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Speaker 1: Congratulations, You've been accepted into the inaugural class of Therapy

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Speaker 1: for Black Girls University. Whether packing for a new year

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Speaker 1: on campus, thinking through your gap year and rolling in

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Speaker 1: a community college, or grabbing your souls for graduation, tbgu

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Speaker 1: is here to help you thrive at this stage of

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Speaker 1: your life and beyond.

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Speaker 2: Hi.

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Speaker 3: I'm SORRYA Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.

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Speaker 3: We'll return to Jana. Right after the break.

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Speaker 1: Last year, videos of a flooding at Clarkalana University went viral.

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Speaker 1: I know I'm not the only one who sees videos

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Speaker 1: like these and wonders how the climate crisis will continues

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Speaker 1: to impact me and my friends who are in college.

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Speaker 1: To help mitigate some of the anxiety I'm sure we

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Speaker 1: all have around the climate crisis, I'm joined today by

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Speaker 1: gen Z Climate Activists. Wuahwah Gathiu Wawa is the founder

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Speaker 1: and executive director of Black Girl Environmentalists, the largest national

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Speaker 1: organization dedicated to empowering Black girls and women in the

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Speaker 1: climate movement. She has been recognized as a Glamour College

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Speaker 1: Woman of the Year, a Forbes thirty Under Thirty recipient,

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Speaker 1: and was featured on the January twenty twenty three cover

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Speaker 1: of Vogue alongside Billie Eilish and seven other climate activists.

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Speaker 1: In our conversation today, Blahwah breaks down some key terms

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Speaker 1: relevant to the climate crisis, ways we can get involved

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Speaker 1: with the environmental justice movement on our campuses, and why

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Speaker 1: it's important for college students in particular to care about

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Speaker 1: climate change. Here's our conversation. Thank you, mama for being

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Speaker 1: with us today. You are a climate storyteller and founder

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Speaker 1: a Black girl environmentalist.

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Speaker 4: I would love to hear the story behind the birth.

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Speaker 1: Of black girl environmentalists and how your journey into the

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Speaker 1: world of climate actually began.

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Speaker 4: Could you walk us through that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. First, thank you so much for having me.

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Speaker 5: I'm so excited to share more about my story and

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Speaker 5: to share about black girl environmentalist. The story and the

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Speaker 5: seed idea for VGE started when I joined the climate movement.

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Speaker 5: So I joined climate when I was fifteen years old.

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Speaker 5: I had a really pivotal environmental science teacher who had

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Speaker 5: added a chapter on environmental justice, which essentially meant it

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Speaker 5: introduced me to this long tradition of particularly matriarchs of

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Speaker 5: color that have been across a diaspora. Essentially at the

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Speaker 5: forefront of earth advocacy, and I was also learning that

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Speaker 5: the climate crisis was partially impacting black and brown people

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Speaker 5: around the world, yet we were the least represented in

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Speaker 5: leadership or in the narratives that we were hearing. So

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Speaker 5: very early in my journey, I started joining climate organizations

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Speaker 5: where I was from, in the state of Connecticut, and

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Speaker 5: I quickly realized that the climate movement that I was

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Speaker 5: coming accustomed to did not have any space for black

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Speaker 5: women or black youth in general. I was the youngest

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Speaker 5: person by at least twenty years. In every space that

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Speaker 5: I was in, I was the only person of color,

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Speaker 5: always the only black person in Hartford. So there were

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Speaker 5: all these discrepancies that I was seeing while I was

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Speaker 5: also learning about how black women in particular are experiencing

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Speaker 5: the brunt of environmental degradation in the climate crisis, and

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Speaker 5: getting honestly really frustrated and angry at the lack of

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Speaker 5: space for us to be resource and empowered. So I

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Speaker 5: remained in the climate space. You know, at fifteen, now

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Speaker 5: I'm twenty four, and all these years, every year I

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Speaker 5: was like, I wish there was a space for us.

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Speaker 5: And so in twenty twenty I made an Instagram account

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Speaker 5: called Blackgrown Environmentalist and the rest is history.

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Speaker 2: Now we're a nonprofit.

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Speaker 1: I love that and thank you for explaining your process.

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Speaker 1: What is the significance of establishing a dedicated space for

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Speaker 1: black women and non binary individuals within environmentalism?

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Speaker 5: So the process has been a really interesting one. I

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Speaker 5: think what's different about BEGE from a lot of other

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Speaker 5: nonprofits is that the concept of the organization came after

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Speaker 5: the community. So, like I said, I started an Instagram

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Speaker 5: page in the summer of twenty twenty. I was just

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Speaker 5: really frustrated at the lack of space for black women

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Speaker 5: and black gender expansive people to talk about our unique

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Speaker 5: experiences in the climate movement. At the same time, I

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Speaker 5: wrote an article for Vice essentially the titles it's time

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Speaker 5: for environmental study to own up to like erasing black

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Speaker 5: people or something like that, and it went really really

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Speaker 5: viral in the climate space, and the number one audience

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Speaker 5: that was reaching out to me were black women and

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Speaker 5: black girls in particular, other early career people that were like,

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Speaker 5: I'm having the same exact experience, and that was the

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Speaker 5: first time that they knew that there was someone else

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Speaker 5: out there going through the very same things, but staying

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Speaker 5: because the climate crisis is impacting our community, so we

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Speaker 5: need to be in those spaces. So what was cool

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Speaker 5: is that I took the step of taking this Instagram

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Speaker 5: page and transforming it into a nonprofit. Because the community

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Speaker 5: continued to grow and remain strong three years after that

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Speaker 5: was a huge aspect. And then also even though I

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Speaker 5: am myself very early career, I've been in the climate

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Speaker 5: movement for ten years now, and all these experiences that

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Speaker 5: we're seeding this idea for BGE, they were not and

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Speaker 5: are not unique experiences. There are black women and black

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Speaker 5: girls and black gender expansive folks that are experiencing the

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Speaker 5: very same thing. So when it came down to really

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Speaker 5: getting our mission solid, which is addressing the pathway and

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Speaker 5: retention issue in the climate sector, for BGES, it was

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Speaker 5: a process that honestly was just affirming the experiences that

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Speaker 5: we know that we've been having and coming together to

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Speaker 5: create really solid resources to address them in ways that

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Speaker 5: actually center us and.

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Speaker 2: Are actually being led by people closest to the.

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Speaker 5: Circumstance, because right now, a lot of the pathway and

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Speaker 5: retention programming or initiatives in climate are not led by

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Speaker 5: young people, and they're also not being led by black

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Speaker 5: or Indigenous people, yet we are the demographics that are

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Speaker 5: disproportionally impacted by the climate crisis. The mission itself was

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Speaker 5: a community effort, and I've been really lucky to have

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Speaker 5: just such a great network honestly of mentors that I've

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Speaker 5: gone throughout the years, other veges that have been like

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Speaker 5: mentoring laterally and horizontally in this journey of navigating a

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Speaker 5: nonprofit as a young person, because it's been very difficult.

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Speaker 1: Well, thank you for walking us through that. I'm just personally,

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Speaker 1: I'm touched by the work that you do with BGE.

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Speaker 1: I wanted to be an environmentalist as a little girl.

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Speaker 1: I remember in my car seeing like the emissions and

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Speaker 1: the fumes and the fires and be like, we need

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Speaker 1: to put it into this justice. But it's inspiring to

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Speaker 1: hear that you were doing the work as a fourteen

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Speaker 1: year old. So I want to get into more of

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Speaker 1: a definition esque part, just because the jargon of some

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Speaker 1: of these words are confusing. So we often hear the

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Speaker 1: phrase of climate change stone around, but some don't know

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Speaker 1: the true definition. Can you define the following terms for us?

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Speaker 1: So we'll start off with climate change.

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Speaker 5: So also I want to first affirm you and say

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Speaker 5: that if you care about clean air, clean water, and

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Speaker 5: support your community, then you're an environmentalist. I think that

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Speaker 5: the movement has done a really poor job around actually

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Speaker 5: having a definition that people can relate to and that

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Speaker 5: is relevant to all of us, and that has been

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Speaker 5: a losing strategy because it really comes down to addressing

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Speaker 5: the scale and scope of this circumstance we're in. We're

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Speaker 5: experiencing ecological breakdown that's tied to human activity, and not everybody.

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Speaker 5: It's not like we all cause the climate crisis. The

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Speaker 5: climate crisis was caused by the fossil fuel industry. As

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Speaker 5: for the climate crisis, I like to call it the

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Speaker 5: climate crisis. Obviously climate change is a technical term, but

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Speaker 5: using the term crisis I feel like really is doing

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Speaker 5: a more intentional job by fossil fuel interests and was

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Speaker 5: paid for from blood money from chattel slavery. So I

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Speaker 5: think what's really interesting is if you take a climate

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Speaker 5: science class or even look up on Google like what

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Speaker 5: caused the climate crisis, You're going to see greenhouse gas

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Speaker 5: emissions that can be tied to the Industrial Revolution and

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Speaker 5: the influx of greenhouse gases that came about with our

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Speaker 5: global economy being shifted in that way. But the Industrial

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Speaker 5: Revolution didn't come about randomly. It's not the father of

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Speaker 5: the climate crisis because it didn't pay for itself, it

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Speaker 5: didn't raise itself. It was subsidized with blood money from

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Speaker 5: chattel slavery and validated by manifest destiny. If we look

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Speaker 5: back to I don't know, like eighteen sixty for example,

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Speaker 5: enslaved people represented the largest single financial asset in the

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Speaker 5: entire economy, like worth more than manufacturing and railroads combined.

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Speaker 5: And that doesn't even include the crops that they produced,

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Speaker 5: right like the sugar, the tobacco, and of course cotton.

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Speaker 5: So we already know that enslaved people subsidize the entirety

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Speaker 5: of American life. We know that the US economy was

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Speaker 5: built off of that wealth. So in the face of

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Speaker 5: the abolishment of chattel slavery, the US launched itself into

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Speaker 5: a new economic system paid for by the same family,

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Speaker 5: same generational wealth. The Industrial Revolution where we went from

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Speaker 5: extracting from the backs of enslaved Africans and the extraction

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Speaker 5: of the land to a new type of extraction, which

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Speaker 5: is the grounding of the climate crisis. So I think

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Speaker 5: it's really important to acknowledge those connections because when it

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Speaker 5: comes to thus solving the climate crisis, it requires us

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Speaker 5: getting to the roots of how we got here and

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Speaker 5: understanding that climate solutions require addressing systemic racism, addressing the

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Speaker 5: historic and continue the impacts of colonialism and imperialism, the

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Speaker 5: same systems that cause the climate crisis in the first place.

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Speaker 4: Okay, so what about environmentalism?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, So, like I said before, I think the definition

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Speaker 5: for environmentalism is pretty simple. It's value based rights. Do

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Speaker 5: you care about clean air? Do you care about clean water?

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Speaker 5: Do you believe that we all deserve access to these

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Speaker 5: basic human rights? Do you care about our ecosystems being

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Speaker 5: able to continue to exist? Do we care about a

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Speaker 5: future for ourselves, our aging parents, our future bloodlines if

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Speaker 5: we choose to have them or not. The answer is

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Speaker 5: yes to any of these questions, then you are an

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Speaker 5: environmentalist because you have have a set of values that

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Speaker 5: are around caring for yourself and our holistic ecosystems.

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Speaker 1: And you definitely just affirmed little Jana, So I appreciate that.

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Speaker 1: And lastly, environmental justice.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, so, basically, environmental justice asserts that all people deserve

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Speaker 5: access to a clean and healthy environment, regardless of their race,

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Speaker 5: socioeconomic status.

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Speaker 2: Their ethnicity, their country of origin.

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Speaker 5: Just requires that we all have equitable access and pathways

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Speaker 5: into experiences that allow us.

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Speaker 2: Also to self determine what a healthy environment is.

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Speaker 5: And the reality is is that all of our relationships

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Speaker 5: with the environment are not all ones that are equal,

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Speaker 5: and are not ones that allow us to have a

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Speaker 5: healthy environment. And oftentimes it is, especially in the context

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Speaker 5: of the United States, it's race that determine our relationship

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Speaker 5: to the environment as well as our proximity to environmental hazards.

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Speaker 1: Well, thank you for breaking those terms down. I'm curious,

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Speaker 1: why is it important for college students to care about

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Speaker 1: climate change?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, oh my gosh, I love that question. It's important.

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Speaker 5: Like if we were to do like a large umbrella,

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Speaker 5: everybody in it, we are all going to experience the

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Speaker 5: impacts of the climate crisis, and.

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Speaker 2: Most of us already have.

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Speaker 5: It's just as a matter of whether or not we

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Speaker 5: have the language to make those connections or not, which

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Speaker 5: is why I'm really adamant about talking about how the

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Speaker 5: climate crisis isn't just an ecological crisis, it's also a

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Speaker 5: narrative crisis.

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Speaker 2: We don't know how to talk about it.

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Speaker 5: We don't know how to name these experiences that we

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Speaker 5: all are having and recognize this as being climate related.

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Speaker 5: And so for college students, the average college student is

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Speaker 5: a young person that is in college attempting to gain

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Speaker 5: the skills and resources to be able to be young

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Speaker 5: change makers. The climate crisis is the biggest threat of

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Speaker 5: all time because not only does it create new problems,

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Speaker 5: but it exacerbates and intensifies all existing social ills. So

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Speaker 5: the climate crisis is this thing that we can either

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Speaker 5: experience the impacts of or decide to be a part

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Speaker 5: of the solutions that can ultimately allow.

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Speaker 2: Us to, in my opinion, love a better world into existence.

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Speaker 4: Well, thank you for explaining that.

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Speaker 1: So a big part of your work is making climate

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Speaker 1: issues accessible. Could you break down some of today's urgent

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Speaker 1: climate issues.

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Speaker 2: I can talk about extreme heat.

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Speaker 5: So that's an example where I think we all experienced

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Speaker 5: and solve the impacts of the heat waves and the

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Speaker 5: extreme heat that happened this summer and last summer. But

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Speaker 5: this past July was actually the hottest month ever recorded

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Speaker 5: in history.

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Speaker 2: And that's not by accident.

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Speaker 5: That is tied to the climate crisis, and oftentimes people

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Speaker 5: might be confused as to how that circumstance, for example,

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Speaker 5: showcases the ways in which the.

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Speaker 2: Climate crisis doesn't impact us all the same.

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Speaker 5: There's this saying that I like to say, which is,

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Speaker 5: we're all experiencing the same storm, which is the climate crisis,

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Speaker 5: but we're all not in the same boat. So we

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Speaker 5: look at demographics that have been disproportionately impacted by extreme heat.

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Speaker 5: An obvious example would be the house's populations, but also

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Speaker 5: black communities in general. So we think about black communities

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Speaker 5: and where we are, particularly in our cities. The reality

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Speaker 5: is is that there has been a ton of research

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Speaker 5: that showcases that previously redlined communities are actually hotter by

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Speaker 5: five to thirteen degrees hotter than neighborhoods that weren't previously

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Speaker 5: redlined and that are predominantly white. Why well, when we

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Speaker 5: think about redlining the discriminatory lending practices in the nineteen twenties,

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Speaker 5: those areas were also disproportionately chosen and selected for the

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Speaker 5: placement of highways, the placement of warehouses, the placement of

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Speaker 5: essentially infrastructure with impervious surfaces that absorb heat, making them

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Speaker 5: actually hotter from the concrete in addition to the fact

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Speaker 5: that these very same communities don't have the same amount

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Speaker 5: of canopy cover or green space, which also supports with

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Speaker 5: mitigating extreme heat. So that's an example in which while

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Speaker 5: extreme heat was something we all experienced, whether it was

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Speaker 5: like not being able to go to I don't know

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Speaker 5: if festival because it messed up the energy forcing or

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Speaker 5: just being uncomfortable going outside, or even sometimes the infrastructure

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Speaker 5: of the buildings we're in aren't actually created for this

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Speaker 5: type of heat.

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Speaker 2: Black communities were actually hotter, and.

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Speaker 5: So that's a very clear example of how this is

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Speaker 5: like an issue that we're all experiencing. But because of

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Speaker 5: things like redlining, discriminatory lending practices, and the history of

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Speaker 5: Jim Crow, we are seeing how, for example, infrastructure can

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Speaker 5: lead to worse outcomes and health outcomes for black communities

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Speaker 5: and black college age students as well.

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Speaker 1: Wow, that is I would never think about July being

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Speaker 1: so hot in that way. So that's definitely something I

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Speaker 1: think we should all look into more closely as we're

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Speaker 1: transitioning into warmer temperatures just on average with the climate crisis.

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Speaker 3: Right, Hi, I'm Sorria Taylor and I'm the TBG podcast

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Speaker 3: production intern. We'll return to Jana right after the break.

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Speaker 1: So what other ways do climate issues affect the black community?

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Speaker 5: The fact that black youth are actually experiencing eco anxiety

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Speaker 5: climate anxiety at very high rates. My hot take, and

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Speaker 5: which isn't really a hot take, is that I think

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Speaker 5: eco anxiety is an environmental justice issue and that it

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Speaker 5: disproportionately impacts black youth in the spaces that I'm in,

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Speaker 5: I hear eco anxiety and climate grief all the time,

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Speaker 5: but I realized that that terminology might not be talked

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Speaker 5: about in other spaces. So eco anxietyological grief is defined

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Speaker 5: by the American Psychological Association as quote a chronic fear

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Speaker 5: of environmental doom, which may include feelings of worry, fear, guilt,

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Speaker 5: or shame, and even hope. This is just something that

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Speaker 5: young people in general are experiencing, however, because like I

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Speaker 5: said before, the climate crisis doesn't impact all people in

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Speaker 5: communities equally, neither does ecological grief. Right, The nature of

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Speaker 5: a person's eco anxiety often is dependent upon how immediate

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Speaker 5: the impacts of climate change are on their lives, and

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Speaker 5: that immediacly often depends on privilege. I just gave you

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Speaker 5: an example on how extreme heat looks different in different communities.

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Speaker 5: But when we also think about the existing resources that

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Speaker 5: are and largely are not there, especially for black youth

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Speaker 5: in regards to mental health services and access to those spaces,

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Speaker 5: Black youth are already more at risk of depression, anxiety,

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Speaker 5: and stress, and I believe black girls right now have

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Speaker 5: the highest rising suicide rate in the country. So those

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Speaker 5: are the existing circumstances and the baseline of where we're

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Speaker 5: in when you bring climate, natural disasters, and all of

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Speaker 5: these circumstances in which climate is intensifying existing circumstances, creating

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Speaker 5: new problems, displacing people, and we know it's this imminent

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Speaker 5: threat that's getting worse. Why is it that when you

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Speaker 5: type in eco anxiety, you will never hear a nuanced

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Speaker 5: conversation of how it impacts particularly Black and Indigenous people

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Speaker 5: and Black and Indigenous youth. That we're in this situation

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Speaker 5: where we're kind of like we didn't lead to these dynamics.

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Speaker 2: Our grandparents didn't do it.

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Speaker 5: Like our grandparents were of the people seeding the money

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Speaker 5: for the Industrial Revolution.

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Speaker 2: We definitely weren't.

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Speaker 5: The ones that were behind childel slavery. So there is

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Speaker 5: a huge narrative issue, and that narrative issue actually informs

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Speaker 5: the resources that exist around eco anxiety because I think

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Speaker 5: that a lot of us are rightfully very fearful and

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Speaker 5: don't know where to go about all these really complex

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Speaker 5: emotions that we're feeling about climate and unfortunately, right now,

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Speaker 5: the mainstream space has really embraced this color blind perspective.

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Speaker 2: On eco anxiety.

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Speaker 5: And I think that it's a missed opportunity as well,

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Speaker 5: because I think that all of these complex things that

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Speaker 5: we're experiencing and emotions can actually be pushed towards action.

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Speaker 2: I get really angry when I think about the climate crisis.

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Speaker 2: There's like a lot of.

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Speaker 5: Anger that I have and finding sustainable pathways communities like BGE,

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Speaker 5: where you get to be in community with other people

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Speaker 5: that are experiencing the same things, have a space to

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Speaker 5: talk about them upfront, even if it's uncomfortable, and then

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Speaker 5: have avenues to contribute it towards advocacy and action that

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Speaker 5: is supporting our communities very directly and very intentionally. All

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Speaker 5: of those things are to me pathways for us to

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Speaker 5: begin addressing this.

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Speaker 1: Like you said, with so much distressing news about the

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Speaker 1: climate crisis, some people feel overwhelmed and disheartened, leading them

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Speaker 1: to withdraw or lose motivation to care. So what are

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Speaker 1: some words of advice or encouragement that you would share

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Speaker 1: with someone grappling with these emotions or even climate anxiety.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, I feel like it's always an interesting line to tow.

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Speaker 5: I feel like when I'm specifically like talking to like

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Speaker 5: black women around addressing climate because everything inside of me,

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Speaker 5: I know for a fact that we will solve the

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Speaker 5: climate crisis.

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Speaker 2: When black women are in leadership period, Like black.

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Speaker 5: Women are the first in line of defense with bascism

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Speaker 5: in this country. We literally hold up democracy on our backs.

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Speaker 5: And I also don't want us to be martyrs. So

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Speaker 5: it's this balancing act. Generally, I'd say, like, here's the thing,

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Speaker 5: when I'm talking to like other black people, I don't

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Speaker 5: need any convincing of whether or not people should act

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Speaker 5: like social advocacy activism is our generational birthright, point blank period.

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Speaker 5: We think about examples of youth organizing in the climate

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Speaker 5: space in the past decade, for example, like the Sunrise

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Speaker 5: movement that was largely behind this recent announcement around the

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Speaker 5: Climate Core, which we'll be providing climate jobs for twenty

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Speaker 5: thousand young Americans. Sunrise movement quite literally, and they are

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Speaker 5: known for like acknowledging this, they're organizing platforms and strategy

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Speaker 5: literally comes from the textbooks of the civil rights movement.

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Speaker 5: So I feel like in this there is this unique opportunity,

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Speaker 5: particularly from so many.

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Speaker 2: Aspects of our community. Whether we're talking about.

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Speaker 5: How to navigate hope in a time of despair, literally

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Speaker 5: look no further than the Black Church, like an institution

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Speaker 5: that has been able to support folks in the midst

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Speaker 5: of so much. You literally don't have to look any

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Speaker 5: further than you know, civil rights leaders and activists, many

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Speaker 5: of folks that are still alive, that have children, that

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Speaker 5: have been able.

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Speaker 2: To remain leaders in our communities.

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Speaker 5: So much of what the climate movement is looking for,

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Speaker 5: I believe exists.

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Speaker 2: In our communities.

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Speaker 5: So it's just a matter of integrating, like i'd say,

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Speaker 5: like a climate lens into existing work, because I don't

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Speaker 5: necessarily believe that you necessarily have to go outside of

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Speaker 5: what's going on for it to be climate adjacent. But

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Speaker 5: that's also i'd say, like carving out spaces for us

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Speaker 5: to be able to intentionally address the way that climate

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Speaker 5: is impacting us.

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Speaker 2: And that's why I always give the pitch to people.

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Speaker 5: If you're looking for a community of other black women

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Speaker 5: and black gender expansive folks, especially if you're like gen Z,

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Speaker 5: you should follow Black grown Environmentalists.

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Speaker 2: Join one of our hubs.

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Speaker 5: We have ten hubs across the US. We're in everywhere

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Speaker 5: from New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Miami.

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Speaker 5: I'm on the spot, so I'm like, what about DC, Philly,

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Speaker 5: We're in the Bay, We're in Houston, We're in Atlanta.

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Speaker 2: And we do bi.

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Speaker 5: Monthly engagements in each of these cities and have already

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Speaker 5: cultivated really beautiful community spaces for us to essentially engage

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Speaker 5: in climate action and advocacy, but also rest like our

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Speaker 5: spaces can be anything from going to like a town

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Speaker 5: hall together, or going to a march together, to meeting

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Speaker 5: up with a black bee keeper and getting to see

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Speaker 5: that process, or all having like a self care day

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Speaker 5: or like going to a happy hour. I think there

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Speaker 5: are ways for us to come together and rest and

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Speaker 5: heal and have spaces of resilience.

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Speaker 2: That's building collective power. So when we need to show up.

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Speaker 5: We already have that community that we can come together

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Speaker 5: and do the things.

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Speaker 1: I love that BG has that while you were in college,

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Speaker 1: how did you balance your studies with your climate activism

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Speaker 1: and running the organization.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, so I'll like quickly clarify, I mostly was navigating

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Speaker 5: BGE and school work in grad school, so like I

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Speaker 5: graduated undergrad May of twenty twenty, but I still was

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Speaker 5: doing this balancing act of being a climate activist in

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Speaker 5: school and it was really difficult.

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Speaker 2: But something that really really helped.

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Speaker 5: Me was having mentors within the school system that supported

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Speaker 5: me and knew what I was doing was really important,

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Speaker 5: and finding ways to have allies in this system. I

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Speaker 5: think for me, like my I did a degree in

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Speaker 5: like environmental studies, so our program was already very very small.

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Speaker 5: I had the privilege of getting really close with a

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Speaker 5: lot of my professors, so like they kind of got it.

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Speaker 5: So I was able to, like in a lot of ways,

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Speaker 5: sometimes finesse credit for things I was doing outside of

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Speaker 5: the classroom.

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Speaker 2: And those things started because I was asking. I was like,

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Speaker 2: is there.

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Speaker 5: Any way we could do like an independent study for

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Speaker 5: this project or this internship. And it was interesting because

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Speaker 5: when I was able to have a very clear ask

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Speaker 5: and deliverable that.

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Speaker 2: Would come out of this independent study.

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Speaker 5: For example, most times people were willing to work with me,

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Speaker 5: and I understand that it was like a huge, huge privilege.

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Speaker 5: And looking back, and when I tell people that, they're like, wait, what,

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Speaker 5: but I think it begins with asking.

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Speaker 2: I think a lot of people aren't asking. So there.

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Speaker 5: I'd also say, looking back, there's a lot of things

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Speaker 5: that I wouldn't do again. And I did a really

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00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:05,760
Speaker 5: bad job at balancing. I wouldn't necessarily change the way

442
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:12,320
Speaker 5: I did college. But looking back, I was perpetually burned out.

443
00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:16,639
Speaker 5: I was taking at least twenty credits a semester and

444
00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:20,760
Speaker 5: working at least thirty hours outside of class, which meant

445
00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:23,879
Speaker 5: I was barely sleeping. And the reason why I was

446
00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:26,480
Speaker 5: doing all this is because I was like climate crisis

447
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,760
Speaker 5: so urgent. I'm not spending all this time doing this.

448
00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:29,479
Speaker 5: What am I doing?

449
00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:33,080
Speaker 2: YadA YadA, YadA, YadA YadA.

450
00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:38,160
Speaker 5: And looking back, I wish that I was able to like,

451
00:28:38,320 --> 00:28:41,360
Speaker 5: really fully appreciate the community is that I was organizing

452
00:28:41,360 --> 00:28:46,880
Speaker 5: alongside with. Because no successful movement allows for folks to

453
00:28:47,240 --> 00:28:51,080
Speaker 5: perpetually burn out, we should feel comfortable to take a

454
00:28:51,120 --> 00:28:54,120
Speaker 5: step back and to take care of our mental health,

455
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:57,560
Speaker 5: to take care of our soul, like our personal relationships,

456
00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:01,080
Speaker 5: to just have time to be a young person, being young,

457
00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:04,240
Speaker 5: doing fun sometimes stupid stuff, you.

458
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 2: Know what I mean.

459
00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:07,520
Speaker 5: And the only wish I'd have for my younger self

460
00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,960
Speaker 5: is that I wish that I had the wisdom I

461
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:11,960
Speaker 5: have now or had someone in my life like look

462
00:29:12,040 --> 00:29:14,920
Speaker 5: me in the eye and be like, Wowa, the climate crisis,

463
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:16,600
Speaker 5: it's here, it's not going anywhere.

464
00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: You Deciding to not take.

465
00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:22,920
Speaker 5: This job or not take this internship for a semester

466
00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 5: or even a year isn't going to make you any

467
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:28,120
Speaker 5: less qualified or isn't going to make you, know what

468
00:29:28,200 --> 00:29:31,720
Speaker 5: I mean. There are opportunities looking back that I'm like,

469
00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 5: I definitely could have taken a step back.

470
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,000
Speaker 2: I could have done a lot better with my health.

471
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:39,920
Speaker 5: And so I would say, just like being honest with oneself,

472
00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:41,960
Speaker 5: I feel like there's a lot of pressure when you're

473
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:44,800
Speaker 5: in college to do it all and be all the

474
00:29:44,880 --> 00:29:47,480
Speaker 5: things to all the people in your life, and the

475
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,200
Speaker 5: reality is is that it's a journey.

476
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:51,240
Speaker 2: It's a journey.

477
00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:52,960
Speaker 5: Once you're done with that, and then you're going to

478
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,840
Speaker 5: be post brad and that's another that's another journey. So

479
00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:59,680
Speaker 5: the best thing is just like to pace yourself like

480
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,880
Speaker 5: these problems unfortunately they're not going away. But when we

481
00:30:04,280 --> 00:30:09,280
Speaker 5: are working towards finding sustainable pathways for us to contribute,

482
00:30:09,480 --> 00:30:12,400
Speaker 5: that actually is better for the movement.

483
00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:12,720
Speaker 2: As a whole.

484
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,040
Speaker 5: Right because at the end of the day, the way

485
00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,880
Speaker 5: that I think about the environment and our holistic ecosystems,

486
00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,520
Speaker 5: our bodies are a part of that. When people are like,

487
00:30:21,560 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 5: your body's a temple, your body is a part of

488
00:30:23,960 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 5: our ecosystem. So taking care of yourself is a form

489
00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 5: of environmental action to me and in the communities that

490
00:30:30,960 --> 00:30:34,920
Speaker 5: I'm building alongside, And if someone in my community is

491
00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:38,200
Speaker 5: burnt out, they're not even useful for themselves to be

492
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:43,200
Speaker 5: able to actually experience the world that we're seeking to

493
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:48,040
Speaker 5: save and love into even a better iteration. So I

494
00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 5: think that framing of being like we should have time

495
00:30:51,080 --> 00:30:54,320
Speaker 5: to experience all the things that we are trying to

496
00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:55,520
Speaker 5: save and trying to love on.

497
00:30:56,040 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 4: I love that so much. You mentioned some good important

498
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:00,000
Speaker 4: tips to call.

499
00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: Students right now to know the signs of burnout and

500
00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:06,200
Speaker 1: to know that you're not going to be able to

501
00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:09,160
Speaker 1: conquer it all right here, right now, and today, and

502
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: also to honor yourself because to your point, you are

503
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,880
Speaker 1: a part of this ecosystem. So I love that that's

504
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:19,360
Speaker 1: super powerful. What guidance or tips which you offer to

505
00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:24,800
Speaker 1: black women activists both within and outside of climate activism

506
00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,320
Speaker 1: when discovering and asserting their voices.

507
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have a couple tips, i'd say.

508
00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 5: Also, the first thing I'd want to say and something

509
00:31:32,640 --> 00:31:37,080
Speaker 5: that I'm I'm navigating all these things still now, but

510
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,480
Speaker 5: one of the first things is you aren't your work,

511
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 5: you aren't your output. That's quite literally like a symptom

512
00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,160
Speaker 5: of the sixth system that we're in, which is capitalist

513
00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:51,640
Speaker 5: system that quite literally places our value and our work

514
00:31:51,960 --> 00:31:54,520
Speaker 5: on the output of work that we're putting out there,

515
00:31:54,520 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 5: and on the external validation of people telling.

516
00:31:56,800 --> 00:32:00,720
Speaker 2: You that your work is valuable. That is, lack of

517
00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:02,360
Speaker 2: a better word, bullshit.

518
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:09,360
Speaker 5: You are valuable and precious regardless of what you do.

519
00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 5: And I think that this is something that I'm definitely

520
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:18,280
Speaker 5: navigating now. Of Wawa as Wawa me like my full

521
00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,160
Speaker 5: name is with Jiggo, so not even Waba like, Butko

522
00:32:21,240 --> 00:32:23,000
Speaker 5: is beautiful outside of the work that I do and

523
00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:27,120
Speaker 5: outside of what people might assume I am or who

524
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:29,480
Speaker 5: I am, and I'd say a part of that and

525
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:34,120
Speaker 5: setting yourself up for success just in general, is having

526
00:32:34,160 --> 00:32:37,320
Speaker 5: people in your life that value you. Outside of that,

527
00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,560
Speaker 5: I think that unfortunately, ego can come in when you're

528
00:32:42,560 --> 00:32:48,280
Speaker 5: doing activist work, being able to like stay true to

529
00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,200
Speaker 5: the things that got us into the space, and sometimes

530
00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:53,400
Speaker 5: we need people in our lives that can be like, hey,

531
00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:57,920
Speaker 5: let me check yourself. Like the movements about the movement,

532
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,200
Speaker 5: the movement isn't about me as an individual, you as

533
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:01,880
Speaker 5: an individual.

534
00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:02,960
Speaker 2: We are trying to.

535
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:07,680
Speaker 5: Collectively empower and better our communities and being reminded of

536
00:33:07,720 --> 00:33:10,760
Speaker 5: that and being in environments that are constantly reminding you

537
00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 5: that is so so important and something that I'm in

538
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:18,080
Speaker 5: the midst of like making sure that I'm holding myself

539
00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:23,240
Speaker 5: accountable to those things. I'd also say that it's completely

540
00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:27,160
Speaker 5: fine to change your mind, change your ideas. We're young,

541
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:30,719
Speaker 5: we're growing, and I think in this public facing activist space,

542
00:33:30,840 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 5: there is this tendency for people to be pigeonholed and

543
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 5: want to pigeonhole themselves around exactly what they're working on

544
00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:39,320
Speaker 5: or how they're saying things.

545
00:33:39,840 --> 00:33:43,320
Speaker 2: And honestly, it's normal to change your mind.

546
00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:46,480
Speaker 5: It's healthy. It actually is what we should be doing.

547
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:49,680
Speaker 5: Like I look back to what I not necessarily because

548
00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,440
Speaker 5: it was wrong. I just grew an experience and perspective,

549
00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,480
Speaker 5: and so while I might have had a different perspective

550
00:33:56,680 --> 00:34:00,920
Speaker 5: on X thing at eighteen, now in twenty four and

551
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,440
Speaker 5: I'm like, oh, well, I actually don't believe that necessary.

552
00:34:03,600 --> 00:34:06,840
Speaker 5: And I think that it's actually a great sign for

553
00:34:06,920 --> 00:34:09,480
Speaker 5: yourself if you're able to like address that head on.

554
00:34:09,560 --> 00:34:11,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I actually don't.

555
00:34:10,800 --> 00:34:14,239
Speaker 5: Agree with myself five years ago. That's totally fine because

556
00:34:14,280 --> 00:34:17,359
Speaker 5: also other people need to hear that so that they.

557
00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:18,240
Speaker 2: Feel like it's okay.

558
00:34:18,600 --> 00:34:21,560
Speaker 5: And then lastly, another piece of advice that I have

559
00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:26,520
Speaker 5: is just around wellness and wellbeing because like so many

560
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,480
Speaker 5: of the people that I know that are like activists,

561
00:34:29,840 --> 00:34:31,200
Speaker 5: because the work that we do.

562
00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:33,480
Speaker 2: Is so urgent and feel so urgent because.

563
00:34:33,160 --> 00:34:37,800
Speaker 5: It is we do really put oftentimes like we'll taking

564
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,760
Speaker 5: care of ourselves on the back burner. I recently started

565
00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,560
Speaker 5: trying to work out more regularly just because I really

566
00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 5: needed those endorphins, and the difference has been like great.

567
00:34:49,320 --> 00:34:52,000
Speaker 5: But sometimes that's taking a little hot girl walk outside.

568
00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:57,640
Speaker 5: Sometimes it is just going outside. There's tons of research

569
00:34:57,680 --> 00:34:59,960
Speaker 5: that shows that even like five to ten minutes out

570
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:03,800
Speaker 5: side can like really really impact your mental health.

571
00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:08,000
Speaker 2: For example, the outdoors and nature does have a lot.

572
00:35:07,840 --> 00:35:13,960
Speaker 5: Of antidotes to what circumstances that we are experiencing.

573
00:35:14,040 --> 00:35:16,160
Speaker 2: And sometimes it is.

574
00:35:16,280 --> 00:35:18,759
Speaker 5: Like I needed to take a walk, and now I

575
00:35:18,840 --> 00:35:22,479
Speaker 5: feel a lot better. Ball side, take a walk, move

576
00:35:22,520 --> 00:35:26,239
Speaker 5: your body and know that again, like taking care of

577
00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,719
Speaker 5: yourself because we're a part of this collective ecosystem is

578
00:35:29,719 --> 00:35:33,279
Speaker 5: a part of ecosystem help. So like understanding ourselves and

579
00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,200
Speaker 5: connection to others and our planet is so so important.

580
00:35:36,239 --> 00:35:38,960
Speaker 5: And I think that perspective is really good when we

581
00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:40,399
Speaker 5: think about community care.

582
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:44,880
Speaker 1: I love that for our black women activists, our sisters

583
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:47,920
Speaker 1: doing the work, it's really important to remember that and

584
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:50,600
Speaker 1: it's really hard, I can imagine, to remember that while

585
00:35:50,600 --> 00:35:54,440
Speaker 1: you're doing the work every day.

586
00:35:55,840 --> 00:35:59,880
Speaker 3: Hi, I'm SORRYA Taylor, and I'm the TBG podcast production intern.

587
00:36:00,400 --> 00:36:02,800
Speaker 3: We'll return to Jana right after the break.

588
00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:21,520
Speaker 1: What are three things a college shouldn't could do on

589
00:36:21,600 --> 00:36:25,840
Speaker 1: their campus to contribute to climate activism and be prepared

590
00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 1: for potential climate disasters on their campuses.

591
00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, I love that question.

592
00:36:32,480 --> 00:36:36,920
Speaker 5: So I would say the first thing is and this

593
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 5: is so different because I feel like I did know

594
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:43,200
Speaker 5: this in college, but knowing your neighbors is so important.

595
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:47,200
Speaker 5: At least know their names, say hi, build like some

596
00:36:47,239 --> 00:36:51,960
Speaker 5: sort of community, especially where you're living. Why because in

597
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 5: the face of honestly, in the face of climate disaster

598
00:36:55,320 --> 00:36:59,320
Speaker 5: or any type of emergency, your immediate community who is

599
00:36:59,440 --> 00:37:02,319
Speaker 5: living near you, that is your lifeline.

600
00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,200
Speaker 2: The second thing is there's a.

601
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:10,160
Speaker 5: Lot of colleges these days that have sustainability offices, but

602
00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:14,040
Speaker 5: a lot of colleges that don't. I think that most

603
00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:18,319
Speaker 5: HBCUs don't have like a sustainability office. And usually in

604
00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,160
Speaker 5: the sustainability offices is where like folks are working on

605
00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 5: like climate action plans that can be accessible to students

606
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,879
Speaker 5: in the midst of, for example, a power outage or

607
00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,560
Speaker 5: a storm or a flood or something like that. So

608
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:36,000
Speaker 5: if there is that type of institutional entity that is

609
00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,360
Speaker 5: working on sustainability, reaching out to see if they have

610
00:37:39,440 --> 00:37:42,000
Speaker 5: those resources, and if not, maybe seeing if there's like

611
00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:45,320
Speaker 5: an internship opportunity to help support and develop those things,

612
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,520
Speaker 5: or maybe that can be like a thesis project or

613
00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:51,839
Speaker 5: an independent study situation. And then the other thing I'd

614
00:37:51,840 --> 00:37:54,920
Speaker 5: say is there's not necessarily this need to, like, for example,

615
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:55,719
Speaker 5: on college.

616
00:37:55,400 --> 00:37:57,600
Speaker 2: Campus, create a whole new climate club.

617
00:37:57,640 --> 00:38:01,120
Speaker 5: They usually are like environmental or climate clubs out there,

618
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:03,080
Speaker 5: depending on your campus.

619
00:38:05,440 --> 00:38:08,600
Speaker 4: Thank you for that, OA. So I'm curious to know, WAWA,

620
00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,560
Speaker 4: what is your vision for BEG in.

621
00:38:11,520 --> 00:38:15,560
Speaker 5: The future, Black Grown Environmentalist I already shared our mission.

622
00:38:15,600 --> 00:38:17,480
Speaker 5: Our mission is to address the path or and retention

623
00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,160
Speaker 5: issue in the climate sector for bges right, with a

624
00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:24,240
Speaker 5: particular focus on early career folks gen Z and hopefully

625
00:38:24,320 --> 00:38:26,840
Speaker 5: like this new generation Jen Alpha.

626
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:28,280
Speaker 2: But ultimately we're.

627
00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:34,480
Speaker 5: Here to provide community and resources to black women and

628
00:38:34,520 --> 00:38:38,960
Speaker 5: black gender expansive folks with this focus on particularly young people.

629
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,120
Speaker 5: And I just want people to know that BEGE is

630
00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:46,000
Speaker 5: a space for them to come to define community and

631
00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:49,239
Speaker 5: it is also a space that's for you. Even if

632
00:38:49,280 --> 00:38:51,319
Speaker 5: you hear the term environmentalists and you're kind of like,

633
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,840
Speaker 5: I'm not really sure if that's something that I'm about.

634
00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,200
Speaker 5: I already shared the way that I see environmentalism that

635
00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,600
Speaker 5: I feel like is shared.

636
00:38:59,600 --> 00:39:01,160
Speaker 2: Honestly across the movement.

637
00:39:01,600 --> 00:39:04,800
Speaker 5: And so if you're even just looking for a space

638
00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,080
Speaker 5: to meet other like black women and like black gender

639
00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 5: expensive folks in your community, obviously, if you're in one

640
00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:13,799
Speaker 5: of the hub cities come out to an event. It's

641
00:39:13,800 --> 00:39:16,680
Speaker 5: a great way to meet other folks, to even network,

642
00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:20,400
Speaker 5: especially like latterly, which is really important. I think a

643
00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,480
Speaker 5: goal for me in general for the organization is that

644
00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,000
Speaker 5: I'd like to see, especially from like black cultural spaces,

645
00:39:27,160 --> 00:39:31,640
Speaker 5: is sustainability and climate being more upfront. I'm not going

646
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:35,600
Speaker 5: to name names because it's everybody and I totally get it,

647
00:39:35,640 --> 00:39:39,640
Speaker 5: but like we have all these types of like conferences

648
00:39:39,760 --> 00:39:42,960
Speaker 5: or gatherings that are really really for us, Like those

649
00:39:42,960 --> 00:39:44,440
Speaker 5: are the spaces that we want to go to and

650
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:46,560
Speaker 5: that we're flying out to and whatever it might be.

651
00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:54,879
Speaker 5: And there is literally no programming around climate and it

652
00:39:54,960 --> 00:39:58,400
Speaker 5: is like the biggest like mind boggling thing to me

653
00:39:58,560 --> 00:40:02,120
Speaker 5: because I'm like, we'd literally experiencing the climate crisis first

654
00:40:02,160 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 5: and worse. And to be honest, I started BGE and

655
00:40:06,080 --> 00:40:09,279
Speaker 5: the space that we're cultivating in BG largely is due

656
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,320
Speaker 5: to the fact that I don't trust the mainstream climate

657
00:40:12,360 --> 00:40:15,640
Speaker 5: movement to create spaces for us in which like we're

658
00:40:15,680 --> 00:40:19,160
Speaker 5: actually being resourced from the early career into senior leadership

659
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:21,879
Speaker 5: and realizing our full potential in climate leadership. I don't

660
00:40:21,880 --> 00:40:25,760
Speaker 5: see those spaces as necessarily having the resources or even

661
00:40:25,840 --> 00:40:27,719
Speaker 5: having the purviews. You know that that's something that they

662
00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:30,839
Speaker 5: should be doing if they're actually equity focused. So like

663
00:40:31,040 --> 00:40:34,520
Speaker 5: we have to be focusing on building within our own communities,

664
00:40:34,719 --> 00:40:37,040
Speaker 5: and what I would like BGE to do and helping

665
00:40:37,120 --> 00:40:40,520
Speaker 5: to bridge those gaps is to help show up in

666
00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:42,960
Speaker 5: those spaces to go to the essen's best and the

667
00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:45,719
Speaker 5: culture cons I guess i'll name drop, so the manifesting

668
00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:51,040
Speaker 5: being able to connect bges that are already leading in

669
00:40:51,120 --> 00:40:54,080
Speaker 5: climate because trust me, there are black women that are

670
00:40:54,120 --> 00:40:57,560
Speaker 5: out here doctor Beverly Wright, who is like one of

671
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:01,760
Speaker 5: the foremost environmental justice scholars in the country, in the world,

672
00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,640
Speaker 5: who is a black woman that started as a professor

673
00:41:05,680 --> 00:41:08,440
Speaker 5: at Dillard University at the age of twenty seven in

674
00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:12,200
Speaker 5: the Deep South and has been doing this work for decades,

675
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,279
Speaker 5: that should be platformed in these spaces that should be

676
00:41:15,680 --> 00:41:20,440
Speaker 5: out here in the non climate black spaces, so that

677
00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 5: we can better make these narrative connections so that we

678
00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:29,360
Speaker 5: are well prepared in the face of a climate disaster,

679
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,799
Speaker 5: flooding storm, whatever it might be, and that we have

680
00:41:33,320 --> 00:41:35,640
Speaker 5: the resources to know how to.

681
00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:36,760
Speaker 2: Navigate those things.

682
00:41:36,840 --> 00:41:39,480
Speaker 5: In a perfect world, I like to see every institution,

683
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:42,000
Speaker 5: whether it's like a church, whether it's a school, whether

684
00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 5: it's whatever type of gathering space, for example, having.

685
00:41:44,840 --> 00:41:47,640
Speaker 2: A climate action plan. We should and we don't.

686
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,560
Speaker 5: It's not something that we oftentize other resources to know

687
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,240
Speaker 5: how to navigate. And so I see BGE as being

688
00:41:54,360 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 5: a space in which people can see themselves reflected in

689
00:41:58,239 --> 00:42:01,640
Speaker 5: the space in this movement, and one that can connect

690
00:42:01,680 --> 00:42:04,720
Speaker 5: people to the climate sector as a way for folks

691
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,920
Speaker 5: to build generational wealth from their career, but then also

692
00:42:07,960 --> 00:42:11,000
Speaker 5: be able to do work that is supporting the vitality

693
00:42:11,080 --> 00:42:16,600
Speaker 5: and health and wellbeing of our communities because climate connects

694
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:21,480
Speaker 5: with everything, and so any opportunity that BGE could continue

695
00:42:21,520 --> 00:42:26,919
Speaker 5: to bring those conversations, bring resources, particularly to black women

696
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:29,839
Speaker 5: and black gender expansive folks, We're going to do it.

697
00:42:30,560 --> 00:42:32,879
Speaker 5: And so like a goal of mine would be that

698
00:42:32,960 --> 00:42:36,000
Speaker 5: we are in by next year twenty cities that we

699
00:42:36,080 --> 00:42:38,520
Speaker 5: have twenty hubs that were able to have like a

700
00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:41,759
Speaker 5: national summit every single year where bgs from around the

701
00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:46,040
Speaker 5: country can come and network and build community, build collective power.

702
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:48,720
Speaker 5: I'd love for us to have a podcast like y'all

703
00:42:48,719 --> 00:42:52,560
Speaker 5: one Day to be able to explore these conversations, and

704
00:42:53,000 --> 00:42:55,760
Speaker 5: I'm going to put a quick plug. We are launching

705
00:42:55,760 --> 00:42:59,040
Speaker 5: our Hazel and Johnson Fellowship next summer, named after the

706
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:02,959
Speaker 5: mother of environment justice, Hazel and Johnson, look her up.

707
00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:08,759
Speaker 2: And we will be placing twelve to fifteen early career bges.

708
00:43:08,280 --> 00:43:13,600
Speaker 5: College students actually at ten week climate internships, and those

709
00:43:13,600 --> 00:43:17,120
Speaker 5: internships are across disciplines, so some of the placements actually,

710
00:43:17,200 --> 00:43:19,879
Speaker 5: for example, we're going to have an intern or two

711
00:43:20,000 --> 00:43:23,200
Speaker 5: at coach Topia, which is the sub brand of Coach

712
00:43:23,680 --> 00:43:26,879
Speaker 5: who is actually one of our leading funders for this

713
00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,600
Speaker 5: bellowship program. Or folks are going to be able to

714
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:32,880
Speaker 5: be at the forefront of the circular economy that's happening

715
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:35,319
Speaker 5: within the fashion industry and be able to learn from

716
00:43:35,360 --> 00:43:38,200
Speaker 5: experts that are quite literally leading that from like a

717
00:43:38,280 --> 00:43:40,640
Speaker 5: luxury brand perspective. We're also going to have folks that

718
00:43:40,680 --> 00:43:44,960
Speaker 5: are interning at grassroots environmental justice organizations, Folks that are

719
00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,680
Speaker 5: going to be working at the intersection of ESG and finance.

720
00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:53,040
Speaker 5: For example, finance is a space that has the fastest

721
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:57,200
Speaker 5: growing jobs in the green economy, but the least amount

722
00:43:57,239 --> 00:43:59,800
Speaker 5: of talent to fit that, so there's tons of potential

723
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,160
Speaker 5: like young Black women to get their bag in that

724
00:44:02,239 --> 00:44:04,920
Speaker 5: space and do go work. So like having more pathways

725
00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 5: for people to get their foot in the door to

726
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:11,240
Speaker 5: ultimately continue to have a career in climate and whatever

727
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,000
Speaker 5: discipline that you're in. So if that's something that you're

728
00:44:14,000 --> 00:44:18,319
Speaker 5: interested in, definitely make sure to follow so on Instagram,

729
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:22,480
Speaker 5: follow our website, and be on the lookout in the

730
00:44:22,520 --> 00:44:26,360
Speaker 5: next couple of months for the application, because this program

731
00:44:26,440 --> 00:44:30,080
Speaker 5: is going to be the first that it's kind for

732
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:33,480
Speaker 5: black women and black tenner or expansive young people to

733
00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:38,680
Speaker 5: be able to actually have black mentorship navigating the climate sector,

734
00:44:39,120 --> 00:44:40,440
Speaker 5: have a foot in the door and a lot of

735
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,520
Speaker 5: these institutions or placements that can be really difficult and

736
00:44:43,560 --> 00:44:47,560
Speaker 5: competitive to get in and have that direct entry in

737
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:51,640
Speaker 5: a way that's culturally competent and that also allows us

738
00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:55,600
Speaker 5: to create spaces for community to be built amongst the fellows.

739
00:44:55,960 --> 00:44:59,799
Speaker 1: That sounds amazing and I fully believe that BG will

740
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:03,920
Speaker 1: do so everything you just said in more. Do you

741
00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,840
Speaker 1: have any recommended podcasts our social media pages that we

742
00:45:07,880 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 1: should look into to deepen our knowledge of climate action?

743
00:45:11,280 --> 00:45:14,120
Speaker 5: I have a ton of suggestions. The first thing I

744
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:18,320
Speaker 5: want to shout out is a new show. Actually it

745
00:45:18,360 --> 00:45:23,239
Speaker 5: is called Wild Kingdom and it is a show that

746
00:45:24,239 --> 00:45:28,000
Speaker 5: actually ran for over forty years and is coming back

747
00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:31,759
Speaker 5: with a co host by the name of doctor raywnd Grant,

748
00:45:32,080 --> 00:45:35,080
Speaker 5: who is a friend of mine, a black woman that's

749
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:39,520
Speaker 5: leading in the space of wildlife conservation and she's just

750
00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:43,239
Speaker 5: like the sweetest person, the most intelligent person as well,

751
00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:46,359
Speaker 5: and I'm so excited to be able to celebrate her

752
00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:49,719
Speaker 5: on the big screen because, as we all know, we

753
00:45:49,840 --> 00:45:53,760
Speaker 5: don't often see black women in science communication, let alone

754
00:45:53,840 --> 00:45:55,600
Speaker 5: nature broadcasting.

755
00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,000
Speaker 2: So she's quite literally making history.

756
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:01,920
Speaker 5: So if you have some time to watch it, support

757
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:05,080
Speaker 5: As far as social media accounts, obviously, I'm going to

758
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:07,120
Speaker 5: tell you to follow Black Grow Environmentalist.

759
00:46:07,760 --> 00:46:08,520
Speaker 2: We are great.

760
00:46:08,719 --> 00:46:11,359
Speaker 5: We're always posting events that we're doing in person as

761
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:16,000
Speaker 5: well as just posting educational continent resources that are focused

762
00:46:16,239 --> 00:46:20,120
Speaker 5: particularly for gen z so college aged students as well.

763
00:46:20,960 --> 00:46:24,920
Speaker 5: Other folks that I would suggest to follow are from

764
00:46:24,960 --> 00:46:28,839
Speaker 5: the outdoorsy point of view. There's like High Club, which

765
00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:30,920
Speaker 5: is another incredible organization.

766
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:32,720
Speaker 2: It's an intersectional high.

767
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:37,560
Speaker 5: Club for women of color and they are really really great.

768
00:46:37,680 --> 00:46:40,960
Speaker 5: The founder, Evelyn is such a visionary and does so

769
00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:46,359
Speaker 5: much for community color the Trails is also a good organization.

770
00:46:46,680 --> 00:46:49,879
Speaker 5: Peace in the Wild is an incredible organization.

771
00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:53,239
Speaker 2: They are based in Atlanta, Georgia. So if you're in

772
00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:56,120
Speaker 2: the atl and you're looking for community.

773
00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,040
Speaker 5: We have a hub in atl too, but I'm gonna

774
00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:01,600
Speaker 5: put them on if you're looking for opportunities to do

775
00:47:01,719 --> 00:47:07,400
Speaker 5: fun outdoor activities. They put on really really incredible outdoor

776
00:47:07,600 --> 00:47:12,520
Speaker 5: experiences for black folks in this state of Georgia.

777
00:47:12,840 --> 00:47:14,560
Speaker 2: And yeah, they're really really cool.

778
00:47:14,880 --> 00:47:19,600
Speaker 5: As far as direct resources, I would really recommend. There's

779
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:23,319
Speaker 5: this book called Black Earth Wisdom is a collection of

780
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:28,080
Speaker 5: focal conversations with black environmentalists. It has a pretty intergenerational

781
00:47:28,239 --> 00:47:32,400
Speaker 5: set of experts that are essentially at the beginning, it

782
00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:36,080
Speaker 5: starts with giving a very very clear look into the

783
00:47:36,200 --> 00:47:40,319
Speaker 5: legacy of black women, in particular in our relationship with

784
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:44,520
Speaker 5: earth advocacy. Everyone from like Harriet Tubman as a naturalist,

785
00:47:44,640 --> 00:47:47,759
Speaker 5: as a wilderness expert, and making sure that we're like

786
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,440
Speaker 5: putting respect on her name, especially in the space of

787
00:47:51,480 --> 00:47:56,320
Speaker 5: wildlife conservation and nature and outdoors knowledge. She's one of

788
00:47:56,360 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 5: the ogs and should be understood as such. And this

789
00:47:59,239 --> 00:48:03,359
Speaker 5: book just steps such a good mix of historical accounts

790
00:48:03,400 --> 00:48:06,919
Speaker 5: to really be able to ground ourselves and our ancestry

791
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:12,400
Speaker 5: in this work, but also just beautiful words and conversations

792
00:48:12,440 --> 00:48:15,920
Speaker 5: from black folks across the diaspora.

793
00:48:15,440 --> 00:48:19,400
Speaker 2: That are incredible and are leading in this space. So

794
00:48:19,520 --> 00:48:21,200
Speaker 2: I would really recommend that book.

795
00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,560
Speaker 4: Thank you for sharing all of those. Where can we

796
00:48:24,680 --> 00:48:27,680
Speaker 4: keep up with you? What are your social media handles

797
00:48:27,760 --> 00:48:28,760
Speaker 4: and website?

798
00:48:29,280 --> 00:48:32,920
Speaker 2: Yeah? So I'm on Instagram and TikTok.

799
00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:39,040
Speaker 5: My instagram is huawa underscore getherro, so wa wa underscore

800
00:48:39,200 --> 00:48:42,160
Speaker 5: g A t h E r U and my TikTok

801
00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:46,319
Speaker 5: is that without underscore, So just Wawa get thero and Yeah,

802
00:48:46,360 --> 00:48:50,000
Speaker 5: feel free to follow me there tap in if you're interested,

803
00:48:50,320 --> 00:48:52,560
Speaker 5: and also reach out if you're interested in learning more

804
00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:54,040
Speaker 5: about getting into climate.

805
00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:58,240
Speaker 1: Thank you so much Fawa for meeting with us and

806
00:48:58,280 --> 00:49:01,120
Speaker 1: indulging me in all all the work that you do

807
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:04,000
Speaker 1: keep going. I'm so proud of the work that you're

808
00:49:04,040 --> 00:49:06,520
Speaker 1: doing and we need we need it so bad. So

809
00:49:06,600 --> 00:49:08,960
Speaker 1: thank you so much again for talking with me.

810
00:49:09,719 --> 00:49:11,879
Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate you. Thank you for having me out.

811
00:49:17,200 --> 00:49:19,279
Speaker 1: I want to thank wah Wah once again for joining

812
00:49:19,400 --> 00:49:22,319
Speaker 1: us for this episode. Class is over for now, but

813
00:49:22,640 --> 00:49:25,600
Speaker 1: before we dismiss take the following notes from my conversation

814
00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:29,120
Speaker 1: with Wahwah home with you. Find out if your university

815
00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:33,719
Speaker 1: has a stainability office on campus. If not, explore opportunities

816
00:49:33,719 --> 00:49:37,239
Speaker 1: with your professors to create one. Get involved with your

817
00:49:37,239 --> 00:49:40,960
Speaker 1: campus climate club or find a local one in your neighborhood.

818
00:49:41,480 --> 00:49:44,520
Speaker 1: Work with your family, friends, and neighbors to create a

819
00:49:44,520 --> 00:49:46,600
Speaker 1: climate plan in case of an emergency.

820
00:49:47,280 --> 00:49:48,600
Speaker 4: To learn more about the.

821
00:49:48,520 --> 00:49:51,120
Speaker 1: Work Wawah is doing, or to do more research on

822
00:49:51,120 --> 00:49:55,160
Speaker 1: this topic, be sure to visit Baarppoblackgirls dot com, slash

823
00:49:55,239 --> 00:49:59,400
Speaker 1: tvgu This episode was produced by Frieda. Lucas, Elise Ellis,

824
00:49:59,440 --> 00:50:02,400
Speaker 1: and Zaria Taylor. Editing is by Dennison L.

825
00:50:02,480 --> 00:50:03,040
Speaker 3: Bradford