Black Lives and Racial Justice Matter Every Day

A Message of Support for Black Lives and Racial Justice From the HEFN Team

HEFN stands in solidarity with the call for justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor (who would have been 27 years old today) and Ahmaud Arbery and calls for action in support of the Movement for Black Lives.

We are in pain over the recent and long history of murders of Black and Brown people due to racism and systems of white supremacy and are sending you love and care in these difficult times.
 
A couple of months ago as the reality of the COVID-19 crisis settled in, it was no surprise to the many of us that have worked to eliminate the disproportionate impacts of toxics, pollution and other causes of health disparities that Black and Brown people are experiencing worse health outcomes due to COVID-19.
 
We are dismayed and angry as we witness and grapple with not only the unjust impacts of COVID on Black and Brown lives, but also the horrifying 8 minutes and 46 seconds leading up to George Floyd’s death. How engrained are the systems of white supremacy in our culture that a white woman in Central Park could use them to threaten Christian Cooper simply for #BirdingWhileBlack? 
 
But as we watch the throngs of people taking action in the streets, creating signs and art to breathe life into the movement for Black lives and racial justice, we have hope. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe we will have accountability. Maybe we can create NEW systems out of the calls for criminal justice reform and for racial justice.
 

And in the HEFN community, we have the power and the responsibility to take action to support the movements calling for these reforms. Below are several resources to support opportunities to be a funder ally for Black lives and racial justice every day.

This is our moment to focus our energies and ensure that HEFN’s mission to mobilize philanthropy to accelerate solutions for environmental health and justice is achieved.
 
In solidarity with the Movement for Black Lives,
 
Ansje Miller, Executive Director, on behalf of the HEFN Team
 
 

Webinars

Action and Communications

Resources on the Links Between Climate Action, the Energy Transition, and Racial Justice

Jacqueline Patterson, ColorLines'Hold My Earrings': Black Women Lead on Systemic Solutions in the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

Somini Sengupta, The New York TimesRead Up On the Links Between Racism and the Environment

Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, The Washington PostI’m a Black Climate Scientist: Racism Derails Our Efforts to Save the Planet.

Michael Brune, Sierra Club BlogWhat Love Looks Like in Public

Steven Lacey, Greentech MediaBreathing While Black: Structural Racism, Coronavirus and Pollution are Part of the Same Story. (Podcast)

Inside Climate News, As Protests Rage Over George Floyd’s Death, Climate Activists Embrace Racial Justice

PBS, Freedom to Breathe: Social Justice is Climate Justice (Video).

Marianne Lavelle, Inside Climate NewsBesieged by Protesters Demanding Racial Justice, Trump Signs Order Waiving Environmental Safeguards

Julian Brave NoiseCat, The NationHow to Survive an Apocalypse and Keep Dreaming

Michael Brune, Sierra Club BlogFrom Outrage to Justice.

Carolyn Finney, The GuardianThe Perils of Being Black in Public.

Mary Annaise Heglar, Guernica.  After the Storm.

Thomas Friedman, The New York TimesHow We Broke the Planet

Yessenia Funes, EartherPollution Is Racial Violence
 

Additional Reading

HEFN Member Statements in Support of Racial Justice

As You Sow Foundation

California Endowment

California Wellness Foundation

ClimateWorks Foundation

The Heinz Endowments

Joyce Foundation

Kresge Foundation

Liberty Hill Foundation

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Rockefeller Brothers Fund

W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Wallace Global Fund

Water Foundation

William Penn Foundation      


Recommended Reading

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