Communities of color often bear the brunt of climate change and other environmental problems, but they rarely hold the mic at mainstream green groups. That needs to change, say local climate activists Sarra Tekola, Yin Yu, Zarna Joshi and Afrin Sopariwala. These four, profiled in a story this week in the Seattle Globalist, have created the group Women of Color Speak Out to “throw the spotlight on the gap between mainstream environmentalism and its understanding of how communities of color and women are affected by climate change.”
Much has been written in the past few years about environmentalists’ need to be more inclusive. My friend Brentin Mock even suggests that there are two versions of environmentalism, one “white” and one “black.” As a result, more groups are talking about the issue. Locally, the Bullitt Foundation was among six environmental foundations that have called on their peers to examine diversity on their boards and staffs. And the Sierra Club, of all places, just elected its first African-American President, Aaron Mair. High Country News has a good interview with him here. Perhaps, with time, green groups will get a little less glaringly white.
