Across the US, there seems to be a reverse migration going on as many Black people are returning to a region many of our family members left in droves between 1910 - 1970. Between 2015 and 2020, the top six destination states for Black interstate migrants were in the South, with Georgia, Texas and Florida leading the way.
This return to the South has roots that date back to the first Great Migration, when millions of Black people left the South and went north in an attempt to escape segregation, indentured servitude and lynching and to find ‘good’ jobs and stable housing. We know the reality of what they found didn’t match what they sought and often locked them into hazardous jobs at polluting steel mills, factories and shipyards. Government policies, like redlining, forced them to live near these toxic industries, unable to escape contaminated air, water and soil.
But this was not only a northern phenomenon…down South, there has been a similar unchecked growth and destruction of natural systems, inadequate housing in flood plains that have put this region more at risk of climate disasters.
For those members in the US looking for local solutions, let us not forget the growing solution many brothers and sisters took in 2020 i.e. ‘Blaxit’* and the intentional REPATRIATION which continues as a Great Migration to the Global South.
Pictured: Repatriates Ọbádélé Kambon, PhD, Kala Kambon and family
*Blaxit = Rising exodus and return to the African continent by members of the African diaspora largely due to the Covid pandemic and the racial reckoning in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. We simply said, “Bump this!” and followed the path our ancestors encouraged for a different way of life abroad.
Africa for the Africans. Gratitude to the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Amy Ashwood Garvey and Amy Jacques Garvey.
Despite it all, the southeastern USA is being more widely recognized in the Climate Justice/Environmental Justice movement. Many states and major cities are increasing investment in renewable energy, becoming hubs for green solutions, and building resiliency across Black anchor institutions. We have been growing our Black Sustainability Network of solution providers and have also been able to benefit from the growing investment and recognition of Black-led organizations thanks to direct support from F4FP, NRDC, the Hive Fund & Black Solidarity Fund.
Whether you choose to remain and grow where you are OR if you intentionally, fully divest from the West and invest in Africa, know our network is vast and we are all here to support!
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