Who We Are
North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN) is a grassroots, people of color-led coalition of community organizations and their supporters who work with low income communities and people of color on issues of climate, environmental, racial, and social injustice.
Our History
NCEJN was born from the First Annual Community North Carolina Environmental Justice Summit in 1998. The working-class communities of color who founded the first Summit had fought for racial, social, economic, political, and environmental justice for decades. Confronting environmental racism, political disenfranchisement, and economic injustice, these communities held the first Summit to build solidarity and share resources. Conversations about solidarity-building led these communities to found NCEJN, which formalized decades-long partnerships among communities, researchers, lawyers, and justice-oriented organizations. NCEJN’s founders created the organization to assist communities organizing against injustice and to connect them to folks facing similar issues and to external resources and groups who could provide support. Crucial to that mission was the 1999 hiring of Naeema Muhammad, a seasoned grassroots leader of Black Workers for Justice, to lead community organizing.
NCEJN has had a powerful impact on the Environmental Justice Movement in North Carolina and beyond as an organizing, community-building, advocating, researching, and supporting network. By being involved in so much work across a broad spectrum of collaborators, the network’s history is deeply intertwined with the history of so many others. Over the years, NCEJN has supported communities facing injustices ranging from the discriminatory distribution of disaster relief to the lack of public utilities to toxic water and air, among many other issues. Founded by the communities engaged in these struggles, the network’s immense contribution to the Environmental Justice Movement blossoms from its recognition of community wisdom and autonomy and its commitment to following the lead of the communities it supports.
Click the image below to view our timeline.
Our Mission
To promote health and environmental equality for all people of North Carolina through community action for clean, safe workplaces and fair access to all human and natural resources. We seek to accomplish these goals through organizing and advocacy, infrastructure and development, and research and education based on principles of economic equity and democracy for all people.
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We believe in...
Grassroots Education and Organizing
Raising consciousness, building critical thinking skills, and developing tools for action.
Grassroots-Driven Solutions
Involving people and communities who are affected by the problem.
People Power
Working to awaken a community’s own power and voice.
Justice
Justice for individuals and groups to receive equitable treatment – ensuring that no one benefits to the detriment of others, and that there is fair and equitable access to resources.
Democratic Participation
Ensuring the participation by people ensuring that every voice is heard, accountability of leadership to all people, and shared power.
Economic and Political Equity
Demanding that all people have equitable access to political and economic power, and resources.
NCEJN Positions
Our stances on the following subjects related to environmental justice serve as guiding principles for leveraging environmental justice to create equitable policies and foster sustainable, inclusive environments for everyone.
NCEJN Statement on Palestine
Since its 1998 founding, the North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NC EJN) emphasizes the link between local and global struggles for justice. Our commitment to freedom includes opposition to apartheid, colonialism, and imperialism, recognizing that Palestinian freedom is integral to our movement.
Our View on Community-Driven Participatory Research
The book Toxic Truths, co-authored by our co-director Naeema Muhammad, highlights lessons from engaging with communities: promoting research equity, using participatory design, respecting non-research goals, acknowledging past mistreatment, recognizing research limitations, building trust, using inclusive language, and supporting community review boards.
Our View on Climate Change & Environmental Justice
Historically, climate action groups have focused on environmental preservation over social justice, often excluding issues like racism, labor exploitation, and militarism. Poor communities, least responsible for emissions, face disproportionate harm. Climate action must center on justice.
The Role of Students in the EJ MovementÂ
Students research is valuable but should not dictate the direction of social justice movements for oppressed communities. Students should act as allies, using their resources to support strategies that challenge the systems of power prioritizing profits over people’s rights and needs.
Our View on Supporting the Protection of Native Land
We supports the right of indigenous people to protect their land from pipeline projects, condemns government and corporate actions against them, and calls for respect for their sovereignty and an end to fossil fuel extractive projects. We affirm the Wet’suwet’en people's sovereignty and authority over their unceded territory for future generations.
Defining & Understanding Environmental Racism
Environmental racism stems from deep-rooted institutional racism, affecting individuals where they live, work, and play. It systematically targets Black communities for hazardous sites, isolates them in polluted neighborhoods, and excludes minorities from decision-making processes, exacerbating health disparities.
