Mike CermakAs someone who spends half his time teaching and studying in a university among some rather well-off and highly educated young people, and the other half working as an environmental educator in urban high schools, I see a range of responses to the message and spectacle of Earth Day. At my university, I'm fairly involved with the student clubs that promote sustainability, and we are planning a daylong celebration with a band, exhibitor tables, art ... the works. But just a few miles away, in the urban high schools, I still hear, "You're really into that white people stuff" …
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Mike Cermak is the founder of Environmental Justice Action Media, a Boston-based group that designs and delivers educational curricula at the intersection of environmental and social justice issues. He is pursuing a doctoral degree at Boston College in environmental sociology, studying the role of grassroots hip-hop in the movements for urban sustainability and environmental justice.
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