Earth Day is here, which means it’s time to increase awareness of how to care for the planet. The only thing better than advocating for better Earth-preserving habits is doing so in community. With the abundance of Black women environmental educators intentionally disrupting online spaces, you’re in great company. This Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to dive deeper into climate justice, sustainable fashion habits, eco-conscious lifestyles, and other discourses that center a happier, healthier Earth.
Environmental literacy is the key to confidently looking after the planet and encouraging others to do so with you. Oftentimes, Black communities around the world are erased from conversations about climate injustice even when it impacts them the most or when they’ve been championing indigenous knowledge and practices to lessen environmental damage. Hurricane Katrina and the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi are just a few examples of climate injustices. Climate injustice is real, but Black women aren’t letting that conversation go unnoticed. As educators and advocates for higher understanding of environmental action, these educators are the ones to learn from. This 21Ninety list of 8 Black women environmental educators is the best starting place if you want to take action.
8 Black Women Environmental Educators To Follow
Wawa Gatheru
Wawa Gatheru is the Founder of Black Girl Environmentalist and a Rhodes Scholar. As a climate activist, Gatheru focuses on storytelling to make narratives of climate injustice mainstream. Black Girl Environmentalist is dedicated to empowering Black girls, women, and gender-expansive people with knowledge of environmental justice and practices.
Leah Thomas
Leah Thomas is the acclaimed author of ‘The Intersectional Environmentalist: How To Dismantle Systems Of Oppression To Protect People + Planet’. Being deeply committed to widening the conversation about exactly what environmentalist thinking is, Thomas wrote ‘All My Environmental Heroes Are Black Women’ in Vogue. Thomas also launched ‘Intersectional Environmentalist‘, a platform complete with resources for environmental justice.
Joycelyn Longdon
Joycelyn Longdon of Climate in Colour has dedicated years to educating folks on her interdisciplinary take on climate issues. Longdon founded Climate in Colour to explore the role of technology in justice-led tropical forest conservation. Beyond this, Longdon also held a Ted Talk titled ‘Can AI help us conserve nature fairly? ‘
Britt J
Britt J is a Climate Justice Educator who is teaching all ages and generations about the environmental topics of today. Educator Britt J encourages climate literacy in an accessible way, always championing clarity. Offering book recommendations and resources as well as personal experiences is what makes the platform so deeply valuable.
Gloria Walton
Gloria Walton is the CEO and President of The Solutions Project. The Solutions Project funds and amplifies climate justice solutions created by Black, Indigenous, immigrant, women, and communities of color. With community organizing as one of Walton’s many strengths, Walton received the Sustainability, Environment, and Climate Nonprofit Leader of the Year awards from Anthem Awards this year.
Victoria Whalen
Victoria Whalen is an Environmental Justice and Climate Activist who uses her platform to offer environmental knowledge where it is often inaccessible. Whalen is also a media fellow for Black Girl Environmentalist and is committed to highlighting OG Black women in the environmentalist space.
Jhánneu Roberts
Sustainability expert, entrepreneur, and speaker Jhánneu Roberts is another educator prompting thoughts on sustainability. She uses her platforms to share lifestyle tips and sustainable mindsets for eco-living. Roberts also shares slow and eco-travel advice to prompt an environmentally conscious way of wandering the Earth.
Armelle Ferguson
Sustainable fashion journalist Armelle Ferguson is dedicated to sharing what she knows about sustainable, slow, and conscious fashion. Making sustainability simple and stylish isn’t as hard as it seems with Ferguson’s content and articles. Having made a move to live in Guadeloupe in the Caribbean, Ferguson shares her experience of living sustainably in this new chapter of island living.