Majora Changes
Born and raised in the South Bronx neighborhood of Hunts Point, Majora Carter never thought she would return once she made it out. Utilizing higher education as her ultimate getaway plan, Carter earned her B.A. at Wesleyan University and was on track to pursue a Masters in Fine Arts at New York University. However, with no money and the limited prospects that most recent graduate face in hard economic times, Carter was forced to returned to Hunts Point and live with her parents.
In a twist of fate, the move she imagined as a small defeat was a move that propelled her to become an eco-entrepreneur. As the head of a community-led opposition to a planned waste treatment facility in her neighborhood, Carter learned about the power of community activism when their uphill battle lead to the development of Hunts Point Riverside Park, the first park along the Bronx waterfront in 60 years.
Coining “Green the Ghetto” as her motto, Carter founded the Sustainable South Bronx (SSB) 2001, a non-profit that equips local residents with green job training and skills. She continues on to create sustainable urban communities on a national platform by working as a consultant via the Majora Carter group. Whether it with a green roof through the founding, or a tapestry of neighborhood connections through bike and pedestrian trails known as the South Bronx Greenway, a masterpiece of healthy local communities rooted in economic vitality is now the artistry of Majora Carter.
Now the national public radio host for the Peabody Award winning program, the Promised Land, the vivacity and energy she possesses allows her to do more.
Next on her itinerary is launching a nationally recognized brand that relays to the consumer the guarantee they are buying freshest of local food. Majora recognizes that, “by establishing a nationally recognized brand platform that immediately signifies local economic prosperity and high quality, we can drive more investment into local food systems. That means building more indoor, year-round hydroponic growing space, which in turn reduces blight, draws people back into declining urban areas, and inspires hope for those who have very little now.”
Majora illustrates that the most sustainable results can come from demonstrations of activism within ones community. She shows us that in order for our urban communities to be sustainable the people have to be informed, educated and skilled. Her activism seeks out preventative measures before a new crisis erupts. Her activism is academic and artful, it is grass root and top-down, and it is ongoing and ever-improving the lives and economic vitality of the communities she serves.
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