I am having everyone start here, so I can explain that I am in the process of turning this website from a Breaking The Silence conference only website, into my Building A Sustainable Earth Community website; so until I have had a chance to work it out and/or design it, please take the time to enjoy a review of our 13 going on 14 years of introducing environmental literacy to the multicultural working class population in the Kansas City Kansas metropolitan region, from a person of color perspective and leadership. A lot of people helped make these past years possible, and it would be impossible for me to list them all, so I will just say thank you to everyone who contributed their time and/or money, I will always be indebted.. Peace, and I hope you enjoy the review, Richard Mabion  Richard Teaching Energy Efficiency It has been some time since I have added anything new to the website. As the lone person of color working from an inner-city perspective where education is paramount, my daily duties can sometimes reach unbelievable dimensions. In trying to determine how to best share what I do with you, I have decided that finding a way to take you with me on certain adventures would be the perfect way to both keep you abreast of my actions, while providing you with some in-depth educational opportunities too. The kind of opportunities that you may even consider using in your set of circumstances. Before I begin though, I want to take the time to also share my disappointment with my inability to explain to the environmental community how its premise of how environmental education should be taught in the inner city is flawed, and not geared towards the levels of leadership that must be reached to cause what is being attempted or taught to make a difference. Most of what I keep seeing, or even in some rare cases experiencing, are good programs, but not making any difference to the people who need to learn what has just happened (or is being taught) the most. In fact, the following environmental success happened in my city, where I was directly involved. See for yourself who got left out of the equation. Below is the original shot I took of two towers of a coal powered plant in my city. It shows how close a housing complex was to the towers themselves, which meant that when the smoke was released from the towers, the housing complex was directly in its line of release. Meaning if any toxic chemicals were being released into the atmosphere, the residents of this complex would or could be affected with a variety of health- related problems or concerns.  The below photo shows an up-close view of the towers and the coal that was being used to power the plant. If you look closely, you can actually see the bulldozer used to move the coal to the position to be used inside the plant. The conveyor-like equipment was used to remove the coal from the rail car and stack it into the pile of coal you see.  Due to the efforts of the Kansas Sierra Club, of which I am the first black board member (January 2012), the below photo is what that space looked like in May 2015.  Empty of any signs of coal, which is a blessing for the children and elderly residents of the poorest low-income community in Kansas. No longer will they be forced to endure the toxic chemicals that were reported to be coming from the coal that was being burned at that plant. That should be seen as a victory, and it was by the environmental community, but not by the residents who live in that community and were affected by the problem. When I spend time with the residents, it is not unusual to find out that they have or had no clue about what had happened at that plant that was, as you can see from my first photo, just feet away from their homes. With all of the work that was being done as far as environmental education was concerned, it failed to reach the persons in the community who are seen as so-called leaders, both young and older adults. Beyond providing some kind of visual program, nothing else was done to educate the people who live there. I personally saw the Kansas Sierra Club make this happen, yet no other environmental organization or academic institutions were involved. Which brings me to what I found as the missing link in the environmental community: an involved community coordinator. A person or division that would make sure the progress being made is being shared with all who should be made aware of what is going on in their neighborhoods. This is my New Website Work. Please return. You can continue from the links below to see what I have already included, while I work on this new Stuff...  Hello Seekers Of Truth Finally I Am Ready to Continue My Style of Reporting. America and the world is in need of an Environmental and Conservation Message, That is not only free of Propaganda, but Free of Politic Too. I Have Selected This Photo of An African Story To Begin So As you Follow The links Below The African Story Is Where the Latest Addition Begins The Links Whenever you visit this website, you can always review the various BTS Conferences on the above address bar. You can see for yourself the birth and development of the 5 years we produced the Breaking The Silence Conference. If we proved anything, it is that every urban community in the United State of America needs to give its citizens an annual review of current environmental developments. And regardless of cost, the citizens should only be expected to pay $1.00. As far as food, charge those who can afford to pay, and then let everyone eat. The need to educate the population is too demanding to not have such an annual affordable review. To continue from here, click on one of the following numbers, and when you reach an ending, come back and click on the next number to continue
|