MLK Day of Service is right around the corner! Every year, the Friends of the Richmond Greenway (FORG) put on a celebration where community members come together to volunteer, enjoy a hot meal, and reflect on Dr. King’s legacy.
The Civil Rights Movement, championed by figures like Dr. King, directly inspired some of our country’s first environmental justice movements. Civil rights and environmental justice are inseparable, as negative impacts on the environment, like air pollution or industrial development, disproportionately impact marginalized communities.
In particular, Richmond has a long history of grassroots environmental justice activism. Pioneers like Dr. Henry Clark, Torm Nompraseurt, and Lillie Mae Jones paved the way for future environmental work in West County.
Born and raised in the shadow of the Chevron oil refinery, Dr. Clark was active in the Black power movement as well as the environmental justice movement. He fought for clean air and water by organizing decades of community action against Chevron's blatant pollution of North Richmond.
Torm Nompraseurt, a senior community organizer for the Asian and Pacific Environmental Network, advocated for multilingual warning systems and pollution mitigation, leading to more equitable disaster services for Richmond’s southeast Asian communities.
Lillie Mae Jones advocated for the abandoned Santa Fe railway be transformed into a public park, imagining a green space that would provide respite for her community. Her vision and activism led to the creation of the Richmond Greenway and FORG, and her legacy lives on in the organizations and community members that continue to steward the Greenway today.
Guided by the vision that these Richmond environmental leaders embody, the CCRCD stewards an Adopt-A-Spot along the Greenway. Our pollinator garden provides habitat for some of our smallest community members- insects, bees, butterflies, and birds - while inviting our (human) neighbors to learn about plants and insects native to the area. We hope that our garden reflects the beauty, interconnectedness, and “Beloved Community” that Dr. King envisioned.
This MLK Day on January 19th, the CCRCD, Earth Team, and Paula Kristovich will be hosting volunteers to clean up litter, paint signs, and maintain our 8th Street gardens. Come join us!
To learn more about the event, visit this link.
To sign up to volunteer with us, visit this link.
For additional questions, please email jmackey@ccrcd.org.
