Engage, Connect, Protect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders

Building environmental strength through a diversity of youth

An accessible guide to respond to the inequities faced by persons of color marginalized by mainstream environmentalism.
- Rev. Dr. Dianne Glave, author, Rooted in the Earth

Highlights the cultural connection to nature that black and brown people have always had, and the need...for it to be reclaimed.
- Kamilah Martin, Global Youth Educator, Vice President, Jane Goodall Institute

WHILE CONCERN ABOUT the state of our land, air, and water continues to grow, there is widespread belief that environmental issues are primarily of interest to wealthy white communities. Engage, Connect, Protect explodes this myth, revealing the deep and abiding interest that African American, Latino, and Native American communities - many of whom live in degraded and polluted parts of the country - have in our collective environment.

Part eye-opening critique of the cultural divide in environmentalism, part biography of a leading social entrepreneur, and part practical toolkit for engaging diverse youth, Engage, Connect, Protect covers:

• Why communities of color are largely unrecognized in the environmental movement
• Bridging the cultural divide and activating a new generation of environmental stewards
• A resource guide for connecting mainstream America to organizations working with diverse youth within environmental projects, training, and employment.

Engage, Connect, Protect is a wake-up call for businesses, activists, educators, and policymakers to recognize the work of grassroots activists in diverse communities and create opportunities for engaging with diverse youth as the next generation of environmental stewards.

Artfully articulates the obscured problem of racism in the country's environmental movement and unapologetically sets forth solutions.
- Elaine Brown, author, The Condemnation of Little B and A Taste of Power

ANGELOU EZEILO is founder and CEO of the Greening Youth Foundation. She is a 2016 Ashoka Fellow and graduate of Spelman College and the University of Florida, College of Law. She lives in Atlanta, GA, with her husband of 24 years.

NICK CHILES is one of the nation's foremost chroniclers of African American life, culture, and celebrity. A graduate of Yale, he has won nearly 20 major awards, including a 1992 Pulitzer Prize as part of a New York Newsday team. He lives in Atlanta, GA.