How Ayana Combines Climate And Culture To Create Environmental Liberation
by Minerve Jean
From severe heat waves to rising sea levels, the devastating impacts of the climate crises are being seen and felt throughout the planet. Although the climate crisis affects everyone, marginalized communities of color are at the frontline when it comes to experiencing the effect at severe levels despite contributing the least to environmental issues.
According to the CEO of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Dr. Beverly Wright, communities of color are in double jeopardy from the climate crisis. She says that if you are “a person of color, particularly Black or Latino, you’re more likely to live near toxic facilities, like petrochemical companies here in Louisiana, producing toxins that shorten and impact quality of life. And then, [our communities] are on the front line of impacts from climate change, living in places where there could be more floods and a higher incidence of different [climate-related] diseases. For poor communities, there’s also not having access to health insurance or medical services. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by these things.”
The historical exclusion of Black and Brown people in the movement has been detrimental, and their lived experiences, leadership, and knowledge are integral to the success of the environmental movement. A growing number of BIPOC change-makers are paving the way for members of marginalized communities and equipping them with the tools necessary to gather at the center of the climate crisis to fight for a greener tomorrow.
I had the pleasure of sitting down with one such change-maker, Ayana Albertini-Fleurant, and interview her about breaking barriers for Black people in the environmental space.
Meet Ayana — A Multifaceted Movement Builder And Cultural Organizer
Climate and environmental activist, Ayana Albertini-Fleurant.
Ayana Albertini-Fleurant is a 25-year-old Brooklyn native with Haitian roots. She is the founder and Executive Director of Sustain the Culture, the coiner of the term ‘environmental liberation,’ and one of the first graduates of Howard University’s environmental studies program; a program which she considers “transformational.”
She identifies herself as a multi-faceted movement builder and cultural organizer who views herself and the work she does through the lens of her culture. Sustainability has always been a part of Ayana’s life. The earliest memories that drew her towards environmentalism include adopting a vegan lifestyle and crucial words of wisdom that her parents gifted her. When she was younger, Ayana’s parents told her that “whatever you put on your body is like you consuming it or eating it.” Their words inspired her to learn more about clean beauty and the relationship between health, wellness, fashion, and environmentalism. These interests, along with the understanding of just how intersectional it was, were the early building blocks of her journey into the environmental movement.
The Intersection of Climate and Culture
“Everything happens for a reason.” Is a mantra that Ayana carries with her. One of the earliest catalysts for her environmental awakening was going to a suburban high schoolin Massachusetts after moving from New York. She received an education in environmental topics, something rarely afforded to Black and Brown children because of educational and socioeconomic disparities. “If I never moved there, I might not have been exposed to such an early environmental education.” The teacher had a rigorous year-long curriculum, one that exposed his teenage students to the reality of climate change. “It shocked me when I first learned about climate change,” Ayana recalls. “But once I did, I decided that there wasn’t anything else I could focus on.” This was the beginning of her pathway to movement building and cultural organizing. She started a racial literacy roundtable, began race relations work, and even led her school’s environmental club. Through it all, she felt that something was missing. Ayana did not see many people that looked like her in high school, or in the environmental movement and, unfortunately, she experienced a lot of racism.
“All the spaces I’ve been in didn’t really allow my voice to be heard. I didn’t fit in culturally. I didn’t want to be alone in that and feeling alone is one reason we don’t see many Black people in the movement. I felt that if we took a culturally based approach to climate communications—an approach that is inclusive of the Black environmental experience and Black narratives—we could increase visibility and encourage more people to take action.”
Attending Howard University allowed her to synthesize her experiences. She attained an interdisciplinary understanding of environmental racism, environmental justice, and how the BIPOC community was impacted and kept out of the equation. With Sustain the Culture, and more specifically, environmental liberation, the ideology, and framework were always beneath the surface. Her prior work, education, andresearch combined with her passion for the environment and organizing swirled in anticipation, waiting to find a home. Ayana planted the first seeds of Sustain the Culture in 2019.
The official name and Instagram allowed Sustain to take root in the world. At first, Ayana was unsure of what the next steps were for it. As an official Howard University alum, she focused on finding work and growing professionally. Aware of her primary focus, she took a step back from Sustain The Culture. “I was invited to be co-executive director of Generation Green, but I ended up going back to Sustain The Culture because that was where I found myself continuously drawn to. It was a full circle moment,” Ayana recalls.
“Since then, I’ve been going full force, and we just did a relaunch this February.” Described as a community hub, a platform, and a culture lab working on sustaining a culture of Black environmentalism. The organization operates at the intersection of arts and culture, focusing on the myriad of Black identities and the validation of Black experiences, all with a central focus on environmental and climate justice. This hub of cultural organizing is not only striving for environmental justice but also for environmental liberation, a term we have heard a lot during this interview.
The Path Towards Environmental Liberation
Environmental liberation is about re-radicalizing the Black environmental movement and going back to the roots of what the Environmental Justice movement originally centered on, which is diasporic solidarity. Environmental justice at its core is about the fair distribution of environmental benefits and environmental burdens. However, we do not have time to still have environmental burdens, as Ayana believes the goal is past that. “It’s not just about working towards justice, because this system wasn’t designed to give us justice,” Ayana states. “Once Black people are free of these climate and environmental burdens, everybody is free. We need to change the system; we need to work within communities and work towards a sustainable and regenerative future so we can move past these crises.”
It is a global shift and call for BIPOC communities who had marginal contributions to the climate crises, yet are often the first to feel its impacts, especially in Africa and the Caribbean. It highlights the residual consequences of the slave trade, and the effects of colonization, such as deforestation, oceanic impacts, exploitation of non-renewable resources, and the seizing of indigenous land. Environmental liberation acknowledges this history, shifting the focus toward holistic climate and environmental justice solutions that prioritize Black liberation, to address the state of the climate today."
Getting Involved And Using Your Voice
“How can I use my voice in the climate movement?” It is a question Ayana has asked herself many times. “I noticed in the climate space, Black organizers and Black activists are silenced more than their counterparts. It gets worse when you go down the line as a woman and as a dark-skinned Black woman. We do the work, but we don’t get visibility for it. My peers would encourage me to use my voice more and I realized I put myself in a position where I wasn’t really using my voice as much as I could’ve. I would lean more towards background work and it’s something I’m working on to get out of.”
Her most important advice to other young climate activists is to let go of self-doubt. “Don’t second guess yourself. Your voice is valuable in this intersectional movement.There is no shortage of voices and dialogue that we need because we have something to add to the movement. If you’re not offered opportunities to use your voice, you have to seek them out, because the reality is we won’t always be handed the same opportunities because of colorism and racism. Speak up wherever you can, even if it’s on your own social media. Your voice matters.”
Another piece of important advice that’s essential to young leaders is rest and having a strong community. “There will always be something in the world that creates a sense of urgency. It’s easy to feel like the work is never done but the most important thing is community. Even leaders must rest and rely on our communities. We must make time for joy and not forget our personal connection with nature.”
Although this is just the beginning, Sustain the Culture is growing. “We’re based in Miami, but our collective membership is beyond that, we share resources, opportunities, and events for those in different locations and we will be expanding to other cities in the near future,” says Ayana. Visit the Sustain the Culture website for more ways to get involved!
Cover portrait photography by Kevin Albertini.
Article photography by Jeff Beauplan.