Poems on Environmental Justice

One of the participants in our other program, the green jobs training program, wrote this poem:

Urban Renewal: an Ode to DWEJ

by Brandon Gatson

Let’s clean up the ‘hood
Rebuilding the homes
Restructuring the infrastructure
Refurbishing the furniture
So the spirit blossoms

Let’s plant seeds
Not to just grow trees
But rather produce forests in the people
So the fruits they bear
Feed the multitudes

Detroit needs environmental justice
We need geothermal energy
Heating up the water
Reheating the hearts in the home
So we can warm up the quality of life

Let’s remove the contamination
Remediating the hazardous waste wasting our lives
Abating the toxi-city
For we’re dying from lead poisoning
We are Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice

Check out poems about environmental justice by other authors here:


Poems by Bunyan Bryant, Ph.D. of University of Michigan
Environmental Justice Initiative poetry slam (video) - UM School of Natural Resources