudonym) is a member of Padres Pioneros-Parent Pioneers, a grassroots group of Mexican American and Central American mothers and grandmothers who have been active in their local schools and communities for twenty-six years teaching Family Math (Kerr Stenmark, Thompson, and Cossey 1986) and Family Literacy (RiVera Furumoto 2015). From 2013–2021, they began teaching [End Page 30] culturally relevant environmental justice classes to elementary students and their families in order to address climate and environmental justice issues in their communities (RiVera Furumoto 2018). Their work taps into deeply-rooted Indigenous knowledge which they bring from their families, hometowns, and pueblos in Mexico, Central America, and the United States (Ibarra and Ramirez 2016). The term Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) refers to the evolving knowledge, values, and epistemologies acquired by Indigenous and local peoples over hundreds or thousands of years through direct contact with the environment (Peña 2005; Houde 2007). The mothers embarked on a new journey with a shared dream: to stop climate change and create a livable planet for their children and grandchildren. Even though they didn’t have a structure or roadmap for their work, they understood the urgency of climate change. The driving force behind their work is love—a powerful love for their children, grandchildren, and community. Coupled with this love is a sense of responsibility to give back to their communities that is deeply rooted in their traditional knowledge. We argue that the parent leaders’ efforts to educate their communities and to address plastic contamination are examples of decolonization. The mothers and grandmothers of Padres Pioneros have harnessed an ancient force drawn from their Indigenous roots to teach children, families, and students about our responsibilities to love and care for each other and for Mother Earth. Their practices, actions, and curriculum are a form of healing for us and the planet. Newberry and Trujillo (2019) argue that transdisciplinary approaches serve to legitimize traditional knowledge and promote transformational learning among students (206). These transdisciplinary approaches also challenge the usual deficit models that tend to privilege Eurocentric and Western knowledge systems (206). Bonfil Batalla (1996) claims that Mesoamerican civilization is an ongoing and powerful force in modern Mexican society and that the knowledge accumulated over centuries has contributed to peoples’ ways of relating to each other and of adapting to the natural world. Some examples among the parent leaders of this form of TEK were indicated in them asking for permission before taking plants for medicinal uses and giving thanks as well. The idea of sharing food from their garden, farm, or home and only taking what they could use were demonstrated core values among the parent leaders. Another important value was [End Page 31] that of working collectively for the good of the community. In this sense the epistemology of the mothers and grandmothers reflected Mesoamerican Indigenous views about their connection to each other, nature, animals, and the spirit world. The use of Indigenous knowledge and technology to respond to changing environmental conditions has been a consistent part of human history. For example, the movement of Indigenous peoples from Mexico and Central America over the centuries has brought TEK to Indigenous societies in the US Southwest, such as corn cultivation (Salmón

Art · Environmental ethics · Ethnology · Grassroots · Humanities · Political science · Pseudonym · Sociology · Environmental and sustainability education · Indigenous Cultures and Socio-Education · Law · Mexican Socioeconomic and Environmental Dynamics · Philosophy