Environmental activism as a formal movement began in the last decades of the 20th century. A number of precipitating incidents, driven by the progressive atmosphere of the era, deemed it time to focus on the consequences of climate change, pollution, and conservation in general.
Earth Day, officially April 22, is especially significant in Los Angeles, particularly among its people of color. The Earth Day theme from 2025 is replicated this year. Renowned for its temperate climate and picturesque scenery, Los Angeles is recognized globally consistently as one of the world’s most congested cities. Overcrowding means increased stress, confinement in spaces suitable for growth of infectious diseases, and various types of pollution.
California’s liberal push for conservation is consistently at odds with its need for power to satisfy its world-class economy. Thus, the quest for environmental improvement will always be at odds with the desire for an upscale, consumer-driven lifestyle.
Initially perceived as the concern of the affluent, environmental concerns took a secondary place behind the pressing concerns of discrimination and racism. Over the decades, diversity and progress have enlightened the diaspora, leading to the realization that these concerns are the bastion for everyone, including Black people, if not more so.
As Mayor Karen Bass said as recently as 2023, “Climate change is real. Climate change is here. And climate change is a threat to all of us.
Environmentalism is increasingly becoming a part of the activist diaspora, including the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN) and the venerated NAACP.
These are compelling factors to embrace and observe Earth Day by people of color.
Society’s Life Blood/Addiction
“Ten years from now, twenty years from now, you will see; oil will bring us ruin. Oil is the Devil’s excrement.”
— a prophetic 1975 speech by Venezuelan oil minister Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, principal founder of OPEC.
Los Angeles and the oil industry evolved in parallel during the 20th century, both growing together alongside the proliferation of mechanization, particularly automobiles. As the century progressed, petroleum producers simultaneously benefited from its growth and faced problems it presented largely tied to health and the environment.
Oil production and its “side effects” hit the collective consciousness around the same time. In January of 1969, issues persisted with the Union Oil disaster in Santa Barbara. The blowout and explosion dumped some three million gallons of crude oil off the pristine coast of what was called “The American Riviera.” Later that year, the Cuyahoga River outside Cleveland, Ohio, literally burst into flames from the concentration of pollutants on June 22, 1969, punctuating the need to address this growing problem.
These events prompted mobilization across the country during the remainder of the year. The following year through the efforts of activist Denis Hayes, Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), and especially the United Auto Workers (UAW), the first official Earth Day was held on April 22, 1970.
The rest of the decade saw increased politicization by Middle Eastern oil producers, prompted by economic pressure against Israel and Western countries that supported it.
Increasing its presence was the newly conceived organization called OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which eventually became a force for stabilizing the world market for oil while maintaining a profit margin. Those of a certain age remember the lines of cars waiting to purchase gas as OPEC asserted its control over America’s thirst for petrol.
People of Color are most at Risk
“The rain makes running pools in the gutter. The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night. And I love the rain.”
— Langston Hughes, “April Rain Song”
Southern California was a major source for drilling during the industrialization of the 20th century. The remnants of this history are evident by the presence of oil derricks—dormant and still functioning—scattered throughout the county. The residue from this lucrative past is just a portion of the contaminants that plague millennial health.
Aside from other myriad advantages, North America has the distinction of being the subject of academic research and scrutiny, more so than any other region of the earth. The lion’s share of these studies indicate that socioeconomic status inhibits the choices of areas in which to live.
This segment of the populace is relegated to areas with higher concentrations of toxins, among them phthalates (or EDCs). Phthalates are a group of manmade chemicals that have been used industrially since the 1920s. They are commonly used to plasticize manufactured objects, ranging from flooring, consumer goods, food packaging, medical devices, and especially toys. They are regularly found in fast food as food additives and in the synthetic gloves and packaging for the chicken nuggets and burritos so popular among American consumers.
Among the myriad health risks they present are neurological disorders (ADHD, autism, and lower IQs), reproductive issues (delayed puberty, lower fertility rates, and sperm counts), and scores of varieties of cancer.
At any rate, residents of Black communities, here and in the U.S., are dramatically exposed to phthalates—endocrine-disrupting chemicals—compared to white populations, particularly because of the high concentration of fast food establishments in the inner city. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has found African Americans have, on average, higher levels of this synthetic in their bodies than the general public. This is particularly true of children aged six through eleven.
Areas most impacted include the San Fernando Valley’s Pacoima and the Los Angeles/Long Beach port area, places that boast a high percentage of Black and Brown residents.
However, California pollution has its own unique form of democracy. These included cleverly disguised oil wells, such as a tower at the intersection of Pico and Robertson containing 40 wells, designed to look like a synagogue. Beverly Hills High School had its own, similarly disguised well on campus (now removed) that provided the school with tens of millions of dollars (along with carcinogenic toxins related to Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia) during its 90-year tenure. Outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom has made it a priority to regulate oil production during the course of his administration.
Rain is water in its purest form when it hits the ground, where it is contaminated by bacteria, dirt, fertilizer, oil, pesticides, and other impurities. All of these pollutants eventually wind up in storm drains that spill out into the Santa Monica Bay, which in turn is distributed among beachfront communities, the most affluent in L.A. County, which in turn is among the most expensive real estate in the world.
This just reaffirms the reality that ecology remains a concern for all of us, regardless of economic status or social class.
Everyone can do something
“The climate emergency is a race we are losing, but it is a race we can win.”
— Secretary-general of the United Nations António Guterres, at the Climate Action Summit in 2019
Earth Day is built upon the premise that no gesture is too small to contribute to our collective effort to improve the planet. Individual gestures might include the reduction of plastics, saving energy by turning off lights and regulating air conditioning and heating, and picking up trash within the community, especially along waterways.
Those who are a little more ambitious can go further by venturing into the backyard to do a little gardening. Kenyan Nobel laureate and Green Belt Movement founder Wangari Maathai once said “Until you dig a hole, you plant a tree, you water it and make it survive, you haven’t done a thing. You are just talking.”
For an Afrocentric way to observe this increasingly important holiday, the Seeds of Unity Festival will be held on April 18 between 11AM and 3PM at Harvard Park, 1535 West 62nd Street, in South Los Angeles. The event will feature free food, live music, plant pottery classes, and an assortment of outside vendors. The theme for this particular festival, now in its fifth year, is appropriately enough, “Rooted and Rising in South Central.”
Continuing their push to reduce our collective carbon footprint, L.A. Metro and other local transit agencies are promoting free rides on April 22 to minimize emissions throughout the LA Basin.
For more information on this topic, visit www.earthday.org.