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Posted: 11/2/2011
Profile of Diana Lopez, 20, San Antonio, TX
http://www.swunion.org
Diana Lopez organizes with the Southwest Workers Union for worker rights, environmental justice and community empowerment in San Antonio, Texas. She has fought to clean up military base contamination, organized for energy policies, and in February 2007, along with community members and fellow organizers, started the Roots of Change community garden.
Diana attends school and works in the Eastside of San Antonio, Texas an area lacking large grocery stores and places to get fresh, organic, or local produce. The new garden provides healthy organic food at no cost to community members, serves as an educational center, and creates a positive space for community involvement. Since 2007, hundreds of youth and adults have created a native plant garden, an arbor and raised garden beds. The garden hosts educational sessions, student work days, and Texas-style barbeques where community members can come together to enjoy a meal and take home locally-grown produce.
Diana says of her time spent working on the garden and other environmental justice issues in San Antonio, I feel everyone deserves the right to a clean, healthy environment and your color or economic status. You work with other people who are fighting for the same thing: justice for people who, by systematic design, have more obstacles to overcome in their everyday life. I have learned that through sharing our stories and history we become united in one struggle for justice.
The annual Brower Youth Awards honor six young people across North America for their outstanding activism and achievements in the fields of environmental and social justice advocacy. Earth Island Institute established the Brower Youth Awards in 2000 to honor our founder and legendary environmental activist, David R. Brower.
www.broweryouthawards.org