Inspired to work for environmental justice
Anathea discerned her passion through Peace Studies coursework and a summer fellowship
Anathea Kordosky (Arts ’23) received a summer fellowship from the Center for Peacemaking to explore her interest in environmental justice in Milwaukee. She credits her involvement at the Center for Peacemaking with igniting her passion for environmental justice and grassroots social change. This led her to design a unique, multiple-component fellowship.
One component was volunteering at Alice’s Garden, an urban community garden in Milwaukee. Through weeding, watering, and talking with Venice Williams, the garden’s director, Anathea was able to learn about the importance of community gardens and how they address a lack of access to fresh and affordable produce, as well as a lack of access to urban green spaces.
Anathea shared a memory from her time at Alice’s Garden: “When a volunteer group was in the garden, and we went around introducing ourselves. After Venice and the garden staff introduced themselves, I said, ‘my name is Anathea, I’m just a returning volunteer’ to which Venice replied, ‘you are not just a returning volunteer, you are part of our family.’”
Through fostering a loving and welcoming atmosphere, Alice’s Garden is a place for everyone and everyone to learn, grow, and love. This was one of Anathea’s favorite parts of volunteering here. For her it modeled the importance of building community when engaged in peacemaking projects.
Another component of Anathea’s fellowship included helping run the Vliet Street Oasis farmer’s market. Her responsibilities included creating and distributing promotional materials for the market, as well as engaging with the local farmers and vendors. One of her favorite parts of her work with the Vliet Street Oasis was interacting with the shoppers who visited the market about the importance to them of having access to fresh produce in an area like Milwaukee’s Near West Side.
Other activities that Anathea coordinated through the fellowship were interviews with local activists and visits to community gardens in the area. She particularly enjoyed the opportunity to discuss environmental activism with long-time activists Julie Enslow and George Martin, as well as visiting Cherry Street Community Garden.
The fellowship also complemented Anathea’s coursework in her sociology and Peace Studies majors. One course she took for Peace Studies was titled “Water is Life, Indigenous Art and Activism in Changing Climates.” Here, she says she learned how Indigenous communities are the original stewards of the land and how environmental injustice is a means of ongoing genocide.
She is grateful to the Center for Peacemaking and fellowship donors for making this experience possible. It is through working at the Center for Peacemaking that she learned about the fellowship program and was first introduced to Alice’s Garden, The Vliet Street Oasis, and activists like Julie and George.
Citing the ways the fellowship impacted her, Anathea shared: “My fellowship has helped me because it allowed me to realize I’m interested in pursuing this work in my career. I am now looking at ways I can combine my love of nature and being outside with my passion for environmental justice and social change.”
