Dr. Lowery was the first
national civil rights leader to elevate climate change and
air pollution on the black agenda. He anchored the
trailblazing "Air of Injustice Report" forging a coalition
that included the Black Leadership Forum, Southern
Organizing Committee
for Social and Economic Justice and the Georgia Coalition
for the Peoples'
Agenda together with mainstream environmental advocates
Clear the Air and Clean
Air Task Force.
Dr. Lowery was a gifted
orator and prophetic preacher able to lift even the most
vulnerable with messages of love and respect often more
consequential than social services. He worked tirelessly to
advance human rights, justice and equality. He also spoke
passionately about the biblical responsibility to care for
God's Creation including delivering an environmental sermon
at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.
Dr. Lowery considered
environmental stewardship to be a moral responsibility and
he warned that, "We have deserted the good spouse of
spirituality. We're shacking up. We're carrying on an
illicit affair with the prostitute of materialism and greed.
That's an incestuous affair, and it has produced offspring
with congenital defects: violence, corruption, exploitation,
racism, sexism. All of these are products of materialism
and greed."
The environmental movement
owes a tremendous debt to Dr. Lowery for advancing equity,
justice and inclusion not to
mention elevating the conversation to the spiritual plane.
We honor his legacy by doing the work, always remembering
that "love embraces justice."
Felicia M. Davis is the
Director of the HBCU Green Fund, Sustainability Director
at Clark Atlanta University
and worked closely with Dr. Lowery for over two decades.
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