Amandla! presents lecture on environmental racism

Activist Omar Freilla presents a talk on issues within the environmental movement at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in the Keck Classroom (G52) in Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road.

Sponsored by Amandla!, the event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

Freilla will address effects of race, class and consumerism on participation in the environmental movement. He will shed light on issues of environmental racism and discuss on how students can take action on campus and within their respective communities.

Freilla is internationally recognized as an outspoken environmental-justice activist dedicated to seeking solutions to the environmental impacts disproportionately faced by low-income communities of color. He is the founder and director of Green Worker Cooperatives, committed to aiding worker-owned, environmentally friendly businesses in the South Bronx, where Freilla was raised and still lives.

He was named one of “The New School of Activists Most Likely to Change New York City” by City Limits magazine in 2000 and was featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s global warming documentary The 11th Hour.

In 2004, Freilla’s writing on community opposition to transportation racism in New York City was published in the book Highway Robbery: Transportation Racism and New York Routes to Equity (South End Press). He has received numerous awards for his work including the Open Society Institute’s New York City Community Fellowship, the Union Square Award for grassroots activists and the Environmental Leadership Program fellowship.