WORLD WATER DAY 2022 - The Legacy of Environmental Racism in North America

The Legacy of Environmental Racism in North America: Perspectives from Canada and the United States

This event will feature presentations from two high-profile advocates who are leading community-level resistance movements against environmental racism followed by an interactive, student-led discussion.

Dr. Ingrid Waldron is the 2022 Water Institute RBC Distinguished Lecturer, HOPE Chair in Peace and Health at McMaster University and author/producer of the book and Netflix documentary There’s Something in the Water. Dr. Waldron will examine the legacy of environmental racism in Canada by highlighting cases in Indigenous and Black communities, the grassroots mobilization and resistance activities communities have engaged in, and the recent "wins" that have resulted from these efforts.

Monica Lewis-Patrick is the 2022 University of Waterloo Jarislowsky Fellow, co-founder of We the People of Detroit, and known in the environmental justice community as The Water Warrior. Ms. Lewis-Patrick will describe how five Black women leaders in Detroit developed a network of volunteers to fight austerity measures and present a critical counter narrative to show the socio- economic consequences of these policies on access to clean water in Detroit and across the USA.