On Thursday, March 9th David Chang along with his colleague Taylor came in and talked to our grade about Environmental Justice and what We Act does. I had emailed them before asking if they were available to come in and finally, we organized a time when both we were available as well as them being available.
It is well-documented that some of the most polluted environments in America are where people of color live, work, play, and pray. WE ACT was started in 1988 when three fearless community leaders saw that environmental racism was rampant in their West Harlem neighborhood, and they demanded community-driven political change. Today, the organization has grown to over 16 staff members and 2 locations in NYC and Washington, D.C., and is considered an active and respected participant in the national Environmental Justice Movement.
WE ACT’s mission is to build healthy communities by ensuring that people of color and/or low-income residents participate meaningfully in the creation of sound and fair environmental health and protection policies and practices.
David and Taylor both work for We Act and before coming to our grade to talk they also just presented at a college in NYC. They had made a presentation just for my grade and it looked phenomenal. Unlike many speakers that my grade has brought in, David and Taylor were interactive always interacting with my fellow students. They often asked us to turn and talk about what we thought something meant and then we came back and talked as a whole and they asked about what we talked about. Their presentation was full of beautiful visuals and I think that they really got the message across to my grade. Our goal for their presentation was for them to explain what We Act does and to explain what environmental justice is. Before David and Taylor, no one knew in my grade what environmental justice was but after they left I asked some people if they understood now and everyone who I asked said yes. David and Taylor also explained things like in 2010 We Act and partners successfully pass state legislation and banning BPA chemicals in children’s products. Also, in 2014 thanks to We Acts efforts they were able to open nation’s first green bus depot. In 2016 We Act successfully passed state legislation requiring lead tests in every public school in NY state. Overall, David and Taylor did a great job and I am really happy that we first came in contact with David, without him and We Act our project would be nowhere.
