Monday, December 15, 2008

Majora Carter - Rosa Parks of the Green Movement?

The Green Power Broker - NYTimes.com This is an interesting article. Many of you by now are familiar with Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx, co-founder of Green for All and a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. Van Jones, another prominent black and green activist and author, is calling her the Rosa Parks of the green movement. Rosa Parks? I had to pause for a moment to reflect on that powerful comparison. After pondering on the actions of Rosa Parks, I agree that there are definitely some similarities, though I think the stakes were a lot higher personally for Mrs. Parks. Majora definitely did put herself out there and became a strong voice for environmental change and action in the South Bronx. She has since extended her reach way beyond the boundaries of New York, having recently returned from Stockholm and the Artic (with former President Jimmy Carter). Her acting and film degrees have paid off as well, as she is also making the rounds on network and cable television. You go girl! Interestingly enough, it was her stint with unemployment and return to living with the parents that led to her involvement as a volunteer with South Bronx community groups. Talk about making lemonade out of lemons! What is funny, is that on a CNN piece this morning, it was suggested to volunteer during times of unemployment to avoid gaps on resumes. Anyway, Ms. Carter has expanded into the for profit arena with her new consulting firm, The Majora Carter Group. As is customary with any success, there are detractors, aka "haters". The rumor is that she has taken credit for projects that were truly team efforts or projects that have yet to come to fruition. To this I say "Bah Humbug!". I don't know Ms. Carter, but I wish her and her team the best of luck and think that it''s great for the country to have another African American woman adding her unique qualities and voice to the green movement. Hey Majora, you might want to give Lisa P. Jackson a buzz!

1 comment:

Quiskaeya said...

Ms Carter is alright by me! That lady's got it going on and they need to leave her tail alone. There always has to be some riff-raff trying to stir up trouble.