Climate Justice Can't Happen Without Racial Justice

Positives

• David Lammy uses the slogan, "I can't breathe," to show the connection between the Black Lives Matter movement and environmental justice. He explains that the slogan could bring attention to the prevalence of pollution-related asthma in minority communities.
• Students will learn that environmental groups need to be more inclusive, especially at the leadership level.
• A transcript of the video is available in fifteen languages.

Additional Prerequisites

• Students should be familiar with the Black Lives Matter movement as well as the terms ecocide, colonialism, and environmental racism.

Differentiation

• Communications, journalism, and ethics classes could discuss the Associated Press' decision to crop the photograph from the World Economic Forum. Students could also reflect on Vanessa Nakate's response to being cropped out of the picture.
• Civics classes could analyze policies in different countries that address the issues raised in this video.
• Other resources on this topic include this article on environmental racism, this video on the disproportionately high asthma rates in the Bronx, this video on how systemic racism leads to fewer trees in cities, and this SubjectToClimate Lesson on redlining and environmental racism.