This is Truth and Reckoning, a newsletter from the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF). We are organizers, lawyers, and revolutionaries who educate and agitate to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s relationship with the Earth. For more than 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate power, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-governance grounded in ecological balance.
In this episode, we speak with Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright
Anthony is a son of Sierra Leone, an international climate and environmental liberation advocate, a racial justice practitioner, a writer and a policy expert residing in the United States with his family and their cats, “Evil” Ernie and MalaChai the Mischievous. He is a proud and active member of the Black Alliance for Peace and the North South Project for People(s)-Centered Human Rights. His radio program, “Full Spectrum with Anthony Rogers-Wright,” airs on the Mighty WPFW network every Tuesday at 6:00 PM EST.
On the day that we had a chance to sit down with Anthony, he was at an international conference focused on stopping global fossil fuel use in Colombia, a nation where 30% of the population is of African descent, and, as he explains during this conversation, the voices of black people were being silenced.
That sad truth of racism in Columbia is historically linked to racism in the United States, and this conversation focuses on the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, Reconstruction, the non-profit industrial complex, and pro sports as it effects, impacts, relates to, and ultimately shapes life for black people, the society at large, and the questions of whether we can fully reconcile with the institution of slavery and the ongoing colonization of people and planet.
CELDF’s Executive Director Kai Huschke and Anthony delve into personal experiences relating to the Declaration of Independence, the constructs keeping racism alive in the US, the social dynamics and racism, and the bright spots that emerging in breaking the structure of racism in what many would find to be unlikely places.
This interview is the second installment on systemic racism and sexism as part of CELDF’s America 250: A Revolutionary Perspective. It follows the live discussion with Colville Confederated Tribes descent Dina Gilio-Whitaker and Kānaka Maoli Anne Keala Kelly entitled “What Revolution? Systemic Racism, Sexism, and Genocide from America’s Beginning.”
Anthony’s insights echo the need for structural transformation rooted in history, truth, and collective courage. Get ready to confront the lies, embrace the struggle, and harness the power of collective disobedience to forge a new path toward justice.
Links and Resources
Anthony’s radio show on the WPFW network
Anthony’s articles on Black Agenda Report
About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast
In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.
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About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund
CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.
