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#BSS2024 Recap: Reflections from a successful 9th Annual Black Sustainability Summit

Writer's picture: Lauriel StewartLauriel Stewart

Updated: 3 days ago


Summit attendees at our day 3 brunch and OANM during our 9th Annual Summit


Our 9th Annual Black Sustainability Summit was held October 11-13, 2024 and left its mark in the heart of Atlanta!


Attendees from across the metro-Atlanta area, and from around the globe, gathered to form creative solutions that address many of our most pressing concerns related to sustainability initiatives. Black Sustainability, Inc.'s 12 Industry Houses were intertwined throughout the workshops, presentations, conversations, and celebrations in the space. This hybrid event was a unique opportunity to engage with thought leaders, innovators, and community advocates dedicated to advancing sustainability within Black communities. This summit featured insightful discussions, practical solutions, and inspiring stories that highlight the intersection of environmental justice, economic empowerment, and cultural resilience.


The 9th Annual Black Sustainability Summit opened up on October 11 with summit attendees joining our virtual presentations on Zoom. We had world-renowned summit speakers covering topics that span across multiple Industry Houses. Gratitude to our summit speakers below for sharing your wisdom:


  • LIBATION - Nobantu Ankoanda, PhD

  • Overview of SBSR (Share SBSR process and outcomes) - Speakers, in order: co-founder of Black Sustainability, Inc., Raina Turner-Greenlea, and BSI Student Researchers, Kandake Wallace, Omotola Oladapo, and Autumn Dancy

  • Timebanking and Alternative Economies: Community Resilience Through an Afrikan-Centered and Afrofuturist Lens - Mike Tekh Strode with the Kola Nut Collaborative

  • State of Black Sustainability: Alternative Energy - "Building Resilient Communities with Modular Microgrids and Energy Efficiency - Jordan Taylor with SynergyGrid, LLC

  • Emergency Preparedness SnapShot - Responding to Community Needs - A Live workshop with Dan Scott of Snap Corps and AgriTour

  • Embracing Non-Toxic Living: Conscious Consumerism and the BLK + GRN Movement - Dr. Kristian Edwards with BLK+GRN

  • PANEL DISCUSSION: Green Lifestyle - Tameka Peoples with Seed2Shirt and Tanjuria Willis from the Atlanta Sustainable Fashion Week team

  • State of Black Sustainability PANEL: Sustainable Food Production/Agricultural Systems - Richard C. Campbell with the Geological Agriculture Institute and To Soil Less along with Joshua Forte from Red Diamond Compost

  • State of Black Sustainability presentation: Education & Cultural Preservation - The 13th Amendment for Black & Green Policy - Ogbonna Hagins with the Philadelphia Reparations Coalition-Freedmen Status

  • State of Black Sustainability presentation: Alternative Energy Accessibility - EV Noire & Freedmen's Green Bank - Dr. Shelley Francis with EV Noire and Dr. Reginald Parker with the Freedmen's Green Bank

  • ARRA to IRA: Audits for Affordability vs Energy Burden - Christopher Johnson and Cosco Jones from GridChain and Jones Sustainable Solutions Group, LLC respectively

  • State of Black Sustainability: Waste - Tanita Gray with Shoe Waste, LLC

  • Honoring Baba Clark Arrington

  • State of Black Sustainability: Wholistic Health - Iya Abiye Mawusi Ashshakir from The Mothership Institute

  • Honoring our Mothers -  "Call Her Name" Memorial for sisters that transitioned during/shortly after childbirth, as well as honoring ritual or moments of silence/song for Mother Earth. We may want to make this the last presentation of the day since it reflects our collective

  • Summit Reflections with our co-founders Raina Turner-Greenlea & Yeamah Brewer


The BSI team rounded the day out on October 11 at the Atlanta Sustainable Fashion Week Warehouse for our Sustainability on Dub mixer!


Summit attendees at our day 2 Garden Like A Boss Workshop led by Tenisio Seanima and Mother Dee

On October 12, summit attendees met in person at ArtsXchange for workshops and the Inaugural State of Black Sustainability Report and Industry House board displays. ​Atlanta attendees joined us for the release of the State of Black Sustainability Report as an immersive art exhibit, a zero-waste reception with vegan treats and healthy mocktails, workshops and presentations, youth activities with on-site childcare, plus networking, giveaways, and our Black & Green e-marketplace.


There were several workshops throughout the day including:

  • Garden Like A Boss Workshop: Anighotra Air Purification + Practical Growing - Tenisio Seanima with Nature's Candy Farms and Mother Dee

    After the BioLab fire in metro-Atlanta, a need to apply indigenous air purification practices was WELL received.

  • Reparative Agriculture Panel - Chris Lemons with Gratitude Botanical Farm, Charles Greenlea with EcoPARADIGM Atlanta , Baba Anan Lololi with Toronto Black Food Sovereignty Alliance, and Ras Kofi with On Da Farm joined us for a powerful discussion on food security strategies and agricultural best practices for our community's sovereignty.

  • Upcycling/Reuse Workshop - Jonelle Dawkins from ScrapLanta led a largely unsung workshop on how to practically take textile waste i.e. old t-shirts and clothes and transform them into reusable shopping bags and art work.

  • Eco-Building: Living in Waste - Warren Crawley with ADU Depot showcased the eco-blocks his company manufactures using reclaimed styrofoam and concrete.

    • *Please note, our team has been notified of accounts that this organization does not adhere to standard business operations in an ethical manner. Please do your due diligence if you choose to work with this organization. We cannot endorse working with ADU Depot and are listing them in this post only as a record that they were present at our summit.

  • Alt. Energy Roundtable Panel Discussion: H.E.L.P. (Home Electrification Leapfrog Program) R.A.P. (Registered Apprenticeship Program) is on the way! - Dr. Erica Hollman-Hill with Ayika Solutions shared the launch of R.A.P. through BSI is underway this coming summer as an approach to decrease the upfront costs homeowners have to expense for basic retrofits as our community tries to take advantage of green building opportunities.

  • Extractive Storytelling - Madelyn Collins, artivist led a creative presentation on how mainstream organizations and Big Greens persist with extractive storytelling. Attendees heeded her warnings and shared their accounts and discussed strategies for avoiding common pitfalls in the future.


The featured element for the summit today was the public immersive art exhibit showcasing data pulled from our State of Black Sustainability Report, partially funded by Second Nature. The SBSR exhibit included various art mediums reflective of pervasive environmental social issues and community-driven scalable solutions. Attendees got the opportunity to view works on Afrofuturism, sustainable fashion, water, waste, agriculture, eco-housing and more to ensure accessibility, plain language translations of climate and environmental impacts to those often left out of the conversations.


This was truly an engaging, educational experience for the entire family.


Artwork was created, paired and submitted for each Industry House by:


ACE Warriors 2035

Amber Bryant

Iyabo Kwayana

Justin Nickelson

Kenneth Zakee

Khalifa Sultan Lee

Minkah Taharkah

MÉZU

Myriam Dondzina

Raina Turner-Greenlea

Renee Smith Nickelson

Richard Campbell






Photo Credits: Eye of Khalifa



Photo Credits: Eye of Khalifa On day 3 our members met at the Atlanta Blockchain Center for our concluding workshops, member voting, and strategic planning


On October 13 the Black Sustainability Network (BSN) members met in person for brunch and an offers and needs market at the Black Achievement Fund's Khemet Club. BSN members in Atlanta or those who traveled here for the Summit joined us for brunch and a special Offers & Needs Market (OANM). During these sessions, BSN members met to participate in collective action planning sessions to determine, based on the insights of the State of Black Sustainability Report, which form of collective action would be most beneficial for them. The collective action planning will guide BSI and BSN initiatives throughout the coming year. After the OANM the BSI team went to the Atlanta Blockchain Center for Industry House sessions, including RBG Mutual Impact Fund nominations and voting on member projects to fund.


Sessions began at The Black Achievement Fund's Kemet Club where brunch was catered by Chef Zu with King's Apron and Black Sustainability Network members enjoyed The Offers and Needs Market (OANM) - hosted by Mike Tekh Strode with the Kola Nut Collaborative.


In the afternoon the summit attendees transitioned to the Atlanta Blockchain Center for final workshops and member voting initiatives.


Attendees learned about:

  • HBCU Justice 40 Funds Tracking Tool Workshop - led by Dr. David Padgett the director of the Geographic Information Sciences (GISc) Laboratory at Tennessee State University

  • Solution Spotlight Series Replay - BSN Members voted on the projects they want to fund

  • Action-Planning Session: BSN Industry House members created groups and discussed initiatives for the coming year - led by BSI Membership Coordinator, Kelyce Allen, and BSI Board Vice Chair, Dr. Erica Holloman-Hill, PhD


The Black Sustainability, Inc team is grateful for the IMPACT they created over the 3 days their summit took place and looks forward to what can be built in the next 365.








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