Blog

Public Green Spaces: Racism, Heat, and Barriers to Access

By Emma Urofsky & Robbie M Parks Public green spaces are cornerstones of our communities. Some, like Central Park, have become cultural icons, distinguishing landmarks. Beyond their aesthetic appeal, public green spaces also confer health benefits to those who make

Embracing Beauty Inside Out: My Journey to Clean Beauty

As I sat in the beauty salon chair, flinching from the sensation of the heat over my edges, I repeated to myself, “beauty is pain and pain is beauty.” That was the affirmation of an 11-year old girl who believed

Earth Day at 50: Reflections from Three Environmental Leaders

1) What does Earth Day mean to you? “I have never been sure what eco-feminism means but when I think of Earth Day, I think of women sheroes like Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai who said, ‘Although this prize comes

Online Learning Opportunities: A Guide to Digital Environmental Justice Education in the Age of COVID-19

In February 2020, Sloan Award for Excellence winning high school teacher Dr. Jared Fox reached out to WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT) to plan our annual Youth Environmental Health and Justice Leadership Training (EHJLT) with his students

General Grant Houses Dispatch, Early April 2020

I’m crouching down and leaning sideways to have a clear view outside my living room window. If I kneel down, and scrunch down, I can catch a refreshing breeze. Next, I try to catch a glimpse of the wide view

Enforcing the Law for Healthier Homes

Why We Need New York City to Enforce Local Law 55 of 2018 Sokhna Seye and Temera Degroot, high school students attending The Beacon School, are concerned about the enforcement of Local Law No. 55 of 2018. This New

WE ACT in Albany: Healthy Homes for NYCHA

As part of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Land and Healthy Homes Coalition, WE ACT for Environmental Justice staff and six members of our Healthy Homes Working Group traveled to Albany on March 11, 2019 to advocate for

WE ACT on Capitol Hill

On February 26-27, 2019, WE ACT and fellow environmental justice champions from around the country visited Washington, D.C. to elevate our concerns about the myriad of environmental and health issues disproportionately affecting low-income communities and communities of color. In particular,

Reflecting on MLK’s Dream of Conquering Materialism by Creating Healthier Communities and Good Jobs

A year before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. warned us that “when machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism are incapable of

What would happen to health and housing in NYC if tenants had as much power as landlords?

New York City is in the throes of one of the worst housing crises in generations. Affordability is plummeting, displacement and homelessness have reached record levels, and the severe public health consequences of the living conditions that feed gentrification will