Four FIVE Americans who innovated various environmental fields including conservation and environmental justice: Majora Carter, Dr. John Francis, Margie Richard, Charles Young, and Carl Anthony.
Majora Carter, American urban revitalization strategist and public radio host: As an activist in the 1990s, Carter brought the South Bronx its first open-waterfront park in 60 years, and founded ‘Sustainable South Bronx,’ an organization to mobilize grassroots environmental activism among New York City’s poorest and most environmentally oppressed citizens.
Dr. John Francis, American environmentalist: Inspired by the horrific 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill, Dr. Francis earned a Ph.D. in Land Management from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and went on to an extensive career in conservation, as both an educator and environmental policy maker. He was named the National Geographic Society’s first Education Fellow in 2010, an ambassador to the United Nations Environment Program’s Goodwill Ambassador to the World’s Grassroots Communities, and is an acclaimed bestselling author.
Margie Eugene-Richard, 2004 Goldman Environmental Prize Winner: Margie Richard grew up in a town called Norco, in Louisiana, sandwiched between a Shell Chemical plant and an oil refinery owned by a Shell joint venture. For decades, the residents of this predominantly black neighborhood suffered under the constant fear of an industrial accident, and faced unusually high rates of cancer, birth defects, and respiratory diseases. Through Richard's tireless leadership in a community environmental group that she founded, Shell finally agreed to pay for the relocation of residents to new homes, in neighborhoods with clean air, water and soil.
Charles Young, the first black US national park superintendent: Under the careful directive of Colonel Charles Young, the U.S. Army worked to preserve the Sequoias, and transformed the Sequoia forest from an impenetrable wilderness into the revered Sequoia National Park. In 2013, President Barack Obama used the Antiquities Act to designate Young’s house in Ohio as the Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument.
Carl Anthony, one of the fathers of the environmental justice movement in the Western US, American architect, regional planner, social justice activist, and author. He is the founder and co-director of Breakthrough Communities, a project dedicated to building multiracial leadership for sustainable communities in California and the rest of the nation.
Read the piece from 350.org - The Environmental Justice Movement Is Rooted In Black History about the history of the Environmental Justice Movement.
Follow the work of Intersectional Environmentalists a movement started by environmental activist Tara Thompson. This site is packed full of great articles and resources and we encourage you to check it out to learn more about the movement!
We wanted to share with you a very inspiring project that we have been following this month 28 Days of Black History. This is a virtual exhibition curated by Camille Bethune-Brown and Shanaé Burch. You can sign up to get a daily dose of Black artists, writers and culture makers into your inbox. Or consider signing up for Because of Them We Can newsletter for stories of Black excellence delivered to your inbox year-round!
And artist projects - so many! But this is one that we love. There is a beautiful short film that is a must see: When We Gather