DeepSummary
Paul Finsale interviews Jerome Foster II, an environmental activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technology engineer who serves on President Biden's White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Jerome shares his journey towards activism, sparked by a deep connection with nature and a desire to fight for compassion and empathy, especially for frontline communities impacted by climate change.
Jerome discusses how he uses virtual reality and augmented reality to build empathy and immerse people in the experiences of those affected by climate change. He emphasizes the intersection of climate justice and racial justice, and the need to decolonize economic and political systems that disproportionately harm marginalized communities.
Jerome highlights his work in advocating for policy changes, including the Justice40 initiative that commits 40% of federal agency budgets to environmental justice benefits. He also stresses the importance of mobilizing young people, continuing activism both in the streets and within policymaking spheres, and creating avenues for youth voices to be heard and implemented in climate action plans.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Jerome Foster II emphasizes the need to move from virtual storytelling to active community organizing and advocacy to drive meaningful climate action.
- He stresses the intersection of climate justice and racial justice, highlighting the need to decolonize systems that perpetuate disproportionate harm to marginalized communities.
- Foster II advocates for mobilizing youth movements and ensuring their voices are actively implemented in policymaking processes, not just given a platform to speak.
- He believes in the power of budgets as moral documents that reflect societal values and the need to allocate resources towards addressing systemic injustices.
- Foster II encourages moving beyond partisan divides and connecting with people on a human level to address climate change, which affects everyone regardless of political affiliation.
- He emphasizes the importance of building empathy and immersing people in the experiences of frontline communities through technology like virtual and augmented reality.
- Foster II advocates for policy changes like the Justice40 initiative, which commits federal agencies to allocate a significant portion of their budgets to environmental justice benefits.
- He stresses the need to depoliticize climate change conversations and focus on addressing root causes of inequity and unsustainable practices.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “And that was a real wake up call for me to. To not just tell stories virtually, but to be on the ground in community, making sure our voices are heard and our demands are met.“ by Jerome Foster II
- “Budgets are moral documents. Budgets are where our morals are, and budgets say, oh, we're gonna allocate to actively decolonialize our economic and political systems.“ by Jerome Foster II
- “We have to change in how we talk to the other side of the aisle because they aren't on the other side of the aisle. We just haven't talked to them. We haven't connected with them on a human scale.“ by Jerome Foster II
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Episode Information
Conduit Conversations
Soho.Live Studios
11/15/21