Black History Month at CELGS

Academic support 
Climate change
Published on March 8, 2021

By Environmental Law

Communication, Faculty of Law

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To start, a story of environmental racism in Canada:
  • Africville, Nova Scotia, is a devastating example of environmental racism. Many of its first settlers were former American slaves. Visit Environmental Justice Atlas to learn more about this tragedy and how residents were exposed to toxic waste: https://www.ejatlas.org/conflict/africville-nova-scotia
  • Read more about the calls on Halifax to take responsibility and acknowledge the harms done to African Nova Scotian communities, and the need for Africville reparations: https://ecologyaction.ca/africvillereparations
  • The ENRICH Project provides an excellent multimedia resource which includes a documentary, collection of articles, maps and more on environmental racism in Nova Scotian communities: https://www.enrichproject.org/resources/#Maps

Environmental racism is a problem in Canada. It refers to the interconnectedness of environmental health, socio-economic conditions, and racialized discrimination. As Kaitlyn Mitchell wrote, the first step is admitting we have a problem: https://ecojustice.ca/enviro-racism-we-have-a-problem/

  • If you have a Netflix subscription, check out the Canadian documentary “There’s Something in the Water.” The film explores the environmental damage done to Black Canadians and Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia.
  • “Report of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent on its mission to Canada” contains an analysis of the current legal & policy measures taken to prevent racism & xenophobia, highlighting positive developments and gaps in implementation: https://digitallibrary.un.org
  • Bill C-230, “An Act respecting the development of a national strategy to redress environmental racism” received its first reading in February 2020. Legislation such as Bill C-230 are critical to protecting vulnerable communities: https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/43-1/bill/C-230/first-reading
  • Check out Black Environmental Initiative, a project dedicated to the involvement of racialized communities in environmental action and education: https://beinitiative.com/
  • Prof. Ingrid Waldron of Dalhousie University, together with Naolo Charles of the Black Environmental Initiative, created a national coalition to address environmental racism across Canada: https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/12/03/dalhousie-university- -forming-coalition-to-address-environmental-racism-across-canada.html

Environmental Hero

We are celebrating an environmental hero: the late Wangari Mathai, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate awarded for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace:

Black environmental activists in Canada – Food Security and Sovereignty

We want to highlight Black environmental activism in Canada, particularly within the area of food security and sovereignty. This Future Farmers Report highlights the challenges of Black farmers in the Greater Toronto Area: https://www.ryerson.ca/content/dam/social-innovation/News/FutureFarmers_ReportandBibliography_RU.pdf