Author: DeJuan Cross

Energy poverty is the lack of access to reliable energy, and energy insecurity stems from the lack of affordability and a higher energy burden due to cost, infrastructure, and more. In the midst of a pandemic disproportionately impacting low income and people of color, a federal mandate on energy shut offs would have averted almost 15% of COVID-19 deaths (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2021). In this episode, Rev Yearwood speaks with Shalanda Baker, the deputy director for energy justice in the Department of Energy. Shalanda shares with us her living journey and what prepared her to lead the fight for energy justice. The impact of allocating resources and including environmental justice communities in the restructuring plans. They also speak about the demand for energy justice being equitable for Black and Brown people as we move from fossil fuels to electrification.

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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The climate movement has missed its chance to intersect with other fights for equality since the 1960s. The Environmental Justice movement has been treated like an unwanted stepchild during this time. The stakes are high now, and fossil fuel companies’ business plan leads to a death sentence for our people.  The Coolest Show speaks with Climate Justice writer Mary Annaïse Heglar and journalist Amy Westervelt, host of the Hot Takes Podcast.  We discuss religion in the climate space and the differences of where people draw faith doing this work.

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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This Good Friday, The Coolest Show presents a difficult discussion intersecting Climate, Religion, Family, and Race. Rev Yearwood speaks with Anna Jane Joyner, the founder of the Good Energy Project and co-host of the No Place Like Home podcast.  Anna Jane is also the daughter of Rick Joyner, an evangelical preacher who has called for white evangelicals to arm themselves against Liberals. Anna Jane gives us a personal account of who her father is and where she draws the line between family ties and activism for people of color.

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Environmental Liberation is a movement for and by Black people. Nature is an integral part of African spiritual systems, and the extractive systems of global racial capitalism disconnect Black people from their essence. This week on The Coolest Show, we speak with Ayana Albertini-Fleurant, the Co-executive director and policy director, and Jaylin Ward, the diaspora engagement director at Generation Green. They share with Rev Yearwood the roots and significance of Environmental Liberation while giving insight into the Generation Green team, reconnecting with nature, and their mission to shine a light on the EJ movement’s intersections.

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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In the words of Leah Thomas, “Intersectional Environmentalism would not exist without environmental justice… They work together really harmoniously.” Leah Thomas is the founder of Intersectional Environmentalism and Green Girls Co. Leah Shares with Rev the targeting of Black environmentalists with wokewashing, the need for cannabis reparations, and the environmental movement historically ignoring the intersectionality of other movements.

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Black people are environmentalists. Eco-conscious and zero-waste lifestyles are inherently Black and Indigenous. While the climate and environmental movement is labeled progressive, it is failing to ensure that our climate future centers Black lives. Wanjiku “WaWa” Gatheru is the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist. WaWa shares with us her research on colorism as a barrier to the outdoors, destroying green ceilings, and creating spaces that center BIPOC folx. 

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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There has been disinvestment in Black and brown communities. You can see how a city treats its people by exploring the environment. Resources tend to show up in these communities as the neighborhoods become gentrified. Better stores, cleaner streets, parks, and upgraded schools are usually a by-product of this upscaling. Kerene Tayloe is the Director of Federal Legislative Affairs at WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT). Kerene shares with us WE ACT’s history of educating the community, the importance of bringing community leaders to the table for city planning processes, and creating legislation that will outlast presidential administrations.

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Sanitation is a nation-wide issue for rural communities. America’s dirty secret is that there are third-world conditions in the richest country in the world. Lowndes County, Alabama is home to the original Black Panther Party, also known as the Lowndes County Freedom Party. 34 percent of its residents tested positive for hookworm, known as a disease of poverty. Catherine Coleman Flowers, a native to Lowndes County and founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice (CREEJ), was cultivated and inspired by her community to begin her activism at a young age. Tune in to hear the sacred meaning of water, how women of color have led movements, and why it’s important to tell our stories.

The Coolest Show – brought to you by Hip Hop Caucus Think 100% PODCASTS – drops new episodes every Monday on environmental justice and how we solve the climate crisis. Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com! Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood on Instagram, Twitter, and Instagram.

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 We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis.  In this 4th and final part of this special series, after visiting Long Beach, Kansas City, and Chicago, we now take a national view. And we dive into the question of why and how poor Black and brown people can and can’t move freely within cities and within our country. 

Part 4 of the Transportation Series features Darnell Grisby, the Executive Director of TransForm and a national thought leader in transportation policy and the mobility justice movement. Highways are one of the most racist monuments in American history. When we talk about where and how transportation is sited, we must address the legacy of racist policies and practices created to segregate and disenfranchise communities. Transportation justice is about abolishing pollution in communities, it is also very much about the privilege of mobility, and Darnell Grisby expertly breaks it all down for us in this final episode of this special series.

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com!Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100

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We are back with a special 4-part series on transportation justice, trucking, and the climate crisis. Part 3 of this series lands us in the Chicago region, where North America’s largest inland port is just 40 miles southwest of the city. Approximately 3.5% of America’s GDP flows through this area, yet resources are purposely withheld from the community. While industry seeks to pit laborers against the community, leaders like Roberto Clack, the Associate Director of Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ), and Kimberly Wasserman, the Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), are tackling transportation justice as a united front with warehouse workers, labor unions, and environmental justice activists.

In this special 4-part series we explore transportation challenges and solutions for which dynamic leaders in frontline communities are fighting. Listen to this episode and the other three in this series. We focus on how the larger movement as well as the new administration can take action now to protect and uplift working class Black and brown communities while putting a meaningful dent in our climate pollution emissions. Transportation and warehousing are a fundamental part of the nation’s economy and one of the most significant contributors to the climate crisis. Trucks make up only 4% of vehicles on the road but contribute a baffling 90% of nitrogen oxide and diesel vehicle emissions. We see this reality in neighborhoods near highways, ports, and inland ports across the nation. Racist interstate planning makes Black and brown people most vulnerable to this pollution, elevating cancer risk and lowering life expectancy. 

Listen and subscribe here or at TheCoolestShow.com!Follow @Think100Climate and @RevYearwood. #BlackLivesMatter  #ClimateJustice  #Think100

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