Checktheweather.net’s Kari Fulton will be repping on this panel with Majora Carter, Rha Goddess and Kymone “Papi” Freeman. July 7, 12-2pm in the Carmichael Room of the National Museum of American History. visit DCarts.dc.gov for more Information!

As we fly out on our quest to highlight the real, our paths crossed with emerging Hip hop legend DJ Cavem. Based out of Denver, Colorado, DJ Cavem incorporates all aspects of hip hop culture to the cause he is most passionate about, Food Justice. Check out the trailer from the interview and Check the site out next week for the full interview.

Today Catch Checktheweather.net Co-founders, Ellen Choy and Kari Fulton repping for Climate Justice at the USSF

10-12pm Kari Fulton is partnering with the Energy Action Coalition and Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative for a workshop on engaging youth with Climate Policy. This workshop will be held at Woodward Academy room 1437 Woodward is right off of Lafayette and 1-75

Then from 3:30- 5:30- Ellen Choy will be partnering with Asian Communities for Reproductive Justice to present Youth and Climate Justice. This workshop will feature a panel discussion featuring amazing Youth Climate Justice Leaders from the Bay Area! This is going down at the Woodward Academy room 1472!

Then Check out our partners for Justice at the Ecological Justice PMA! From 1-5 in Cobo Hall Room D2-08!

Jump with us for Climate Justice!

For More information visit USSF2010.org

Remember the artist, Messiah we featured last month? Well homie is getting that international love! The three-time Apollo Champ is featured in a song focused on empowering the people of Sudan to participate in the voting process for the up coming election in April 2010.

For those of you who have been under a rock or only watching Cartoon Network and playing Xbox for the past few years, Sudan has been going through a whole heap of conflict over the past decades. I mean everything from civil wars, loss of natural resources and droughts.The elections in Sudan this April will be the country’s first presidential, legislative and regional elections in 24 years. Many in the country see these elections as a sign of better times and a new direction for Sudan.

Good Job Messiah for using your words to support a good cause.

Over the weekend  a counter culture known as the “Coffee Party” was officially launched after several weeks of gaining popularity through face book and coffee shops. What’s the Coffee Party you ask? Well it’s being billed as an organically grown answer to the conservative dominated Tea Party and has gained enough buzz to earn an article on CNN.Com.

Check the article and see who’s at the Coffee Party, including Checktheweather.net featured eco-advocate, Tony Anderson.

Meet the people who are percolating in the Coffee Party – CNN.com.

- Matthew J Miller

Note: I am an environmental justice advocate so this is certainly not a break from the environmental movement. It is my realization that I have a responsibility to do some cultural brokering. I intend to offer alternative and relevant perspectives, not to divide. Consider this an acknowledgment of the socioeconomic, racial, political, psychological, and even spiritual challenges that need to be hurdled and taken head on in striving to “green” communities, oppressed and liberated alike. Since this piece is slightly creative, take the personal pronouns as me speaking from a group perspective informed and inspired by personal accounts and my ethnic studies.

I get it: the world is crumbling. Boo-hoo. Did you think my world was in tact before? Oh yes, this is going to be one of those cups of tea. I hope you like it hot. (more…)

In Honor of Black History month, Thegrio.com has served up a list of 100 history makers in the making. This year, Checktheweather.net co-founder Kari Fulton made the list! Leading names on the list include Author, Malcolm Gladwell (The Tipping Point), Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks and Fred Mwangaguhunga, founder of popular gossip site, mediatakeout.com. Some other Eco-Friendly Grio100 include Park Ranger, Shelton Johnson, Jerome Ringo of the Apollo Alliance, Eco-Consultant Majora Carter, EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, “Father of Environmental Justice” Dr. Robert Bullard, and Founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice Dr. Beverly Wright

Click the link below to see why thegrio.com thinks Kari Fulton is someone you should get to know:

TheGrio’s 100: Kari Fulton, to be young, green, and black.

In case you missed this season’s issue of Race, Poverty & the Environment, the amazing folks at Grind for the Green were featured in a piece about youth of color who are using hip hop to spread environmental awareness in Bay Area hoods. Check it out below.

And in the same issue, ChecktheWeather.net’s co-founder Ellen Choy co-authors an article on Richmond, CA’s Chevron refinery and climate justice organizing! Get the whole issue online here.

Youth in Action: Greening Hip Hop

The Greening of Hip-Hop: Urban Youth Address Climate Change and Sustainability

By Eric Arnold

Twenty-year-old aspiring rapper Tre Pound was born in San Francisco’s Hunters Point, a predominantly low-income community of color with the dubious distinction of housing the two most toxic Superfund sites in the United States, as well as power and sewage treatment plants. Asthma, cancer, and diabetes rates in that area are all disproportionately higher than in other parts of the Bay Area. “I kinda knew where I was living wasn’t environmentally safe,” says Pound, but the public school he attended provided little information about industrial pollution or climate change.

Pound says he frequently incorporates socially-aware themes into his music, but he had never made an environmentally-aware rap song until he signed up to compete in Grind for the Green’s (G4G) Eco-Rap battle. He ended up winning the competition, earning a $1000 prize and studio time, by outpacing several other contestants with his eco-friendly flow during G4G’s second annual free concert at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco.

Pound is just one voice in the growing number of youth voices engaged in community organizing for social change. Millions of young people around the world participate in social activism. According to Wiretap Magazine, there are more than 600 youth-led community organizations currently creating green jobs, removing toxic waste, combating corporate pollution, and fighting against violence in their communities.

(more…)

10 year old rapper lil peppi from Miami is going hard for the environment. On his website lilpeppi.com he claims that at ten years old he is the KING OF ECO-RAP! Check out his song “Melting Ice”.

But Lil Peppi is not your average kid rapper. He’s been rapping since the tender age of three crafting his skills and getting his game right. He even opened up for DJ Jazzy Jeff when he was like 6 years old. Check out this video clip from Lil Peppi on a local NBC Daytime talk show from 2006

Is Lil Peppi really the King of Eco-Rap? We’ll leave that for the emcees to battle out, but for now he’s doing his thing and we are proud to see a young man spreading the word!

Earlier this week Checktheweather.net caught up with McNair Wagner, CEO and Founder of Earth Endeavors, a environmentally focused marketing firm. We wanted to find out more about this young and single entrepreneur. Read our interview with McNair and hear how he is putting a green spin on Atlanta Nightlife.

CTW:

When did you start Earth Endeavors and why?

MW:I started Earth Endeavors in April of 2008. I looked over the [green] movement and my own talents and I wanted to see how I could make this work best for me so I developed a marketing business with an environmental focus.

CTW: What are some of your recent projects;

MW: We hosted a sustainable fashion show at Ten Pin Alley in Atlantic station bringing out approximately 500 people.

CTW: That’s dope! You know Atlantic station is also a model of brownfield remediation?

MW: Yeah we host several events in that area.

CTW:How did you get involved in the Environmental Movement?

MW:Back at Georgia Southern a teacher gave a presentation on environmental issues and it struck me hard and I wanted to be a part of the solution and not the problem. So I got involved with NRDC and my local Sierra Club and have been busy ever since.

CTW:How long have you been living in Georgia?

MW: since 1996.

CTW:Over the years how have you watched the Atlanta Metropolitan area change?

MW: There has been an explosion of growth, urban sprawl and cutting down of natural vegetation.

CTW:How do you plan to use Earth Endeavors to positively address the changes in the Atlanta area?

MW: We bring in the young professional audience between 22-35. We want to instill and incorporate this group into the more in-depth environmental conversation and make sure the issues are relevant and relate to other issues in their own community and daily lives. The environment is not just recycling, it is more and we want to make sure groups like The Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and Checktheweather have a higher profile and that their message gets out to a broader audience.

CTW: Why the young professional audience specifically?

MW: Had to look at what I’m passionate about I’m a social butterfly and most associate with the people in my age group and I wanted to share my knowledge and passion with people in my age group

CTW: How has your experience been navigating through, what many feel, is a very white environmental sector?

MW:It has been welcoming and really it’s helping me and hopefully the people I work with develop a culture of understanding of why people feel passionate about the environment. Sometimes intercultural experiences can be difficult, however for the most part it has been a wonderful experience. Being involved in the environmental movement has connected me to many opportunities and taught me how to work and understand different cultural groups not just African-Americans. There is an excitement in bringing together people of various cultural groups and I feel a sense of unity that has helped me to be a better environmentalist. I get to learn more about why other people do what they do and they get to learn more about why I do what I do.

CTW:What is your vision for success with Earth Endeavors?

MW:Generate substantial revenue and income by helping environmental organizations and businesses to reach their goals and really take this third wave of environmentalism to the next level also while respecting the vision and needs of various environmental groups

CTW: Where do see yourself ten years from now?

MW: In ten years I will have made Earth Endeavors and several other businesses and made them profitable. I will be able to speak about what we are doing right now and motivate younger people with our stories and inspire people as others have inspired me with the simple acts of changing a lightbulb or standing up for our planet

CTW:Who inspires you?

MW:My peers. I admire the great work they do and gives me a sense of purpose and seeing that we are all doing different things but we are all part of a bigger picture that is creating real change and that is what keeps me going.
CTW: What words of advice do you have for other young entrepreneurs?

MW:Follow your passion, find a way to connect whatever you love about this movement and connect it to your business plug into a network make sure your peers and organizations you work with are supporting your business build up your team.

CTW:Anything else?

MW:Keep up the good work and look forward to hearing about the work everyone is doing.

In the Atlanta Area and want to check out how Earth Endeavors parties for the green? Check them out at the official “Gemcer” (Gemini and Cancer) Party this Friday, June 26th at the MonaVie Experience.

For more info visit earthendeavors.com