Global-warming conference honors civil rights leader, addresses issues facing African-Americans, disadvantaged communities
Mix the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with efforts to fight global warming and inner-city poverty and the Dream Reborn Conference emerges. "This is the first 'green' conference honoring Dr. King and really addressing the issues of African-Americans and other disadvantaged communities," said Van Jones, 39, the Mid-Southerner who started Green For All and helped bring the Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit group's three-day conference to Memphis.
Sandy Huffaker/Associated Press files
Mix the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with efforts to fight global warming and inner-city poverty and the Dream Reborn Conference emerges.
"This is the first 'green' conference honoring Dr. King and really addressing the issues of African-Americans and other disadvantaged communities," said Van Jones, 39, the Mid-Southerner who started Green For All and helped bring the Oakland, Calif.-based nonprofit group's three-day conference to Memphis.
He believes going green would be part of Dr. King's agenda if he were alive.
"Now we're in an ecological age, so equal protection would mean no more Katrinas," Jones said, referring to the 2005 hurricane that disproportionately affected people in African-American neighborhoods in New Orleans.
"We have to look after people who can't jump into a car with a functioning credit card and get out of town," Jones said. "That's not something we had to worry about in 1968."
Taking the first steps toward creating job opportunities in poverty-stricken, minority communities is another aim of the conference.
