Celebrating Black History Month in the EE World

Black History month is coming to a close and I have seen amazing articles detailing the accomplishments of African Americans in all industries and disciplines. This is tremendously inspiring to me as an African American woman.

In light of this celebration, there are two things I feel compelled to talk about. The first being the importance of Black History month and the second, which more closely aligns with the goals of our organization, is the inequity in environmental and climate justice.

I have encountered many people in my lifetime that do not understand the significance of Black History month. To those people I often recite the old adage, “a rising tide lifts all ships.” Historically, the freedoms that African Americans have fought and died for over generations have not only been to the benefit of African Americans but also for the benefit of all people of color and women. Furthermore, a society that does not place limits on what its people can accomplish is beneficial to all. It is important that we shine a bright light on people that have broken down barriers making those and other aspirations more accessible for everyone. Also, it is important that African American history be told from the perspective of those most intimately impacted by it; it is important that we tell our own story. These ideas, in the most basic sense, are the spirit of Black History month.

In our line of work, we proudly stand as a voice for those that do not have one. We serve underserved communities. The term “underserved” means, in part, that these communities pay the largest percentage of their income in utility expenses but are the most likely to suffer negative repercussions resulting from the generation of that energy as well as the surrounding policy and legislation. Last year, I wrote an article about Carl Anthony who is an environmental justice activist. This year, I would like to highlight more about why his work, and work like his is so important.

There are staggering racial disparities in the energy sector. For example, due to the proximity of coal-fired power plants to communities of color, African American children are 3 times as likely to be hospitalized for asthma than white American children. Additionally, as much as 68% of the African American population live within 30 miles of a coal-fired power plant. Energy production plants emit smog, lead, asbestos, mercury, arsenic, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and other toxins into their surrounding communities which are overwhelmingly, communities of color (Patterson et al. Just Energy Policies: Reducing Pollution and Creating Jobs).

This brings me to my final point on the topic which is that representation matters. One must deduce that the policies that led to the current conditions may not have been so if there was more African American representation within the industry and, more importantly, in decision-making positions. It is documented that only 14% percent of executive-level positions across all industries is occupied by a person of color, one in 25 of those positions is held by a woman of color, and there is just one CEO of a major energy company that is an African American woman (Webber Racial disparities in the workforce harm the energy industry).

As I said before, it takes one person to begin to break down those barriers and pave the way for others to occupy spaces that make a difference for the better. I am both proud and excited that these barriers are being challenged and broken down every day however, we still have a lot of work to do. Until racial disparities such as these cease to exist, we will continue being a voice for the underserved and supporting those that do the important environmental and climate justice work.

Happy Black History month!

Sources:
Webber, Michael E. “Racial Disparities in the Workforce Harm the Energy Industry.” ASME, The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, 14 July 2020, www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/energy-blog-the-color-of-energy.

Patterson, Jacqui, et al. “Just Energy Policies: Reducing Pollution and Creating Jobs.” Just Energy Policies: Reducing Pollution and Creating Jobs EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, 2014, www.naacp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Just-Energy-Policies-Compendium-EXECUTIVE-SUMMARY_NAACP.pdf.