By Rebecca Gorelov ’14, Staff Writer

 Dr. Majora Carter, an environmentalist, a public radio host, as well as an economic consultant was welcomed into the Newark Academy Community on February 22, 2012 as the fourth Global Speaker of the 2011-2012 School Year. In 2001 she created a nonprofit organization called Sustainable in South Bronx and served as its Executive Director until 2008. The organization’s main focus is urban renewal from an environmental standpoint.  This South Bronx native also brought her neigborhood its first waterside park in 60 years called Hunt’s Point Riverside Park. In addition to winning the MacArthur Genius Grant she has received 1.25 million dollars to construct a “greenway” along the South Bronx waterfront. As Dr. Carter herself puts it, her goal is to “Green the Ghetto.”

Dr. Carter grew up in  South Bronx, New York during an industrial boom. Newly built highways were cutting through communities and waste management companies replaced manufacturers. As a child Dr. Carter was planning her escape out of where she was raised, and education was her way out. After attending Wesleyan University she moved back home. Seeing people she knew as a child still suffering years later motivated her to make a change in her community that would last. Seeing her neighborhood in desperation, she  launched a campaign to improve her community.

In 2001, when Dr. Carter created Sustainable South Bronx, she believed that people should not need to move to other neighborhoods to find a better and healthier life. People should join together in the fight to make their community a better place. Dr. Carter attributes her first major project to her dog, Xena. Xena led her into an illegal dumping site, which Dr. Carter later remodeled into Hunt’s Point Riverside Park. Dr. Carter also stressed the importance of green infrastructure, stressing that  the natural environment must be kept in mind while urban renewal projects are completed. For example, Carter has been an advocate for greening rooftops in cities. These rooftops reduce sewage, collect rainwater, and allow a place for plants to grow in a relatively industrial areas where farming could otherwise never occur. Another incentive to install green roofing is that building owners in New York City who do so will receive a tax credit of about $4.50 per square foot of roof area planted with vegetation. Additionally, Dr. Carter created one of the nation’s first urban green collars training and placement systems, the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training. She believes strongly that the connection between jobs and the environment is an important one but a connection that has not yet been used to its full potential.

One of Dr. Carter’s most ambitious goals is to create mixed income communities in currently poor communities. An obvious approach to this is raising the living standard. However when doing this there are two outcomes that Dr. Carter seeks to avoid. First, increasing the living standard to a point where the poorer community would not be able to afford it. Second, making minor changes yet not enough to noticeably raise the living standard. She believes that the key tenants to creating mixed income communities are creating commercial centers for people to spend their money, offering manufacturing education, and constructing green public spaces.  She is a firm  believer in the concept of a “FabLab,” or fabrication laboratory. Created in an MIT lab, the “Fab Lab” is a small workshop offering digital fabrication. Dr. Carter thinks it is key for people to see themselves as “creators.” It is project like these that she is currently working on and are crucial for mixed income communities.

Overall the Newark Academy community had a positive reaction to the informative part of Dr. Carter’s presentation. Mr. Gilbreath remarked, “It was great to hear that environmentalist efforts were being made in a place where one would usually think it impossible to do.” However ,the reaction to the Question and Answer part of the presentation were generally mixed. Ian Ravin ’12 said, “While her presentation was thought provoking and informative, her attitude during the question-and-answer [period] was somewhat rude…even impudent at times.”  On the other hand, Asia Lugo ’13, “The presentation was good and honest. Some thought she was rude but that’s just her personality. She [did not] candy coat anything.”

Currently Dr. Carter is running the Majora Carter Group an economic consulting and planning firm. Her goal in creating this company was to take her local project on a national level. As of today the group is working in New Orleans, Detroit and the small coastal towns of Northeastern North Carolina and she anticipated expanding her services to make a lasting effect on our planet’s environmental footprint.