We Can Be Podcast - The Heinz Endowments

Communities of color breathe in nearly 40 percent more polluted air than white communities, and African-American children are three times as likely to suffer an asthma attack. And that’s just the tip of the environmental racism iceberg.   While these are undeniably stark statistics, they are being addressed head on by Jacqueline Patterson, the senior director of the NAACP’s Environmental and Climate Justice Program., and coordinator & co-founder of Women of Color United. Jacqui joins host Grant Oliphant for this new episode of “We Can Be.”   As a nationally-respected expert in the field of environmental justice for black and brown people who heads the NAACP’s largest program, Jacqui brings attention and a demand for action to the intersection of human rights and the environment. Before joining the national office of the NAACP in 2009, she lent her considerable energy to advocacy work for women’s rights, those affected by HIV & AIDS, and racial and economic justice.   In this episode, she shares