Georgia

Moms Clean Air Force hosts an important conversation about the effects of environmental and systemic racism on moms and babies.

On March 9, 2021, Tonya Calhoun, Moms Clean Air Force National Field Manager and Georgia resident, hosted a Green Table Talk titled Listen to Black Women: How Environmental and Systemic Racism Impact Moms and Babies. The event featured Representative Lauren Underwood (IL-4), LaTricea Adams (founder, president, and CEO of Black Millennials for Flint), and Dr. Yolanda White, an Atlanta-based pediatrician and children’s environmental health expert.

These women discussed Black maternal health, specifically focusing on Congresswoman Underwood and Senator Ed Markey’s Protecting Moms and Babies Against Climate Change Act and the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021. They talked about the intersection of health disparities in communities of color and environmental justice.

Moms Clean Air Force hosts an important Juneteenth conversation on equity, justice, and climate in the African American community.

On June 19, 2020, Tonya Calhoun, National Field Manager for Moms Clean Air Force, organized an event titled Let Us Breathe: A Juneteenth Conversation on Equity, Justice, and Climate in the African American Community. The event featured Representative Alma Adams (NC-12), Dr. Mildred McClain (Harambee House), Rev. Michael Malcom (The People’s Justice Council), Tina Spencer-Smith (Georgia Interfaith Power and Light), and Moms’ Houston organizer Catherine Flowers.

The conversation was moderated by National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney and highlighted the continual fight for racial justice, specifically environmental injustices in the African American community. We talked about how air pollution, climate change, and COVID impacts the African American community, and what needs to be done to ensure that we continue to advocate for equity, justice, and climate action beyond this national pandemic.

Watch the event HERE.

Moms Clean Air Force joins the National Baptist Convention.

In September 2019, Community Rx consultant Tonya Calhoun, Moms’ National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney, and Moms’ Texas field organizer Catherine Flowers attended the National Baptist Convention (NBC) in New Orleans. Heather presented the Community Rx mission to the Women’s Auxiliary, which serves the needs of women in the NBC. She called on the Women’s Auxiliary to join the Community Rx program and “do the work!” She added, “We [Moms Clean Air Force members] are connecting with mothers across the globe who are black, white, Latino, etc. God wants to make sure we have a livable earth and planet.”

Read more about Tonya’s experience at the National Baptist Convention HERE.

Moms Clean Air Force launches environmental health justice program, Community Rx, in Atlanta.

In February 2019, we launched Community Rx during Black History Month with a weeklong series of events in and around Atlanta, Georgia.

Across the country, minorities live in more polluted areas and areas with lower air quality than any other group, and Atlanta is no exception, with too many minority residents living close to pollution “hotspots” such as heavy traffic areas, brownfields, landfills, and industrial facilities.

As the birthplace of the civil rights movement, Atlanta clearly emerged as the right place to launch our initiative. With on-the-ground events in Fulton County, Georgia, where predominantly African American residents breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution, Community Rx is partnering with community groups and African American leaders to take action and learn about the environmental issues that impact our families.

Supporting Black maternal health.

The United States has the highest rate of maternal mortality in the developed world, and this crisis is especially dire for Black moms, who are dying at 3 to 4 times the rate of their white counterparts. Moms Clean Air Force works with the Black Maternal Health Caucus to support policies that would protect Black maternal health in Georgia and across the U.S. These important policies include investing in organizations that are working to improve the health of mothers and their babies; improving the conditions where people live, learn, work, and play, in order to improve the health of newborns; growing and diversifying the ranks of nurses, midwives, doulas, and other birthing professionals who help support pregnant women and their newborns; improving maternal mental health care and support for veterans and incarcerated mothers; investing in federal programs to address the unique risks for and effects of Covid-19 during and after pregnancy; and investing in community-based programs that can protect moms and babies from the impacts of climate change and calling for the identification of climate risk zones for pregnant and postpartum people.

Advocating for Justice in Every Breath through Community Rx.

Moms Clean Air Force is committed to exposing environmental injustices in the Black community by taking a stand against environmental discrimination, holding legislators accountable for lack of resources, educating communities on their rights and their issues, standing with impacted communities, and fighting for clean air and climate solutions to promote healthy children and healthy communities.

Through our environmental health justice program Community Rx, our goal is to advocate, educate, and amplify through partnering with impacted communities and environmental justice organizations on events and resource development. We hold Table Talks around the country, casual gatherings that organize, motivate, and activate volunteers, partner with churches to use our “Breath of Life” Bible Study, and provide information on environmental health issues in African-American communities.

Frequent flooding and sea-level rise endanger our coastal communities.

Communities along the Georgia coast have seen the sea level rise nearly 9 inches over the last 70 years. This sea-level rise combined with heavier rainfall contributes to frequent tidal flooding, particularly during the fall months, endangering families and causing missed work and school days. Without action on the root causes of climate change—air pollution from the burning of fossil fuels—by 2045 more than 6,000 households in the state will be at risk of chronic flooding and displacement.

Georgia residents are concerned about sea-level rise because they live in a coastal state that cherishes its beaches and thrives on beach-related tourism. Limiting the pollution that fuels extreme weather and threatens our coastal resources is more important than ever.

Our families are suffering from heat-related disease and death.

Because of climate change, Georgia is experiencing more frequent heat waves, worsening outdoor air quality, and some of its hottest summers on record. As average summer temperatures rise so does heat-related illness, like heat stroke and dehydration.

Children, pregnant women, older adults, and low-income populations experience disproportionate impacts from extreme heat. Rising temperatures and poor air quality are associated with increased risk of preterm birth and maternal and infant mortality. And families with limited financial resources may not have access to adequate cooling or the medical care needed to treat heat-related illness.

Our children breathe polluted air.

From 2016 to 2018, there were 21 code orange ozone days in Fulton County, home to Atlanta. With an F grade from the American Lung Association for ozone pollution, or smog, the more than 17,000 children with asthma in Fulton County face dangerous breathing days too often.

The overwhelming majority of Georgia’s communities do not have air monitoring systems. This means there is no air quality data available for these communities, and thus, no way to accurately assess the health risks polluted air can pose to our families.

Past Events

April 2021

On Tuesday, April 6, Moms Clean Air Force Georgia field organizer Almeta Cooper joined representatives from Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL) and the Sierra Club Georgia for a special roundtable edition of Coffee and Something Stronger. They talked about the first piece of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Plan and its implications for clean energy and environmental justice across the nation and in Georgia. Watch the replay.

March 2021

On March 9, Moms Clean Air Force, along with partners EDF and Black Millennials for Flint, hosted an important conversation between Congresswoman Lauren Underwood (IL-14), pediatrician and environmental health expert Dr. Yolanda Whyte, and LaTricea Adams, Founder, President & CEO of BlackMillennials4Flint. This discussion, moderated by Moms Clean Air Force’s National Field Manager Tonya Calhoun, PhD, focused on Black maternal health, how inequities in health care and systemic racism impact Black moms and babies, and what we can do to tackle the problem. Watch the replay.

June 2020

On June 19, Moms Clean Air Force hosted an event titled Let Us Breathe: A Juneteenth Conversation on Equity, Justice, and Climate in the African American Community. The event featured Representative Alma Adams (NC-12), Dr. Mildred McClain (Harambee House), Rev. Michael Malcom (The People’s Justice Council), Tina Spencer-Smith (Georgia Interfaith Power and Light), and Moms’ Houston organizer Catherine Flowers and was moderated by National Field Director Heather McTeer Toney. The conversation highlighted the continual fight for racial justice, specifically environmental injustices in the African American community and ended with a call to action to take our Environmental Justice Pledge. Watch the event HERE.

February 2019

Moms Clean Air Force launched Community Rx in Atlanta, with events including a table talk, a live Bible study, a tree planting, and Worship Day.

2016

• CleanEnergy.org, EPA Administrator Talks Clean Air for Kids in Atlanta