Conversations: Robert Bullard

Image of guest Dr. Robert Bullard in a dark, gray suit with a yellow and maroon tie.

Dr. Robert Bullard, Distinguished Professor at Texas Southern University and a transformational figure in the environmental justice movement, says the environment is not just out in the woods and wilderness; it’s everywhere. “It's where we live, work, play, worship, learn, as well as the physical and natural world,” he says.

Robert’s devoted much of his life to documenting how environmental racism puts Black people and other people of color at higher risk from polluted air and water, natural disasters, and other natural threats. In this episode of Threshold Conversations, Amy and Robert talk about the origins of his pioneering research, the battle to get environmental justice on the agendas of large, white-dominated environmental groups, and what gives him hope.

Featured

National Black Environmental Justice Network

Co-founded by Robert Bullard, the National Black Environmental Justice Network (NBEJN) is a national coalition of environmental justice organizations and activists of African descent.

HBCU Climate Change Consortium

Co-founded by Robert Bullard, the HBCU Climate Change Consortium brings together HBCU faculty and students, researchers, climate professionals and environmental justice and coastal community residents impacted by climate change in order to bridge the gap between theory and the experiential realities of climate change.

Dumping in Dixie: Race, Class, and Environmental Quality

Robert Bullard’s book provides the major economic, social, and psychological impacts associated with the siting of noxious facilities and their significance in mobilizing the African American community.

Environmental Justice: Exposing a Toxic Waste Landfill

This PBS short video features Robert Bullard and others “who describe the issues of environmental racism and justice, and learn about the watershed event—the controversy over the location of a toxic landfill in Warren County, North Carolina.”