About

About The Project

Climates of Inequality is a participatory public memory project created by students, educators, and community leaders in over 20 cities across the US and around the world. Local teams work together to activate the histories of “frontline” communities: those who have contributed the least to the climate crisis but bear its heaviest burdens. Their multi-media portraits expose the roots of current environmental injustice, and share generations of frontline communities’ strategies for resistance, resilience, and mitigation. The project promotes future visions for confronting the climate crisis that understand, and undo, past environmental harms. By compiling these histories in an evolving, internationally traveling exhibit with local events at every stop, this project seeks to affirm frontline communities’ work and inspire others to action for climate and environmental justice.

Your community’s story is critical for building global vision and action. Learn how to add your history or bring the project to your city.

Climates of Inequality is a project of the Humanities Action Lab, a coalition of universities led by Rutgers University-Newark working with issue organizations and public spaces to create traveling public projects on the past, present, and future of pressing social issues.

Partners

  1. Partners:
    • Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy (SHARE)
    • Skidmore College
  2. Chicago, IL
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Alianza Americas
    • University of Illinois at Chicago
  3. Partners:
    • Pauli Murray Project and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice
    • Duke University
    • Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute
    • Duke Campus Farm
  4. Greensboro and Princeville, NC
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • FaithAction International House
    • University of North Carolina Greensboro
  5. Indianapolis, IN
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Kheprw Institute
    • Indiana University IUPUI
  6. Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, CA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ)
    • East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
    • University of California, Riverside
  7. Magdalena River, Colombia
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Acopesca, Asopein, Asopesarhon, Asapevema, Asopestol, Fuentemar, Famipez, Fepescarmar, and other riverside communities
    • Universidad de los Andes and Universidad del Rosario
  8. Mayagüez, PR
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Fundación Surfrider Rincón
    • Fundación de Culebra
    • Sandra Farms
    • University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
  9. Mexico City, Mexico
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • CIUDADania19s
    • Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Cuajimalpa
  10. Partners:
    • Catalyst Miami
    • WeCount!
    • Florida International University
  11. Milwaukee, WI
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Peace Garden Project MKE
    • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  12. New Brunswick, NJ
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • New Labor
    • Rutgers University-New Brunswick Department of History
  13. New Orleans, LA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • The Louisiana Bucket Brigade
    • Hidden History
    • New Orleans People's Assembly
    • University of New Orleans
  14. Newark, NJ (Alternative Futures)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC)
    • The New School
  15. Newark, NJ (Building Resistance)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC)
    • Rutgers University-Newark
  16. Oxnard and San Fernando, CA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Padres Pioneros/Parent Pioneers
    • California State University, Northridge and University of California, Santa Barbara
  17. Philadelphia, PA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition
    • John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
    • University of Pennsylvania
  18. Phoenix, AZ, and the Colorado River Basin
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Arizona Historical Society
    • Arizona State University
  19. Providence, RI (Pageacoag)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Tomaquag Museum
    • Brown University
  20. Ringwood, NJ
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • The Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation
    • Rutgers University–New Brunswick Department of Landscape Architecture
  21. Springfield, MA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Arise for Social Justice
    • Neighbor to Neighbor
    • University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  22. The Bahamas
    See Local Story
  23. Twin Cities, Minnesota
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED)
    • University of Minnesota
  1. Partners:
    • Sheridan Hollow Alliance for Renewable Energy (SHARE)
    • Skidmore College
  2. Chicago, IL
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Alianza Americas
    • University of Illinois at Chicago
  3. Partners:
    • Pauli Murray Project and the Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice
    • Duke University
    • Duke Human Rights Center at the Franklin Humanities Institute
    • Duke Campus Farm
  4. Greensboro and Princeville, NC
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • FaithAction International House
    • University of North Carolina Greensboro
  5. Indianapolis, IN
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Kheprw Institute
    • Indiana University IUPUI
  6. Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, CA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ)
    • East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice
    • University of California, Riverside
  7. Magdalena River, Colombia
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Acopesca, Asopein, Asopesarhon, Asapevema, Asopestol, Fuentemar, Famipez, Fepescarmar, and other riverside communities
    • Universidad de los Andes and Universidad del Rosario
  8. Mayagüez, PR
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Fundación Surfrider Rincón
    • Fundación de Culebra
    • Sandra Farms
    • University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez
  9. Mexico City, Mexico
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • CIUDADania19s
    • Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Cuajimalpa
  10. Partners:
    • Catalyst Miami
    • WeCount!
    • Florida International University
  11. Milwaukee, WI
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Peace Garden Project MKE
    • University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
  12. New Brunswick, NJ
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • New Labor
    • Rutgers University-New Brunswick Department of History
  13. New Orleans, LA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • The Louisiana Bucket Brigade
    • Hidden History
    • New Orleans People's Assembly
    • University of New Orleans
  14. Newark, NJ (Alternative Futures)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC)
    • The New School
  15. Newark, NJ (Building Resistance)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC)
    • Rutgers University-Newark
  16. Oxnard and San Fernando, CA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Padres Pioneros/Parent Pioneers
    • California State University, Northridge and University of California, Santa Barbara
  17. Philadelphia, PA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Eastwick Friends and Neighbors Coalition
    • John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge
    • University of Pennsylvania
  18. Phoenix, AZ, and the Colorado River Basin
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Arizona Historical Society
    • Arizona State University
  19. Providence, RI (Pageacoag)
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Tomaquag Museum
    • Brown University
  20. Ringwood, NJ
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • The Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lunaape Nation
    • Rutgers University–New Brunswick Department of Landscape Architecture
  21. Springfield, MA
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Arise for Social Justice
    • Neighbor to Neighbor
    • University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  22. The Bahamas
    See Local Story
  23. Twin Cities, Minnesota
    See Local Story
    Partners:
    • Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy (CEED)
    • University of Minnesota

During our yearlong course, we learned that environmental injustice is more than pollution. It involves social issues like immigration, policing, and economic inequities that favor the corporate elite. Our class of social justice newcomers, advocates, and activists come from across Chicagoland, including areas near industrial corridors. These diverse perspectives allowed us to listen critically and make connections with our community partners as we discovered the culturally based approaches they use to resist environmental discrimination.

University of Illinois at Chicago From “Our Point of View”

Few people will say they migrated due to climate change. But push a little harder and you hear many stories about drought, failed crops, devastating storms driving people to relocate to cities, where they encounter violence in many forms. Once living in the US, the deadly mix of environmental, economic and social injustices often repeats—via toxic exposure and gentrification. Alianza Americas works across borders on issues that affect immigrant communities. We joined this project to go deeper into the systemic environmental injustices faced by our members and the actions they take to fight back.

Alianza Americas From “Our Point of View”

Team

Advisors

Ana Baptista
Assistant Professor of Professional Practice & Chair of Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management Program
The New School
Tamara Butler
Assistant Professor of Critical Literacies, Department of English and African American & African Studies
Michigan State University
Michelle Garvey
Teaching Specialist in Gender, Women, & Sexuality Studies and Sustainability Studies
University of Minnesota
Maria Lopez-Nuñez
Director of Environmental Justice and Community Development
Ironbound Community Corporation
Neil Maher
Professor, Federated Department of History
New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University-Newark
Julie K. Maldonado
Director of Research
Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN)
Chief Vincent Mann
Turtle Clan of the Ramapough Lenape Nation
Melissa Miles
Environmental Justice Manager
Ironbound Community Corporation
Esme Murdock
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
San Diego State University
Suzanne Pierre
UC President's Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California, Berkeley
Rajiv Sicora
Senior Manager of Research and US Programming
The Leap

Funders