Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Founder & CEO of Hip Hop Caucus, on Climate Justice, the Consequences of Not Voting, and Using Culture to Change the World

Angela Reddock-Wright sits down with Rev. Lennox Yearwood Jr., Founder and CEO of the Hip Hop Caucus, for a sweeping conversation that connects environmental justice, litigation, voting rights, and the power of culture as organizing tools. Raised in Cancer Alley — the 85-mile stretch between New Orleans and Baton Rouge with the highest cancer rates in the world — Rev. Yearwood traces the thread from his Louisiana roots and Air Force chaplaincy through the founding of Hip Hop Caucus in 2004 and its 18-year-old Respect My Vote campaign. He shares a moving tribute to his late mother, whose dying words were a call to keep fighting for democracy, and closes with a 100-year challenge to every listener: the work we do today will be the legacy that a generation not yet born will either thank us for, or not. Key Topics Covered:  How Rev. Yearwood grew up in Cancer Alley — a sacrifice zone of petrochemical facilities deliberately sited in predominantly Black, Brown, and poor communities — and why he argues climate and environmental justice are inseparable from civil rights and daily survival How the Hip Hop Caucus uses culture, celebrity, and now film and documentary production to make the movement irresistible, with projects including "Plastic Detox" on Netflix, "#WhileBlack," "City in the Forest" on Tortuguita and Cop City, and the upcoming "The Statement" How "demonstration without litigation leads to frustration" — and how Rev. Yearwood illustrates this with the story of how a Louisiana burial ground law, not a march, ultimately stopped a petrochemical plant from being built on the graves of enslaved ancestors How the “Respect My Vote” campaign's 18-year mission connects to his late mother's dying words — a woman who emigrated from Trinidad, earned a PhD, and made him promise that Black people would never stop fighting for the right to vote How data centers are the new “sacrifice zones,” sited in Black and Brown communities to generate profit at the cost of dirty air, dirty water, and shortened lives — and why Hip Hop Caucus is fighting back through litigation, legislation, and community organizing from Michigan to Los Angeles 🔗 Connect with Angela: InstagramFacebookLinkedInVisit Angela's Website