OAKLAND, Calif., Feb. 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — In celebration of Black History Month, the nonprofit The Solutions Project is hosting the first-ever Black Climate Week, today through Sunday, February 28. Throughout the week, The Solutions Project will publish a series of multimedia resources on its website and social media channels celebrating the extraordinary contributions of Black solutionaries advancing science and climate justice.
«Black Climate Week shines a celebratory spotlight on today’s Black climate leaders who have earned a special place in history for helping to solve the dual crises of systemic racism and climate change,» said The Solutions Project’s CEO, Gloria Walton.
«As we’ve seen over the past week’s disaster in Texas and other Southern states, Black communities often experience the worst impacts of extreme weather events, largely because of systemically racist policies that leave Black communities under-resourced and underserved. My own family in Jackson, Mississippi huddled in their car for heat after losing power and water for days,» said Walton. «For many people in the Black community, climate change is a matter of life or death. That’s one reason Black people are creating some of the strongest climate justice solutions. And for us, Black history is made every day.»
Black Climate Week is consistent with The Solutions Project’s focus on addressing systemic racial and gender inequities in climate philanthropy, media coverage, and thought leadership. To date, Climate Week NYC hasn’t been a sufficiently inclusive event for Black-led grassroots organizations.
The Solutions Project’s everyday mission is to fund, celebrate, and raise the profiles of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color – especially women – who are developing equitable and community-led climate solutions year after year and generation after generation.
This year’s debut Black Climate Week will celebrate solutionaries including:
- Euneika Rogers-Sipp, an artist and designer who worked with agricultural landowners in the Black Belt to build Sustainable Rural Regenerative Enterprises for Families, and founded the Destination Design School of Agricultural Estates.
- Gregory Jenkins, a professor in the Department of Meteorology at Penn State University whose areas of research include weather, climate justice, air quality and the connections to public health in West Africa.
- The Reverend Leo Woodberry, a Southern pastor who brings clean energy jobs and projects to low-income communities while growing a coalition in support of climate and environmental justice.
«I am thrilled to participate in the first-ever Black Climate Week,» said Rev. Woodberry. «Throughout U.S. history, the South has been ground zero for racial injustice, and it’s also been the birthplace of the largest movements striving to overcome it. That trend continues today with climate change. The South is the hardest-hit region of the country when it comes to climate and environmental injustice, but it’s also where many of the most exciting solutions are being developed.»
On Friday of Black Climate Week, Rev. Woodberry will cut the ribbon on a SOURCE®hydropanel demonstration project at his church in Florence, South Carolina. Hydropanels, which use just sunlight and air to draw pure drinking water from the sky and deliver it directly to the tap, can provide clean, safe, off-the-grid water for every person in every place.
«What happened in Texas doesn’t need to happen again, anywhere. We need funders and governments to prioritize community-based solutions, so that Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color can use their expert local knowledge to make their own neighborhoods more disaster-resilient and climate-resilient. Off-the-grid solar hydropanels are just one example of this kind of solution,» said Woodberry.
The Solutions Project will publish a #BlackClimateWeek Reading List for people eager to learn more about climate justice and get involved in the climate justice movement.
«Once again, Black people are making history and making the U.S. more equitable and just. Join me in celebrating Black Climate Week and the work of inspiring climate history-makers all year, every year,» said Walton.
To see the full list of people Black Climate Week will celebrate, please click here.
The Solutions Project is a national nonprofit organization that promotes climate justice through grantmaking and amplifying the stories of frontline community leaders in the media. The organization seeks to accelerate the transition to 100% clean energy and equitable access to healthy air, water, and soils by supporting climate justice organizations, especially those led by women of color.
Media Contact: Carina Daniels
carina@storyandreach.com
510-847-1617
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