Six Black climate change leaders comment on the urgency for Black people to be more active in climate change work in our Black communities. It is these communities that are highly effective by the increase in climate changes that are directly responsible for vast illnesses including higher incidences of cancer.
Adrienne Hollis
According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, Hollis, who oversees the development
Adrienne Hollis, Senior Climate Justice and Health Scientist
at the Union of Concerned Scientists
Photo courtesy Adrienne Hollis
and implementation of programs to measure and track the health impact of climate change on communities of color sees the results in her old neighborhood of chronic flooding, homes boarded up and abandoned because of damage from severe weather events, and contaminated environments, faulty infrastructures steaming from economic oppression where people do not have the financial means to keep rebuilding or to move to an area that does not flood says, “we have to be active; step up and claim our space, and fight to protect ourselves and each other. Or nothing will be done to stop the practices that place us at risk”.
Warren Washington
Warren Washington, a senior scientist at the
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
Photo courtesy Warren Washington
Washington was one of the first co-developers of atmospheric computer models in the 1960s. Thecomputer models helped form modern understanding of climate change. Washington believes “for a healthy society, we ought to use all of our talents and different backgrounds and different schooling to contribute to some of our biggest problems.” And “Diversity is a thing to always be worried about in society-we ought to always have people coming in with different views and different priorities.
Jasmine Sanders
Sanders says, “We are the most disproportionately impacted by climate change. You see climate risks don’t just include the environmental and economic impacts, but they also comprise health,
Jasmine Sanders, executive director of Our Climate, a Washington DC-based youth advocacy organization.
Photo courtesy Jasmine Sanders
racial, migration, food, and security, housing, mental, socio-cultural. Black people experience unfair inequities in each of these impacts alone. Climate change only exacerbates the existing stressors of these inequities.”
Robert Bullard
Robert D. Bullard referred to as “the father of environmental justice, ” is the former Dean of the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School
of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University and now is a professor of Urban Planning and Environmental Policy there.
Photo courtesy Robert Bullard
Bullard says, “Black people must step up and lead on this important quest for justice as we always have,” he says. “Our Black youth and students must also lead as they have done in every social movement that’s been successful in the country.” “The principle of environmental justice dictates that those most impacted by climate change must be in the room and at the table when plans, decisions, and solutions are being developed.”
Rue Mapp
According to Mapp ”We need all hands on deck” when it comes to the harm climate change is causing, says Mapp.
Rue Mapp is the Founder and
CEO of Outdoor Afro.
Photo courtesy Rue Mapp
And some of the “most pressing environmental conditions impact places where Black people live, such as sea level rise for coastal communities, poorer air quality caused by disproportionate exposure to emissions in cities, and droughts conditions that compromise access to clean water.
Gregory Jenkins
Jenkins says “there are many people of color who are ready to tackle climate change, but “we need to provide the space for them to run, learn and research climate change…. Bring me the students who want to learn, and I will download all of my knowledge to them,” he says.
Professor of Meteorology and Atmospheric Science, Geography, and African Studies
Photo courtesy Gregory Jenkins
People of color also need to “be in our communities talking about how we can all offset the climate crisis through individual and community actions,” he says, including solutions like developing urban gardens, promoting green technologies and jobs, recycling, and consuming less.
We must listen to what these climate leaders are saying and become active in the work for climate change if we are to leave a viable environment for generations to come.
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https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/22/black-climate-change-leaders-we-have-to-be-active.html
