Audrea Lim: True Climate Justice Puts Communities of Color First

“The youth were part of a delegation from Philadelphia’s Soil Generation, a group of black, radical, urban farmers, and this was an act of street theater, organized by the national It Takes Roots coalition of grassroots environmental groups. Among them were indigenous, Appalachian, and immigrant activists, each performing the attacks and defense of their communities and environment. ‘This is what happens to young black men and women almost everywhere,’ explained Lambert. Their scene represented the most potent symbol of contemporary American racism: a young black man being brutalized by a cop. ‘We’re not just here for climate justice.’ So what does police brutality have to do with issues like carbon emissions, rising global temperatures, water pollution and government-by-oil-corporations that have dominated mainstream climate discourse?”