BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia

For decades, the environmental and climate justice spaces have been predominantly spearheaded by white activists and institutions, even as Black, Brown, and immigrant communities experience the brunt of climate change’s impact. The resulting exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color’...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Stephanie Cho, LP Green, Marianne Chung, Julia Lee-Hong, Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The University of Alabama 2025-01-01
Series:Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
Subjects:
Online Access:https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/685
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841554084216176640
author Stephanie Cho
LP Green
Marianne Chung
Julia Lee-Hong
Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez
author_facet Stephanie Cho
LP Green
Marianne Chung
Julia Lee-Hong
Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez
author_sort Stephanie Cho
collection DOAJ
description For decades, the environmental and climate justice spaces have been predominantly spearheaded by white activists and institutions, even as Black, Brown, and immigrant communities experience the brunt of climate change’s impact. The resulting exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color’s (BIPOC) experiences, perspectives, and leadership from environmental policy and conservation work has created significant blind spots that further perpetuate inequality (Jones, 2020). In a moment of reckoning, the historically white-led environmental and climate justice movements have begun to acknowledge the exclusion of people of color and its detrimental effects on BIPOC peoples and the movement overall. In order to rectify this exclusion, communities of color must be centered in movement strategy going forward. Furthermore, before community advocacy organizations and community members can advocate for and enact policies and other political decisions on behalf of these communities, we must first ask them what environmental harm has looked like and what solutions they need as we look toward the future. Toward that end, Democracy Lab South and partners conducted the first and only multilingual statewide environmental justice survey of Georgia’s BIPOC and immigrant communities in 2022. This survey establishes a baseline understanding of these communities’ current perceptions, needs, practices, and potential localized solutions. It is our hope that the survey and resulting policy report will serve as a catalyst for building a robust statewide environmental movement that centers those most affected by climate and environmental issues.
format Article
id doaj-art-0f14df932fcf49be97e2cf2c5cb1ce46
institution Kabale University
issn 1944-1207
2837-8075
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher The University of Alabama
record_format Article
series Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
spelling doaj-art-0f14df932fcf49be97e2cf2c5cb1ce462025-01-08T20:12:38ZengThe University of AlabamaJournal of Community Engagement and Scholarship1944-12072837-80752025-01-0117310.54656/jces.v17i3.685BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in GeorgiaStephanie Cho0LP Green1Marianne Chung2Julia Lee-Hong3Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6627-1899Democracy Lab SouthDemocracy Lab SouthReimagine CollectiveReimagine CollectiveKennesaw State UniversityFor decades, the environmental and climate justice spaces have been predominantly spearheaded by white activists and institutions, even as Black, Brown, and immigrant communities experience the brunt of climate change’s impact. The resulting exclusion of Black, Indigenous, and other people of color’s (BIPOC) experiences, perspectives, and leadership from environmental policy and conservation work has created significant blind spots that further perpetuate inequality (Jones, 2020). In a moment of reckoning, the historically white-led environmental and climate justice movements have begun to acknowledge the exclusion of people of color and its detrimental effects on BIPOC peoples and the movement overall. In order to rectify this exclusion, communities of color must be centered in movement strategy going forward. Furthermore, before community advocacy organizations and community members can advocate for and enact policies and other political decisions on behalf of these communities, we must first ask them what environmental harm has looked like and what solutions they need as we look toward the future. Toward that end, Democracy Lab South and partners conducted the first and only multilingual statewide environmental justice survey of Georgia’s BIPOC and immigrant communities in 2022. This survey establishes a baseline understanding of these communities’ current perceptions, needs, practices, and potential localized solutions. It is our hope that the survey and resulting policy report will serve as a catalyst for building a robust statewide environmental movement that centers those most affected by climate and environmental issues.https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/685climate justiceenvironmental justiceBIPOCminoritiesimmigrantsGeorgia
spellingShingle Stephanie Cho
LP Green
Marianne Chung
Julia Lee-Hong
Darlene Xiomara Rodriguez
BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship
climate justice
environmental justice
BIPOC
minorities
immigrants
Georgia
title BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
title_full BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
title_fullStr BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
title_full_unstemmed BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
title_short BIPOC Community Perspectives on Environmental Justice in Georgia
title_sort bipoc community perspectives on environmental justice in georgia
topic climate justice
environmental justice
BIPOC
minorities
immigrants
Georgia
url https://account.jces.ua.edu/index.php/s-j-jces/article/view/685
work_keys_str_mv AT stephaniecho bipoccommunityperspectivesonenvironmentaljusticeingeorgia
AT lpgreen bipoccommunityperspectivesonenvironmentaljusticeingeorgia
AT mariannechung bipoccommunityperspectivesonenvironmentaljusticeingeorgia
AT julialeehong bipoccommunityperspectivesonenvironmentaljusticeingeorgia
AT darlenexiomararodriguez bipoccommunityperspectivesonenvironmentaljusticeingeorgia