[Communities of color are not just victims of climate
change—they are powerful leaders in the fight against it. ]
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LOCAL COMMUNITIES ARE ON THE FRONTLINES OF CLIMATE JUSTICE  
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Alvaro Sanchez and Olatunji Oboi Reed
April 20, 2023
The Progressive
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_ Communities of color are not just victims of climate change—they
are powerful leaders in the fight against it. _

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While climate change affects us all, its impact on communities of
color is particularly severe due to decades of environmental
injustice
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racism
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From higher instances
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toxic air pollution to food deserts
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the lack of affordable housing
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communities of color bear the brunt of climate-related impacts with
the least amount of resources to adapt and respond. This is the result
of decades of unequal, top-down infrastructure funding
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lingering effects of redlining
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But these communities are not just victims of climate change—they
are powerful leaders in the fight against it. When it comes to the
existential threat posed by climate change, communities of color are
drawing on their deep knowledge of their own neighborhoods and their
resilience to build a more sustainable future. 

While climate action at the global and national levels is essential,
funding climate projects at the grassroots allows communities to tap
into the unique needs, resources and cultures of the people they
serve. With the Biden Administration’s federal investments
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climate action and the wave of private capital
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being directed to fund climate initiatives, we must fund
community-based climate projects to ensure the communities most in
need actually benefit from these investments. 

One program, Greenlining the Block
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shows just how this can be done. Created by The Greenlining Institute,
the program is designed to ensure that communities of color who have
historically been excluded from decision-making processes can leverage
infrastructure investments in their neighborhoods. 

Announced in January
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Greenlining the Block is a multi-year initiative to center community
voices and connect them with institutional support as they lead their
own innovative climate initiatives on the ground. Through the program,
Greenlining will work with community-based organizations to provide
direct annual grants, capacity building support, technical assistance,
and peer-to-peer learning alongside other partner organizations. 

Equiticity [[link removed]], a racial equity movement
based in Chicago, is one of the cohort members of Greenlining the
Block, and demonstrates the ingenuity of communities of color to
address climate change at the grassroots. Equiticity is improving
transportation with its project, The Go Hub Community Mobility Center
in Chicago’s North Lawndale, a predominantly Black neighborhood. The
area has long experienced severe transportation issues and suffered
dramatic environmental degradation, following years of redlining and
pollution. 

This April, as we continue to celebrate Earth Month, we call on
everyone invested in finding solutions to the climate crisis to
support the work of community organizations that are leading the fight
against climate change at the neighborhood level. Like a stone thrown
into a pond, the effects will ripple outward.

_Alvaro Sanchez is vice president of policy at the Greenlining
Institute. Follow him on LinkedIn or Twitter._

_Olatunji Oboi Reed is the president and CEO at Equiticity._

_This column was produced for the Progressive Perspectives
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magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service._

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