Black 2 Just Transition

Introduction

The East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC) and the Climate Justice Alliance teamed up for the Black 2 Just Transition Assembly & Training, that brought together 60+ organizers from November 8-12, 2018 in Detroit. For decades, Detroit has been home to some of the worst environmental injustices in the U.S., while also being a historic hub for visionary, black liberation struggles and organized resistance. Together, we examined systemic change pathways away from destructive industries towards models that center the health, well-being and self-determination of communities.

Our trainings centered the lessons, principles & practices of Black Liberation, Indigenous sovereignty, healing, environmental justice and other allied struggles for decolonization.

Assembly and Training Goals

• Convene up to 60 allied community organizers from around the US
• Establish a Just Transition political education hub for black and POC organizers in the Midwest that focuses on the intersections of environmental justice, climate change, black liberation and solidarity economies.
• Create an intergenerational, organizing space for black youth leadership development that brings together youth, adults, and a council of elders to build relationships, political alignment and strategy
• Develop organizing models that allow us to have strategic conversations on black liberation, black and brown mutuality and solidarity, and community self-determination, in ways that “de-silo” our issues.
• Provide space for Healing Justice and Participant Care throughout the convening
• Provide co-learning, creative space for African American, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian-Pacific Islander & Arabic people to share our cultures

Click here to apply for Black 2 Just Transition

Read and share the article Black Communities Must Be at the Center of the Environmental Movement.