Notes from the field: NCFM at Earth Day Festival in San Francisco, CA

From Marc Angelucci of NCFM:

Today I spoke on the panel at the Earth Day Festival in San Francisco (the largest Earth Day festival in the U.S.) on behalf of the National Coalition For Men (NCFM). The organizers invited us, along with the National Organization for Women (NOW), to be part of a panel on the topic, "What is Green." The idea was to engage the community from various viewpoints. There were about 6 panelists. Here is the link to the "Our Team" with my name and brief bio.: http://www.earthdaysf.org/our-team.html

I spoke first and thanked the organizers for inviting NCFM. I said we are not an environmental organization but some of the issues we address can affect the environment. I mentioned some of those issues (men's health, fathers' parenting rights, male victims of DV, etc.). I said being green needs to include consideration of men's health and well-being. I mentioned some statistics re men and homelessness, incarceration, and job deaths. I said only one state (Georgia) has an office of men's health, and only one state (New Hampshire) ever had a Commission on the Status of Men, and it was unfunded and was recently cut along with the Commission on the Status of Women. I mentioned how these issues are neglected and we assume men "have everything." I explained that when we neglect men's issues it can harm inner cities. Our policies devalue dads rather than encourage father involvement. Fatherlessness leads to homelessness, dropouts, and incarceration. We send men to war and when they return with mental illnesses we do little about it and they often become homeless or incarcerated. Lots of homeless people are war veterans.

Homelessness, crime, and incarceration cause inner cities to deteriorate, which leads to urban flight and urban sprawl, which destroys farmland and creates traffic and people commute from the city to suburbs. When cities deteriorate, so do their sewer systems. I used to do urban sprawl work for CalPirg, and I helped with a lawsuit against the City of L.A. to get them to fix the deteriorating sewer system. I mentioned that there are many other issues we address concerning men that are neglected. I also founded the Environmental Affairs Committee at UCLA Law and brought recycle bins into the classrooms. And there are chemicals in our environment that are apparently damaging men's reproductive systems, reducing their sperm count and increasing testicular cancer.

I only had so much time so I just re-stated that we need to consider men's issues when we set policies. Due to time constraints (a band was about to perform) there was no Q & A, but afterwards several people asked me the name of the organization and the website. I also spoke to a few people about the additional issue of circumcision. Overall it went very well. No negativity or reactionism.