Episode 2 - Roots of Representation: Climate Change Literature as a Vehicle for Children’s Mental Health

In this episode, host and project PI Ed Greene asks Dr. Tresha Gibbs about ways that STEM education can help Black children build the kinds of mental health resilience needed to cope with and respond to climate-related threats. Dr. Gibbs also mentions several individuals and organizations that are raising awareness about the ways Black children can contribute to climate change solutions:

• Children’s Health and the Peril of Climate Change – a book by Frederica Perera that documents both the impacts of climate change on youth and the ways young people are engaging this crisis;
• West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc. (WE ACT for Environmental Justice) – an organization that “empowers and organizes low-income people of color to build healthy communities for all.”
• The Environmental Protection Agency – a governmental organization that regularly reports on the disproportionate impacts of climate on Black and other minoritized communities;
• When Good Fruit Goes Bad – a book by Vernon D. Gibbs that teaches children self-confidence through healthy, environmentally friendly eating.