Will The Climate Movement Handle The Pressure Of 2024? (w/ Rev. Lennox Yearwood)

Jul 24, 2024

Rev. Lennox Yearwood, a leader in the climate movement and President & CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, shares his rich experience in advocating for climate solutions. He discusses the urgent challenges of 2024, including extreme weather and regulatory rollbacks. Yearwood highlights a new campaign focused on community engagement and the need for cultural change in activism. He reflects on his transformative experience during Hurricane Katrina, emphasizing intersectionality and the power of storytelling to galvanize support and foster resilience in the climate justice movement.

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Intro

00:00 • 5min

Activism and the Game of Life

05:14 • 5min

The Birth and Evolution of the Hip Hop Caucus in Climate Activism

10:09 • 2min

From Devastation to Activism

11:59 • 9min

The Power of Storytelling in Climate Activism

20:42 • 3min

Empowering Climate Narratives

23:38 • 23min

The climate movement faces mounting pressure in 2024. Record-setting temperatures and extreme weather disasters continue to devastate over a turbulent summer. Prominent plans to roll back environmental regulations and stiffle climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives have movement leaders pushing back on attacks. Is the climate movement able to handle the pressure at this critical moment?

Few people are as equipped to answer that question as Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr. Over his decades of climate and progressive leadership, Rev. Yearwood has advanced climate solutions with policymaking, culture change, direct action, and more. And he's part of a new initiative to educate people on critical issues like climate change during this transmorative year.

The “2024 & Beyond: Creating Our Shared Future” campaign is reaching out with open town halls to educate and debate on key political issues and building a network of experts and organizations like Center for Climate Justice, Center for Popular Democracy, Hip Hop Caucus, Greenpeace, and Center for Oil and Gas Organizing.

Rev. Yearwood Jr. joins the show this week to discuss his life and work, how change actually happens in the climate movement, why the climate movement needs to address its own weaknesses, and what strategies will be most effective in advancing progress and fighting off attacks.

Rev. Yearwood Jr. is the President & CEO of Hip Hop Caucus. He is the host of the award-winning climate and environmental justice podcast The Coolest Show, Senior Advisor of Bloomberg Philanthropies Beyond Petrochemicals Campaign, and one of the most innovative advocates and strategists for racial justice and climate justice. He is a White House Champion of Change for Climate leadership and according to Rolling Stone he is a “New Green Hero.”