The Birmingham Times
Birmingham City Council Pro-Tem Crystal Smitherman last week received the 40 Under 40 Young, Gifted and Green award from the Black Millennials for Flint at the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference in Washington D.C.
“Environmental justice is important because it is a basic human right,” Smitherman wrote on Facebook. “I will continue the good fight against food insecurity and environmental injustice because we are the movement and change/progress we want to see in the world.”
Young, Gifted & Green 40 under 40 is an annual list of environmental justice leaders under the age of 40, originating from Black, Latin, and Indigenous communities across the United States.
Nominees include individuals making a significant difference in environmental justice, such as educators, scientists, artists, policymakers, health care/public health professionals, faith-based leaders, mental health professionals, birth workers, farmers, social-justice advocates/activists, storytellers, journalists, entrepreneurs, technologists, chefs, clean-energy gurus and social media influencers.
Black Millennials For Flint (#BM4F) is a national environmental justice and civil rights organization with the purpose of bringing like-minded organizations together to collectively take action and advocate against the crisis of lead exposure specifically in African American & Latinx communities throughout the nation.
