We Can Be podcast - The Heinz Endowments
Society & Culture
It is no understatement to say that Mustafa Santiago Ali is a superhero in the environmental justice world. He earned his stripes serving in the Environmental Protection Agency for more than two decades, becoming a founding member of the Office of Environmental Justice and, most recently, serving as senior advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization.
As winter 2017 lingered on, Mustafa resigned from the EPA when deep cuts in budget and staff were being proposed. He cited concerns about the dedication of the agency’s new leadership to environmental justice in poor and minority communities. “The shielding of vulnerable communities and minority neighborhoods from the effects of pollution is a crucial function of the EPA,” Mustafa wrote in his resignation letter.
Mustafa’s exuberance for environmental justice has not ceased, however; it is simply redirected in a powerful new way. He’s now a senior vice president with the Hip Hop Caucus, a national, nonprofit and non-partisan organization that connects the hip-hop community to the civic process. He leads the organization’s Climate, Environmental Justice & Community Revitalization programs with unrelenting positivity, style and focused energy.
In this episode of “We Can Be,” Mustafa speaks with particular passion about the Hip Hop Caucus’ “Respect My Vote” campaign and explains why it’s critical that environmental issues be approached holistically.
“Environmental issues are also transportation issues — and housing issues, health issues and workforce issues,” he says.
While at the EPA, Mustafa worked with more than 500 domestic and international communities in his efforts to improve people’s lives by addressing environmental, health, and economic justice issues. Today, using a digital platform, he’s reaching countless more through the Hip Hop Caucus.
Two decades of indefatigable environmental justice work?
No problem. Mustafa is just getting started.
Don’t miss Mustafa Santiago Ali on a spirited episode of “We Can Be.”
“We Can Be” is hosted by The Heinz Endowments’ Grant Oliphant and produced by the Endowments and Treehouse Media. Theme music is composed by John Dziuban, with incidental music by Josh Slifkin.
Artist & cultural agitator D.S. Kinsel protests w/art & leads w/heart (SE0309)
The radical imagination of PolicyLink founder Angela Glover Blackwell is building a more equitable world (S03EP08)
The fight against climate racism w/ NAACP Environmental Justice program dir. Jacqueline Patterson (S03EP07)
Election safety & equity in algorithms w/ cybersecurity expert David Hickton (S03EP06)
Justice, poetry, race & activism in education w/ Dr. Valerie Kinloch (WeCanBeS03EP05)
Why tackling climate change is absolutely doable w/ Jonathan Foley, Ex. Dir. Project Drawdown (S0EP04)
How Indigenous wisdom can help heal inequities w/ Decolonizing Wealth author Edgar Villanueva (S03EP3)
Columnist Tony Norman & the "revolution in attitudes" fueling social change (S03EP02)
Artist Mikael Owunna reveals inherent beauty, power & dignity of Black & LGBTQ+ bodies (S03EP01)
Truth in science advocate Dr. Todd Woylnn on a COVID-19 vaccine & what it unveils about our society (Stronger than This series EP8)
Emmai Alaquiva on using art to expose truths in historically trying times (Stronger than This series EP7)
What COVID-19 reveals about food insecurity w/ 412 Food Rescue’s Leah Lizarondo (Stronger than This series #6)
Air quality & COVID-19 w/ Clean Air Task Force’s John Graham (Stronger than This series EP5)
Kids & COVID-19 w/ Patrick Dowd, Exec. Dir. Allies for Children (Stronger than This series EP4)
Redirecting anger into action w/ Monica Ruiz, ED of Latino advocacy entity Casa San Jose (Stronger than This series EP3)
The moral lessons of COVID-19 w/ Dr. Andre Perry, Brookings Institution scholar & Know Your Price author. (Stronger than This series EP2)
Art in times of crisis w/ 1Hood Media Co-Founder/CEO Jasiri X (Stronger than This series EP1)
Civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson: “Protest is speaking the truth out loud.” S02EP20
Andre Perry’s genius blend of information & inspiration is helping individuals realize their value & worth. S02EP19
Outdoor Afro founder Rue Mapp: "Nature is a refuge from all the '-isms'" S02EP18
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