<a href="http://epa.gov/" target="_blank"><strong>Environmental Protection Agency </strong></a>Administrator Lisa Jackson joined <a href="http://www.greenforall.org/" target="_blank"><strong>Green For All </strong></a>in its <a href="http://www.epa.gov/earthday/" target="_blank"><strong>Earth Day Celebration</strong></a> at Riverside Valley Community Garden in New York on April 22. A day of community service, the event brought together local activists and volunteers to plant seeds of growth and renewal where there was once blight. "Today's groundbreaking is keeping alive the grassroots spirit of the first Earth Day 40 years ago," Jackson said. "This community is coming together to work toward a healthier, safer environment, a better place to live, and new opportunities." <em><strong>(<a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/being-green/2010/04/22/green-giveaway-win-a-copy-of-kennedy-green-house/ to enter " target="_blank">Click here</a> to win one of five signed copies of "Kennedy Green House" by Robin Wilson.)</strong></em>
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins (far right), CEO of Green For All, thanked volunteers, which included "The Hurt Locker" actor Anthony Mackie (center), and stressed the importance of community involvement in preserving the environment. "The newest incarnation of environmentalism is not just looking at how we can protect and preserve the Earth," Ellis-Lamkins said. "It is looking at how the Earth, and caring for the planet, can protect and preserve us."
Mackie, Ellis-Lamkins, Jackson, and a community activist dig in to sow seeds for plants at the Riverside Valley Community Garden. The public space will serve as a source for growing sustainablee, nutritious food.
ackson and a volunteer help a young green thumb with her gardening. The outdoor space will be used as an classroom and site for the community to gather, network, and learn.
Participants helped to plant vegetables on a site once considered too dangerous and garbage-ridden to patronize. Volunteers were also introduced to the opportunities of a clean-energy economy. <em>Click <a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/list/?cat=being-green"><strong>here</strong></a> for more <a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/list/?cat=being-green"><strong>BEing Green</strong></a> articles on African Americans, energy and the environment.</em>
