What do diversity deficit disorder, environmental pollution and young people of color have to teach global citizens? Charles Orgbon, founder of Greening Forward, declares, “Race determines where the landfills are put, trees are planted, and factories are built.” Over-policed and over-polluted, young people stand up to institutional racism for a more sustainable world for us all.
Awarded the Captain Planet Foundation Superhero for Earth award, Charles Orgbon focuses on how the environmental movement can remain relevant for people of color and act as a vehicle for delivering positive change for a healthy, overpopulated planet. As a gay teen, Charles supports young people, ages 5-25, through the NGO he founded, Greening Forward, raising over $120,000 for kids’ enviro projects. Eight years ago, Orgbon III believed he could free the world of litter when he was only 12-years-old. To date, the senior at the University of Georgia has led a global effort of 2,000 young people planting trees, saving natural resources, revitalizing habitats, and recycling waste. He asks, “How can the environmental movement remain relevant to communities of color?” With resistance in the environmental community to having the “race talk.” he is at the intersection between social and environmental issues. “Racism kills quickly (the police), Racism kills slowly, insidiously (pollution.)”
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx
