Social justice themes related to the ocean: constructing the world and story arc our characters will live inside of
Some facts about ocean based folklore:
1. These stories and characters formed out of various culture's proximities to water, from Scottish Lochs and the Kelpies that inhabit them to Japanese Water Dragons that inhabit the rivers and require acknowledgement from passers by. These creatures and their behaviors are evidence of our varied relationship with the waters that both sustained and threatened these communities - a larger conversation with self and other, survival and communication to worlds and people beyond our landlocked environments.
2. Often, earlier civilizations crafted explanations for natural events - like hurricanes and tsunamis - and sometimes their indigenous stories passed down in lore as art and oral storytelling are the closest access we have to evidence of large scale events (like the native people that live along the vancouver/seattle coastline who have stories that scientists are realizing link to a massive earthquake along the faults there - where mysterious dead forests have been studied in the mountains along those ridges).
3. Most water dwelling characters from folklore are protective of their bodies of water and the other creatures living in them - Samoan Bonita Mermaid is a literal caretaker/protecter of the bonito fish, popular in asian cuisine - and there is a tuna goddess in some polenysian cultures as well. In most stories, whether it be for wishes or access to food to safe passage etc, there is a required exchange of some sort.
4. We continue to utilize these themes and ideations to craft stories that ask us to pay attention - Moana, Godzilla etc
Breaking down what Climate Justice means for Us
1. Most of the peoples who will be most deeply impacted by global water level rise will be the indigenous cultures still populating smaller islands, especially around or closer to the equator
2. Water temperature changes are killing entire ecosystems which will impact the food chain - when foods become scarce, under-resourced communities will struggle to sustain themselves at increasing levels. In the Gulf of Florida, fertilizer runoff from sugarcane farms and other agriculture feed the red algae blooms that suck all of the oxygen out of the water and more frequently the beaches are covered with dead sea creatures
3. As the water warms, weather patterns are shifting at an alarmingly quick rate - which impacts not just the organization of cityscapes, but the crops that feed all of us - as we have planted to pre=existing conditions. This further impacts the Global Food Chain, and will always impact the least protected of any civilization
4. What else?
What symbols and stories can we - use to remind us of our job to take care of the planet? To show us what will happen if we don't change something? To express the horror and grief of what has already happened? To offer a light, or sense of hope as a way of guiding our actions?
1. What do you want to make people feel when they see or read your story?
2. What can we use to support those feelings? (like creating a character that is purposefully delicate, so we hold our breath the whole time they try to survive)
3. How does the climate shifting impact you directly? Or people you love? How does it make you feel?
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