Roots of Resistance:
Diverse Voices in Environmental History
Roots of Resistance: Klee Benally: Diné Fighter for the Land
“When I speak of liberation, it is not to foment yet another social justice; it is an inclusive and fervent agitation against domination and exploitation of existence, for the liberation of Mother Earth is the liberation of all existence.”
– Klee Benally
Fighter for the Land
Klee Benally (6 October 1975 – 30 December 2023) was a Diné Indigenous activist, author, musician, traditional dancer, and environmentalist from the Navajo Nation known most prominently for championing Native American and environmental causes and teaching media literacy and film to Indigenous teenagers as a youth counselor.
Peggy Shepard: Aligning Community and Environmental Justice
Known as the Godmother of the Environmental Justice Movement, Peggy Shepard is a national leader advancing environmental justice and policy solutions in urban communities. Her long history of organizing Northern Manhattan residents to address ecological equality and environmental health policy has established her as a pioneer of using grassroots organizing to influence national change. She has devoted her life to battling environmental racism and preventing low-income communities from becoming “sacrifice zones”.
George Washington Carver: Soil, Science, and the Power of Restoration
Born into slavery in the final years of the Civil War, George Washington Carver would go on to become one of the most influential agricultural scientists in American history. Raised during Reconstruction and educated against extraordinary odds, Carver devoted his life to understanding plants not simply as commodities, but as partners in restoring land and livelihoods.
Grace Lee Boggs, a Chinese-American author, activist, and speaker, stands out as a transformative figure whose work bridged environmental justice and social movements. With a career spanning over 70 years, Boggs made significant contributions to urban agriculture and community resilience, particularly in Detroit. Her journey highlights the intersections of activism, education, environmental justice and community engagement.
Marguerite Williams broke barriers in the field of geosciences, becoming the first Black person to earn a PhD in the discipline. Her pioneering research and career set the stage for future generations, especially Black women, in a field where representation remains disproportionately low. From 1973 to 2016, only 69 Black women earned PhDs in geosciences out of nearly 23,000 total degrees awarded, highlighting the profound significance of Williams’ accomplishments.
John Francis: “The Planetwalker”
John Francis, later known as “The Planetwalker,” was a young man when disaster struck the San Francisco Bay in 1971. A devastating oil spill blackened sea waters, choking life from beaches and poisoning countless birds and sea creatures. John threw himself into the recovery effort, scrubbing the shores and saving wildlife coated in thick petroleum. But even as he worked, he felt an urgent pull—this wasn’t enough. He needed to do more, something that would truly reflect his commitment to the Earth.
Ray Bloomer: Breaking Accessibility Barriers in U.S. National Parks
Ray Bloomer’s legacy is a powerful reminder of what one person’s determination can achieve. As the first blind interpretive ranger in the National Park Service (NPS), he didn’t just adapt to a challenging role—he redefined it, paving the way for lasting inclusivity across America’s most beloved landscapes. Ray’s story began in 1976 at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. At the time, hiring a blind ranger seemed unlikely, and the park’s chief of visitor services openly doubted his capabilities.
Ynés Mexía: Redefining Botany and Conservation
Ynés Enriquetta Julietta Mexía was one of the most successful female plant collectors of her time. As a botanist, activist, and conservationist, she shattered stereotypes and opened new pathways in science and preservation. Starting her career at the age of 55, Mexía spent 13 remarkable years collecting and categorizing over 145,000 plant specimens. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1870, Ynés Mexía faced a tumultuous early life marked by loss and upheaval. After completing her schooling, she moved to her father’s ranch and took over its management after his death.
Robert Bullard: Father of Environmental Justice
Dr. Robert D. Bullard is widely recognized as the father of environmental justice. As a scholar, activist, and pioneering voice, Bullard transformed the landscape of environmental advocacy by linking racial and social inequities to environmental policies. His groundbreaking work illuminated the systemic pollution and degradation disproportionately burdening communities of color, fundamentally shifting the national dialogue on environmental protection and equity.
Lois Gibbs: The Mother Who Took on Toxic Pollution
Lois Gibbs is a trailblazer in the environmental justice movement, proving that ordinary people can take on powerful corporations and government agencies—and win. As the leader of the fight to evacuate and relocate families from Love Canal, she exposed the devastating impact of toxic pollution on communities and transformed the national conversation around environmental health and corporate accountability.
Tom Goldtooth: The Spiritual Warrior of Climate Justice
Tom B.K. Goldtooth has spent decades at the frontlines of environmental justice, transforming grief into power, and ceremony into resistance. A Diné and Dakota leader, he has redefined what it means to protect the Earth. Through his work as executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Goldtooth has uplifted Indigenous voices on the global stage and brought sacred teachings into spaces often dominated by policy and profit.
Bruce’s Beach: A Stolen Shoreline
In 1912 and1920, Willa and Charles Bruce purchased two oceanfront plots in Manhattan Beach, California, transforming them into a rare oasis for Black families barred from white beaches. At a time when racial boundaries were rigidly enforced, Mrs. Bruce’s vision was radical: to create a place where Black joy could thrive along the Pacific shore.
Robin Wall Kimmerer: The Botanist Who Braids Worlds
As a child growing up in upstate New York, Robin Wall Kimmerer fell in love with the Earth one moss patch at a time. In her family’s backyard and in the wild spaces beyond, she listened not only with her ears but with her spirit. Every stone, leaf, and lichen held a story. Every breeze reminded her that there are many ways to know a world.
The Soldier Who Carved Roads Through Mountains and Barriers
Born enslaved in Mays Lick, Kentucky, in 1864, Charles Young began life amid the nation’s greatest fracture. His parents, Gabriel and Arminta Young, escaped slavery when he was an infant, carrying their son across the Ohio River to freedom. In Ripley, Ohio—a town alive with the daring of the Underground Railroad—Young grew up steeped in both the promise of liberty and the persistence of prejudice. His life would become a hallmark of resilience, carrying him from the classrooms of a small border town to the high Sierras and the highest ranks of the United States Army.
The Community That Raised a Sanctuary from Swampland
Born from emancipation along a winding river, the Turkey Creek community began in 1866 as a refuge for freedom. Newly emancipated families—among them Thomas and Melinda Benton—pooled scarce resources to purchase roughly 320 acres north of what would later become Gulfport, Mississippi. On land others dismissed as unusable swampland, they built a self-sufficient settlement of farms, homes, a church, and a school—rooted in mutual aid, hard work, and the stewardship of a living watershed.
In rural northeastern North Carolina, where pines edge red clay fields and country roads stitch together generations, Warren County has long been a homeplace shaped by resilience. A predominantly Black community with deep agricultural roots, Warren County nurtured churches, farms, and family land long before environmental injustice carved its name into national history. In 1982, those same quiet roads would become the stage for one of the most defining civil rights and environmental justice movements in the United States.