| Majora Carter: Greening the Ghetto in the South Bronx and Beyond |
| Monday, 05 December 2011 | Victoria Cho | Article |
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Born and raised in the South Bronx—one of the nation’s poorest, most violent and environmentally challenged communities—Carter needed strength to survive. So it is no surprise that she didn’t always feel so connected to her community. In her “This I Believe” essay, she admits her attendance at Wesleyan University was a way out: “People who could, moved out of the neighborhood, and all I wanted to do was get out, too. I used education to get away from there, and got good at avoiding the topic of where I was from. To be from the South Bronx meant that you were a pimp, a pusher or a prostitute. It felt like a stain.” But she couldn’t avoid home forever. When she moved back after college, to save money while earning her graduate degree at NYU, she felt defeated. But this move would prove a pivotal point in her life. At the time, plans for another waste facility in the Bronx were in negotiation. They received little criticism, and the indifference astonished Carter. “No one seemed to care—including many of us who lived here. They were like, ‘Well, it's a poor community, what's the difference?’ After that, I realized it's just as important to fight for something as it is to fight against something,” she wrote in her essay. She began a campaign of resistance that successfully overturned the plan and drew attention to the need for economic development. To this end, she founded the nonprofit environmental social-justice group, Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx). The organization’s first project was writing a $1.25 million Federal Transportation grant for an 11-mile stretch called the South Bronx Greenway that would provide alternative transportation, recreational space, economic development and water management. The proposal was not only successful, it inspired SSBx to pursue an even bigger project: opening a major park. Winning additional grants, SSBx opened the area’s first major park in over 60 years, the South Bronx waterfront park. In 2003, SSBx began a free urban green-collar training program, which mostly trains former prisoners. The Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training program (BEST) features classes from asbestos removal to urban forestry. As of 2008, 150 people graduated from the program, 90% of whom were previously receiving public assistance. It now boasts 85% employment and 10% college-bound rates for its graduates. Carter went on to receive the MacArthur “genius” Fellow in 2006 and, among other notable achievements and projects, she is co-host of The Green television show on the Sundance Channel, a board member of the Wilderness Society, host of a special national public radio series, “The Promised Land,” and head of a green-collar economic consulting company, The Majora Carter Group, LLC. Throughout her career, Carter’s motto, “Green the Ghetto!” has caught on with her community, city officials, social-justice advocates, and those who may never have stepped foot in a ghetto. “I believe you don't have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one,” she proclaims everywhere she goes. And thanks to her improvements in the South Bronx, residents don’t have to leave to lead fulfilling lives. Help the Earth, Spread the Word: Share this article with family and friends by clicking on the "Email This" or "Share This" links below right. Then see TODAY'S TOP STORIES. Additional resources: [If you know someone who is deserving of an Eco Hero profile on EcoHearth.com, please contact us. – Ed.]
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Featured in Business Week, the New York Times, CNN and NPR, along with dozens of other major publications, and appearing in television shows and films, on radio programs and at countless conferences, South Bronx environmental-justice advocate Majora Carter is one very busy woman. But a nearly bursting agenda and numerous obstacles have never deterred her. As a former associate 
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