Episode 9: Rev. Lennox Yearwood

This week on the award-winning Mother Earth Podcast, we have a deep and compelling conversation with the Reverend Lennox Yearwood, founder and president of the Hip Hop Caucus. “Rev” is bringing both Hip Hop culture and the tools of the civil rights movement to bear on the climate crisis.

In our conversation with Rev, we discuss his Zero Emissions Manifesto for the Climate Justice Movement in which he calls for a rapid transition off of fossil fuels, the role of music in social movements, his award-winning work bringing justice to people displaced by Hurricane Katrina 15 years ago that sparked his entry into the climate movement, his personal experience being assaulted by a police officer while walking to a climate protest, and the similarities between incidents of police brutality in which black people are suffocated and the air pollution in black neighborhoods that kills large numbers of innocent people. And we learn about Rev’s personal journey from divinity student, to Air Force chaplain opposed to the Iraq war, to crusading hip hop, champion of the climate crisis.

Rev is now one of the most influential people in Hip Hop political life. He heads up the national Respect My Vote! Campaign, which has brought numerous celebrity partners into voter participation work, including T.I., 2 Chainz, Amber Rose, Future, Keyshia Cole, Vic Mensa, Charlamagne tha God, Keke Palmer, and Omar Epps. He is the host of the podcast The Coolest Show as part of the Think 100% Climate project using music, radio, film and activism to engage young black people in the climate movement.

Join us for this conversation as Rev equates action on the climate crisis with a moral imperative on par with the greatest social movements in our history.

For People and Planet, thank you for listening.