Project Proposal

Project Proposal Outline:

I am studying how Americans are able to have better access to their basic human needs in the context of the relationship between the people, US governmental systems, and multinational corporations.  I want to find out what is looks like and what it will look like to have access to natural resources in the midst of us actively facing the effects of US’ long history of systemic environmental racism and consequently, the climate crisis.

This is important because it is crucial for us to address the problems that affect us all with solutions that work for all of us. The lie we get sold is that there are deep lines between the oppressed and the oppressor; however, oppressive systems that take from one of us, take from all of us. We all are oppressed, of course, to different degrees, however, oppressed nonetheless, by oppressive systems. Because these systems oppress all of us, it will take us all to fix them. That is why with my project, I would like to talk about what collective action and liberation could look like in the context of Americans’ access to water.

Sources and Zotero Link:

1. What sources did you find?

I found sources that spoke to the detrimental effects of environmental racism on people’s livelihoods.  Also found sources that discusses the current data on water supply and how US water infrastructure works.

2. What did you learn from reading these sources?

I learned more about the aftereffects of the water crisis in Flint. I also learned more about how meticulously water data is being tracked in United States. The sources I found also spoke to how political water access can be.

3. After reading those sources, what direction might you take your final project?

After reading these sources, I think I am going to focus my project on looking at what water access in the United States looks like, what facilitates or prevents it, and explain how liberation movements are connected. Human beings can only survive for about six to seven days without water; therefore, when I look at access to water, I am studying access to a basic human need.

4. What did you learn about finding primary and secondary sources online?

In order to find both primary and secondary sources online, I had to use certain functions Google has in order to focus my search on the type of source I was looking for.

5. What do you know now about your topic that you did not know previously?

From doing this research, I have learned how involved people are in finding solutions to a lack of water access and in fighting for justice. I am not the first to do this kind of work and I will not be the last.

6. What new and remaining questions do you have? In retrospect, how might you approach this task differently?

My question is: what do sustainable solutions look like moving forward? I think this will guide how I focus the information on my website.

Zotero Link: https://www.zotero.org/mgirma736/library

Sources:

1. https://www.aclumich.org/en/cases/special-education-flint
2. https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hpb20230921.68748/#:~:text=An%20estimated%20two%20million%20people,or%20from%20unregulated%20private%20wells.
3. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-us-water-infrastructure-works
4. https://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/23-116_UNU_Water_Security_WEB_Final_updated.pdf
5. https://today.uconn.edu/2017/05/dangerous-brew-politics-water/#
6. https://css.umich.edu/publications/factsheets/water/us-water-supply-and-distribution-factsheet