With evidence that climate change will most significantly harm people of color, the fights for climate action and racial justice are inextricably linked. Donald Trump is a threat to both.
Got Green is a local environmental justice organization led by people of color and focused on ground-up organizing. Mo! Avery, the program organizer for Got Green’s Young Leaders in the Green Movement program, says grassroots work will become even more necessary “if we don’t have allies in the federal government.”
Got Green’s work starts with asking affected communities in Seattle what they need and then organizing to make it happen. When Avery and others were trying to figure out what type of young adult program to undertake, for example, Avery assumed college access would be a priority. But when the group talked to young Seattleites, they heard that they knew the importance of going to college but had trouble undertaking unpaid internships to get the necessary experience to actually get a job when they were out of school. So, Got Green focused on green apprenticeship and jobs programs. The organization successfully lobbied the City of Seattle for priority hire legislation to hire more apprentices and workers from low-income communities on city projects.
In the coming years, the organization plans a food access campaign, including a possible city tax on sugary foods to fund subsidies for healthy food in low-income parts of the city. Got Green will also undertake a campaign focused on gentrification and housing, but is still talking to affected communities about specifics. Donations fund organizing work on these campaigns.
“The work we do in low income communities need to be a priority,” Avery says. “And they need to be listened to, especially with an administration coming in that doesn’t seem to have any belief in that.”
Donate Here: gotgreenseattle.org/donate