Realizing the power we each have to enact positive change (interview with activist dr. Mustafa santiago ali)
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali (@EJinAction) is a thought-leader, strategist, policymaker, and activist committed to the fight for environmental justice and economic equity.
He has worked at the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 24 years, leading environmental justice efforts, and in 2017 he resigned to join the Hip Hop Caucus, a nonprofit linking culture and policy to make our movements for a just, sustainable and prosperous world, bigger, more diverse, and more powerful.
In this podcast episode, Dr. Ali sheds light on what the EPA has succeeded on or fallen short of doing in the past decade; the vital connection between hip hop, culture, and sustainability; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Dr. Ali and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
“The real work around environmental injustice has to be done through a holistic lens.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological balance, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or any podcast app to stay informed and updated on our latest episodes.
On the health impacts of pollution:
“Folks really don't get how tied pollution is to people's lives and to how long people are going to live.
They say your zip code is determinate of how long you'll live. You could have folks living just a few miles away from each other in the same city and you'll have people living for 7, 8, 10 years longer just a stone's throw away—and that's just because we put everything on the other side of the tracks.
We have cancers, liver disease, kidney disease, and a laundry list of other things [caused by pollution]. And what many politicians don't share is that we are going to end up spending a tremendous additional amount of money on healthcare because of environmental and climate impacts.”
On why true environmental justice requires a holistic approach:
"The real work around environmental injustice has to be done through a holistic lens. I led the Interagency Working Group and we had seventeen agencies and departments and a couple of White House offices that were a part of that. This group came out of Executive Order #12898 that President Bill Clinton signed in 1984.
If you are not including HUD (The Department of Housing and Urban Development), the Department of Labor, the Department of Transportation, and others, then we are missing the opportunity to truly not only support these communities and help them have stronger foundations underneath them.”
On how culture is linked to social justice:
“Culture touches our spirit and touches our soul. When that happens, it sticks with you. When you are in those quiet times, it comes back to you and continues to whisper in your ear and it makes you need to do something.
If you look at all the great movements, the social justice movements, the civil rights movements, they were all anchored in culture and in the arts. It was what gathered people together, it's what solidified them, and it's also what helped to bring about change.
I can't imagine a life without art and without culture.”
Final words of wisdom:
“You have power unless you give it away.”
