Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services would like to highlight these twenty-four champions of the environment in honor of Black History Month 2024. As an organization dedicated to uplifting the voices of underserved communities, Fair Shake celebrates their contributions to the fight for environmental justice and conservation. Whether new to the fight for our environment like youth animal rights activist Genesis Butler or a cornerstone of the movement for decades like Dr. Robert Bullard, these advocates inspire us to live in harmony with our planet and to fiercely protect the places where we live, work, and play.
Alexis Nikole Nelson – Also known as the Black Forager on social media, Alexis has garnered the attention of millions for her tips on foraging and cooking with wild plants. Alexis is from Columbus, Ohio, and started her social media account during the pandemic to encourage people to take agency over the food that they eat and make the most out of the free food that was available in the wild. You can learn more about her work by following her on TikTok, instagram, or Patreaon! https://www.instagram.com/blackforager/
Yvonka Marie Hall, MPA and Lashale Pugh, PhD -- Ms. Hall and Dr. Pugh are the Executive Director and Asst. Executive Director/Research & Evaluation Director respectively of the Northeast Ohio Black Health Coalition. Through this nonprofit, they serve on average serves 10,000 community members, have led advocacy efforts to enact Cleveland’s first ever Lead Safe Housing Ordinance, and organized a ballot initiative to pass the Cleveland Lead Safe Certificate Ordinance. To learn more about their upcoming programming, check the calendar on their website: https://www.neoblackhealthcoalition.org/community
Robert Bullard – Nicknamed the “Father of Environmental Justice,” Mr. Bullard helped craft the inception of the environmental justice movement and remains involved today as a Board member of National Black Environmental Justice Network. Mr. Bullard was a planner of the National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit which has been described as one of the most important events in the history of the environmental justice movement. This summit occurred over 4 days and established 17 principles of environmental justice. To learn more about the importance of these principles, please view the Young, Gifted, and Green Documentary on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/younggiftedgreen/videos/700512711070786
Dr. Beverly Wright – Dr. Wright grew up near industrial operations and witnessed their polluting effects. As an environmental justice scholar and advocate, she created the first-ever environmental justice center in the United States, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice (DSCEJ), and developed the first environmental justice map between pollutants and race. To learn more about her many accolades and receive email updates from the DSCEJ, check out: https://www.dscej.org/our-story/our-team/beverly-l-wright-phd
Richard Diaz – Richard, who is described by his peers as someone who brings the best out in people, has spent years raising awareness and shaping policy around lead poisoning in his hometown of Milwaukee. Richard co-founded a non-profit called Coalition on Lead Emergency. The non-profits success and his work on civic engagement with the Blue Green Alliance, led Sierra Club to recognize him as the 2022 Environmental Hero. To learn more about Richard and his work, check out: https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/local/milwaukee/2022/12/29/milwaukees-richard-diaz-fights-lead-risks-with-environmental-justice/69689023007/
Karen Washington – Karen’s advocacy work began as she connected with other urban farmers in New York City. This coalition launched a farmers' market and organized to prevent the sale of farmers plots. This work was only the foundation of her enduring leadership and contributions to the food system; including co-founding the Black Urban Growers, co-founding the Farm School NYC, and the Black Farmer Fund. To learn more about her work, check out: https://www.karenthefarmer.com/about
Reverend Dr. Ambrose F. Carroll – Reverend Dr. Ambrose F. Carroll believes in the power of Black churches to build healthier communities. This led him to co-found and serve as the CEO of Green the Church, a nonprofit dedicated to educating congregations and faith leaders on how environmental justice issues affect their community and building power for change. To learn more about his work or enroll your congregation, visit: https://www.greenthechurch.org/
Eloris Speight – Ms. Speight has made significant contributions to building equity in agricultural law through her work as the Executive Director of The Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers (SDFR) Policy Research Center located at Alcorn State University. As Executive Director, Ms. Speight oversees research and the development of policy recommendations while conducting strategic outreach to ensure farmers have a voice in the policies that affect them. To hear more from Ms. Speight about her work, check out an interview conducted on Ag+Culture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKiR2HUwWtQ
Lori Caldwell – Lori is a self-taught edible gardener that has built a professional company teaching sustainable gardening practices and transforming yards. As the Owner and Operater of CompostGal Consulting, Landscaping & Education, Lori’s mission is to “to connect people to the soil and all that it provides.” Follow her Facebook page to stay tuned for virtual events: https://www.facebook.com/LoriCaldwellConsultingEducation/
Leah Penniman – Leah pushes back against food apartheid through activism, education, and farming. Leah co-founded and operates Soul Fire Farm which utilizes Afro-indigenous methods to farm 80 acres, and then delivers that food on a weekly basis to the doorsteps of people living under food apartheid. Soul Fire Farm also manages an immersion program for new farms to share their growing skills in a supportive environment. To support her work and learn more, you can buy her book “Farming While Black—Soul Fire Farms Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land” or check out the website for ways to get involved: https://www.soulfirefarm.org/get-involved/
Norrel Hemphill – A native to Flint and raised in Detroit, Norrel experienced firsthand water issues. In a powerful presentation, Norrel previously stated “We don’t wait for anybody to parachute in, we don’t wait for permission, we don’t wait for a door or somebody to offer us something. We make demands.” Today, she continues her work in the fight for water affordability by uplifting the experiences of her community and providing direct legal representation and policy advocacy in Michigan and throughout the Great Lakes region. To learn more about her work, check out: https://www.equaljusticeworks.org/fellows/norrel-hemphill/
Leah Thomas is the Founder of Intersectional Environmentalist and author of The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet. All of this work serves to be a platform and resource hub to advocate for environmental justice, and provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmental education. To learn more, check out: Intersectional Environmentalist.
Instagram: Intersectional Environmentalist
Facebook: Intersectional Environmentalist
LaTricea Adams is the Founder + CEO, and president of Black Millennials 4 Flint (now Young, Gifted & Green), a national environmental justice and civil rights organization with the purpose of bringing like-minded organizations together to collectively take action and advocate against the crisis of lead exposure specifically in African American & Latinx communities throughout the nation. LaTricea, a proud HBCU graduate, is the youngest African American woman appointed to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC). She serves on the American Bar Association’s Environmental Justice Task Force and was a recent honoree of the Environment, Energy, & Resources Section’s Dedication to Diversity and Justice. Learn more by checking out: Young, Gifted, & Green
Instagram: Young, Gifted, & Green
Facebook: Young, Gifted, & Green
Jerome Foster Ⅱ: an Environmental Justice Advisory Council member and the youngest White House advisor ever. He is the Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director of Waic Up, a news and civic nonprofit empowering people to take meaningful action. Representing marginalized and working-class communities, Foster’s inspiring activism targets social, economic, and environmental justice.
How Jerome Foster II Is Representing Gen Z in the White House (Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txO4svGd1pw
Corina Newsome: a wildlife conservation scientist at the National Wildlife Federation dedicated to integrating environmental justice and conservation science. She co-organized Black Birders Week to connect marginalized communities with nature and increase the representation and visibility of Black conservationists.
Corina Newsome on Ornithology: Faces of Change (Video)
The Zero Sum of it All with Corina Newsome (Podcast)
Wanjiku "Wawa" Gatheru is a Kenyan-American climate storyteller passionate about bringing empathetic and accessible climate communication to the mainstream. Harnessing her academic background as a Rhodes Scholar and her work as a youth climate activist, Wawa’s life goal is to help create a climate movement made in the image of all of us. She is the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist, a national organization dedicated to empowering Black girls, women and non-binary people across the climate sector.
Rue Mapp is the founder and CEO of OutdoorAfro, a not-for-profit organization on a mission to celebrate and inspire Black connections and leadership in nature. With over 100 leaders in 56 cities across the country, OutdoorAfro is committed to connecting people to nature experiences. Also a recipient of the 24th Heinz Award for the Environment, Jefferson Award, and National Conservation Achievement Award for Communications, Mapp is a well-respected public land advocate, author, and inspirational speaker.
Mikaela Loach is a climate justice advocate based in Scotland. She has been nominated for the Global Citizen Prize, the U.K.’s Hero Award. Loach is the co-producer, writer, and presenter of the Yikes podcast which talks about climate change, social justice, and human rights. She is one of the claimants who took the U.K. government to court, challenging the Oil & Gas Association’s policy and the government subsidies it received for work in the North Sea.
Nyeema Harris is the Knobloch Family Associate Professor of Wildlife and Land Conservation at the Yale School of the Environment. She received her PhD from North Carolina State University studying the biogeography of carnivores and their parasites. Currently, her research explores carnivore behavior and movement, ecology, and conservation in urban systems.
Genesis Butler is a young environmental and animal rights activist. She is one of the youngest people to ever give a TEDx talk. Butler’s TEDx talk “A 10 year old’s vision for healing the planet” explores the negative impact of animal agriculture on the environment.
John Francis known as the Planetwalker, is a pioneering environmentalist. After helping to clean up an oil spill in the San Francisco Bay in the early seventies Mr. Francis disavowed motor vehicles and began travelling on foot. Mr. Francis walked for over twenty years, crossing the continental United States, and walking to South America before using a motor vehicle again in the early nineties. He has written several books about his experience and currently teaches environmental studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison. https://planetwalk.org/about-john/
Jerome Ringo is an environmental advocate with a focus on clean energy and quality jobs. After working for years in the petro-chemical industry, Mr. Ringo saw firsthand the impacts of pollution from the industry on surrounding communities and began educating communities on how to redress harms from the industry. Mr. Ringo was the first African American to chair a major conservation advocacy group, the National Wildlife Federation, and currently leads the renewable energy developer Zoetic Global. https://www.zoeticglobal.com
Maya Penn – Gen Z climate activist who, at 8 years old, created Maya’s Ideas, which is her sustainable fashion brand. She also founded the nonprofit Maya’s Ideas 4 The Planet, which fights for environmental justice, diversity in STEM, and mental and well-being support for climate anxiety. Additionally, she is a professional animator and directed an environmental animated short film titled Asali: Power of the Pollinators.
Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson – marine biologist and co-founder of the policy think tank Urban Ocean Lab which focuses on the future of coastal cities. She is also the co-founder of the All We Can Save Project which helps build deeper and sustained climate engagement, and edited the bestseller All We Can Save anthology. Furthermore, she is the co-creator and co-host of How to Save a Planet, which is a podcast that features inspiring stories about combatting climate change.
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