Environmental justice is not a single-issue movement – it is impossible for it to be, due to the multiple environmental, social, racial and economic, climate and health issues faced by and in the Black community. This lies at the core of the National Black Environmental Justice Network’s (NBEJN) platform, which was announced recently. Our platform represents the depth and complexities of the work that our community organisations and members are engaged in.

NBEJN stands strong on the Principles of Environmental Justice that strengthen coalitions, alliances and collaborations, and the commitment to fight on multiple fronts to eradicate underlying conditions that create and perpetuate disparities and vulnerability and to dismantle systemic racism. Our work focuses on seven issue areas: environmental justice, climate justice, economic justice, education justice, racial and social justice, health justice and international solidarity.

‘Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples’, reads the fifth principle of environmental justice.

In order to do this work, NBEJN must be funded equitably and justly by philanthropy. Historically, Black-lead organisations (BLO) have struggled to receive funding, and if funding is received it is often times too little or too much required reporting time for what is given. As the United States is in the process of reckoning with the effect and demands to end systemic racism, so too must the philanthropy community be engaged.

Read the full article about environmental justice by Tina Johnson at Alliance Magazine.