Majora Carter
Majora Carter
Founder
Sustainable South Bronx
Majora Carter was born and raised in the South Bronx, a place known both as the birthplace of hip-hop and as one of the poorest and most polluted neighborhoods in the country. When Majora moved back to the borough as a graduate student, she realized many of the neighborhood’s problems were directly linked to environmental conditions. "I got to know my community not as the blighted cesspool the media portrayed…but simply as my poor Latino and Black community that had been used as an environmental sacrifice zone for decades," she says. Majora began working with other environmental organizations in the South Bronx, empowering fellow residents to improve their local environment. Her enduring commitment to South Bronx projects and her ability to overcome political and economic threats to the local environment have garnered national attention; she was featured in Bill Clinton’s book
Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World and was selected as a torchbearer for the 2008 Beijing Olympics; she was forcibly ejected from the relay for holding the Tibetan flag along with her torch. Majora is currently working with renowned green activists as chair of the advisory council for "Green for All," a national campaign committed to building an inclusive "green economy" strong enough to lift people out of poverty. She believes the United States can fight poverty and pollution at the same time if we commit to providing job training and entrepreneurial opportunities in the emerging green economy for people from disadvantaged communities.
Majora founded Sustainable South Bronx in 2001, an organization that pursues environmental justice through innovative projects. The organization promotes sustainable building practices and green spaces and runs a green-collar jobs training and placement system. She has also started the Majora Carter Group, a consulting firm that connects municipalities, businesses, and communities to unlock their green-collar potential. Majora holds a BA in film studies from Wesleyan University, an MFA in English and creative writing from New York University, and two honorary PhDs. She was listed as one of the 25 most influential African Americans by Essence Magazine in 2007, and one of the New York Post’s most influential women in New York City for the past two years. Majora was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2005.
For more on Majora Carter:
Environment = Quality
By Tim Knauss, Syracuse Post-Standard
September 30, 2008
Environmental Activist Presents 'Greening the Ghetto'
By Kayla Kitts, Tennessee Journalist
September 23, 2008
Bringing 'Green Collar' Jobs to the South Bronx
By Melissa Checker, Gotham Gazette
August 19, 2008
Green Roofs Cool Cities, Combat Climate Change, Say Germans
By Mark Wickstead, CNN
June 26, 2008
Interview-Majora Carter
CNN.com
June 6, 2008
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