By Alexandra Greer, Alliance Intern from Fordham University ‘25
In honor of Black History Month, we are highlighting three of “15 Black Environmental Leaders to Follow“ featured in Yale Sustainability. They are helping to overcome “a long, sad history of Black Americans being marginalized within the environmental movement,” and being “excluded from participation in outdoor activities.” Carolyn Finney’s Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors, explores the impact of government policies, including how the 1862 Homestead Act kept opportunity and wealth gaps.
Genesis Butler is a “15-year-old environmental and animal rights activist and one of the youngest people to ever give a TEDx talk. Inspired by her great uncle, the civil rights leader Cesar Chavez, Genesis’ talk “A 10 year old’s vision for healing the planet” discusses the negative impact of animal agriculture on the environment,” according to Yale Sustainability. (Instagram: @genesisbutler_)
Jerome Foster II is a “member of President Biden’s Environmental Justice Advisory Council—the youngest White House advisor in US history. Foster is a leading voice for marginalized and working-class communities in spaces pushing for social, economic, and environmental justice. Foster is one of the major organizers of Fridays for Future, holding weekly climate strikes at the front gates of the White House for over 57 weeks. He previously served as a congressional intern (at the age of 16) for US Rep. John Lewis and served on the Washington, DC State Board of Education’s Advisory Council (at the age of 14),” shares Yale Sustainability. (Instagram: @jeromefosterii)
Alexis Nikole Nelson is an “American forager, cook, and internet personality based in Columbus, OH, who posts videos of her foraging finds on TikTok and Instagram, along with cooking techniques and historical information. Nelson sees foraging is way to connect with African American and Indigenous food traditions that many people were discouraged or actively prevented from accessing,” says Yale Sustainability. (Instagram: @blackforager)
We are celebrating these environmental activists who are opposing systematic adversity and advocating not only for the planet, but for the people who inhabit it. They are addressing the fact that low-income communities of color are disproportionately affected by climate change. They are empowering the Black community to overcome the burden, complexities and intersectionality embedded in the climate crisis.