10 Black climate leaders fighting for environmental and racial justice
This Earth Day, we re celebrating just a few #BlackandGreen leaders who ve made a mark on the climate movement. (L-R) Environmental activists Leah Thomas
and Rue Mapp; and EPA Administrator Michael Regan (Photo:
Contrary to what we see in the mainstream, the climate movement is not predominantly white. Though a failure to tell a full history and a lack of racial representation within the organizational sphere, persists, the truth is, Black people have long been stewards for the planet.
In celebration of
Earth Day,
theGrio is highlighting just a few leaders who’ve made a lasting impact in conservation, to climate science, government administration and grassroots organizing.
Betsch was born in 1935 to wealth, and embarked on an international career as an opera singer before returning to her Florida hometown and donating most of her fortune to a long list of environmental causes. But even that pales alongside her dedication to preserving American Beach, a dune-dappled stretch of sand 40 miles northwest of Jacksonville that was among the most popular vacation spots for African Americans during the Jim Crow era.
American Beach is not unique in serving those who were barred by law or by custom from recreation opportunities others took for granted. Black beach communities sprang up in coastal areas nationwide during the first half of the 20th century, with notable examples in Sag Harbor on Long Island and Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard. Yet despite the fact such places are significant to Black history, there’s been little effort to preserve them.