Apr 22, 2021
Selena Gomez by Lisabjo and Cate Blanchett by Gage Skidmore and Salma Hayek by Gage Skidmore and Mark Ruffalo by Gage Skidmore is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Orlando Bloom en El Hormiguero de Pablo Motos by ElHormiguero is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0. Pharrell by Karl Hab and Meryl Streep from ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ at Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo International Film Festival 2016 by Dick Thomas Johnson is licensed under CC BY 2.0
It’s the 51st anniversary of Earth Day, and we can finally dare to celebrate. Yes, we have a climate change crisis on our hands. Yet the White House just announced the U.S. will cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030. Solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources will power us forward.
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.