Testa ’22M Uses Social Media for Environmental Justice
By Rikki Rosenthal
Honey Testa ’22M is using their 123,000 social media followers to inspire environmental justice and action through their work with the Braided Justice Collective.
As a member of the Braided Justice Collective, which began in July 2021, Testa is part of a national group of diverse voices seeking justice to stop the Line 3 Pipeline, a tar sands pipeline that will run from Alberta, Canada to Superior, Wisconsin. The pipeline will disrupt untouched wetlands and the treaty territory of Anishinaabe peoples, through the Mississippi River headwaters to the shore of Lake Superior.
The Braided Justice Collective and other groups are organizing and educating the public on the dangers of Line 3. Testa, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Arcadia in 2020, is now pursuing a Forensic Science master’s degree, encourages people to get involved and use their voice to make a difference through their following on social media.
In the classroom, Testa is researching with Associate Professor and Program Director of Forensic Science, Dr. Karen Scott on different anatomical hair and how drugs incorporate differently in hair around the body.
“I’ve always wanted to help people get the answers they needed,” said Testa. “I’m my own test subject; I take my own medication and I am collecting my own hair samples to see how the concentration of the drugs varies, depending on how I take the sample from.”
Testa stresses that there are several ways to get involved, no matter where you are.
“Sign petitions, donate to water protectors on the front lines, go to rallies, and if you can, go to the front lines in Minnesota,” said Testa. “Just make sure you put the ‘act’ in ‘activism.’”
You can follow Testa’s journey with The Braided Justice Collective through their Tik Tok account @thathoneywitch, which has generated nearly 3 million likes.