May 23, 2022 • 19 mins
Daniel Blackman is the regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency for Region 4.
He joins the podcast to discuss the impact the environment has on our wealth and health.
Guest twitter: @EPASoutheast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, Money Movers, Welcome back to Money Moves, the daily
podcast determined to give you the keys to the Kingdom
of financial stability, wealth and abundance. I'm your host, Tanya
Sam and today's guest is a friend but also a
(00:22):
regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr Daniel Blackman.
Welcome to the podcast. Hey, it's been a long time,
and COVID has been the best and worst of situations.
We've had more time with our families and our friends
and our loved ones, but in that same respect, we're
further apart than we should be. In is even though
(00:43):
it's virtual. Is great to see you. You can say
that again, Oh Jill Daniel, it's great to see you now.
You have spent years and years in Atlanta, you know,
doing such incredible and powerful work. And for those in
our audience who don't know what you do, can you
sort of talk about your history both in politics and
in the Atlanta scene. I feel like I look behind
(01:04):
you and probably your backdrop is a little bit exemplatory
of that. But I think there's more to be said.
I mean, it's it's an interesting journey. My family is
from Barbados, and so my family I'm first generation. My
family got here by way of my grandfather serving in
the United Nations. My father and listening to the military
when I was very young. And uh So, I was
(01:25):
born in Boston, but moved to Vicenza, Italy, and spent
some very early years overseas. We were then stationed in Columbus, Georgia,
while I went to middle school and high school. And
then I was very fortunate and privileged to be recruited
to go to Clark Atlanta University. Um So, I'm an
HbCO alum. Uh proud of my city, proud of my institution.
(01:47):
My wife is a Spellman alum, and so we have
a lot of ties to the rich history of the city,
the irony. And you asked me about politics. I started
off in entertainment, you know, I was. I was working
for Arista Records. I worked for you know, Andre Horrell
for a little while, worked for Clive Davis. I was
very fortunate, and then I met Maynard Jackson. And for
(02:07):
all of us that have ever met Maynard or Congressman
John Lewis or any of our icons, when they called man,
you listen, and you know the reason why I had
a relationship with Andrew Young, Uh, Reverend James Orange, Uh
you know, Reverend Lowry ct Debby, and Reverend Gerald Durley.
These guys were all a part of my tribe. Man.
(02:30):
They were the individuals that helped catapult me to where
I am. So when I you know, left working in music, um,
I I actually began to do voter registration, helped Shirley
Franklin get elected and became a very close friend of
Shirley's for a while. And uh, three years after that,
I met Senator Barack Obama, worked on his campaign, ultimately
(02:52):
served on three White House initiatives. But prior to that,
my life changed. Hurricane Katrina happened. And when Hurricane Katrina happened, I,
like everybody else, millions of people, I wanted to know why.
And I was on I was on a talk show
man on earlier after it happened, and I remember being
(03:12):
in Atlanta and seeing the images of climate refugees, our community, um,
you know, up to their waste and water, you know,
not having food, not having electricity, not having running water,
and um, and it hurt me because that I was
literally watching our community underwater with no answer, no no,
(03:32):
no one that looked like us to explain what climate
change in global warming was and why the weather had
shifted in such a violent way. And that was my
entry point. So when Obama got elected, I worked on
two or three White House initiatives, including one called the
Clean Power Plan, got involved in you know, uh, energy issues.
I grew up with asthma. Um my son is a
(03:53):
standout athlete. He has an emergency and hailer on the
sideline and look, you know there there is a quote
Frederick Douglass made one time that said it's better to
build strong boys and to repair broken men. And so me, yeah,
I mean, but but it's real. Like that quote alone
made me understand that it was my responsibility, our responsibility
(04:16):
to raise a stronger community or to repair a broken
one down the line. And I saw a huge sense
of brokenness and our public health right, and so I
wanted to be in a space which so happened to
be environmental issues and environmental justice and equity. I wanted
to be in that space and was very fortunate early
in my career to have met the right people, done
(04:37):
the right things, and navigate it in a way where
I can now focus on clean water, clean air, and
so many of the areas. And now I am the
first African American male, first Blackmail to ever serve as
regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Region four.
And it's such an honor and so I'm very happy
to be here, love what the show is doing, love
what the community is doing, and just happy to add
(04:59):
my voice to such a important conversation now. And you know,
we really appreciate because this is one of those things
when we talk about the Environmental Protection Agency, a lot
of people are like, well, what do they do, what
does that mean? Why is that important? And you know,
conversations like this, and I feel like they're so critical
because it's constituents as citizens, Like we need to understand
the power of what people like you when you sit
(05:21):
in roles, what it does, and how it trickles down
to us, Like you think about Flint, Michigan and what
happened there. So seeing someone that looks like us in
powerful rules like this is really important. And I'm really
glad to just sort of share your story and get
a better understanding of you know, what you do in
this role and what it means for us as citizens. Yeah,
and I think it's important that We find these intersections
(05:43):
because when people think about your show, and when people
think about money and economics, we don't think of ownership
in many cases, and very fortunate and at ep A
to work on the agricultural side. And I would even
go as far as talk about land because sixty seventy
years ago, black folks in this country owned eighteen million
acres of land in the United States. We now own
(06:04):
less than two million. Right so the fact that we
have lost over fifteen and a half million acres of
land due to a lack of secession planning, unfortunate challenges
that our land has been taken uh challenges where our
communities have not been able to pass it down. And
so we have to rethink what ownership looks like, what
(06:25):
generational wealth looks like, and what generational health looks like.
It's great to talk about wealth, but if you're not
healthy enough to be around to invest in support your families,
and take care of your community, then the wealth means nothing.
So we've gotta we've gotta simultaneously build health and wealth
at the same time. The e p A gives a
(06:46):
tremendous platform for my voice to help to lead in
that conversation in every community throughout the country. I mean,
that is a staggering statistic of how much land loss
to Black people over the years. I mean, and when
we're talking about how to build generational wealth, like, a
lot of the wealth in this country is seen through
like people whose families passed on land, blumbard steel like.
(07:08):
And I mean it's changing now we have technology and
different influences, but that is I mean the loss that
our communities suffer. When I hear that, I just I
get it. I get how this keeps you up at night.
It does. But I think, you know, so it's it's
in my thinking right because I'm an optimist. You know,
with every challenge we have, I view as an opportunity.
(07:30):
And so you know, there are black farmers that need
this information, There are landowners, There are you know, young
men and women that are looking for the next opportunity
in their lives. And I'm very fortunate when you look
at our communities. E p A is one of the
only agencies in the federal government that I personally believe
can help directly impact our communities as it relates to
(07:53):
recovery and and and realistically and restoration. Right because If
you want to know why COVID hit our community so hard,
it was because of pressing conditions. It was because we
suffer from asthma rates, we suffer from respiratory rates. We
live as black men uh ten years less than our
white male counterparts, and our black women live eight years
(08:14):
less than our white female counterparts. Right, So when we
think about why life expectancy as a challenge, why are
are our black women and brown women, why are the
rates and childbirth that are very uh disproportionate? Why do
these things happen? And it's because of the air we breathe,
It's because of the water we drink. It's because of
what you mentioned earlier about flint Michigan. It's multiple areas
(08:37):
and knowing and understanding that flint was the one we saw,
and there are hundreds, not thousands of other flints out
there that exists that are compromising the health and the
longevity and the success of our communities and m And
again that's why this position, while we might not know
as much about it, is so critical to the longevity
of our society and of our communities. So like as
(09:00):
you know, citizens, as you know, we try to inform
ourselves as much as possible and make the best decisions,
you know, may make the best choices for people in power, etcetera.
What can we do because I do feel like, you know,
when we talk about global warming, we talk about water quality,
we talk about air quality, climate change, Like, what can
we do to make sure that our communities are protected? Well?
(09:24):
The first is platforms like this, whether it's media or
it's reading or getting information and knowing. You know, I'm
I applaud President Biden, Administrator Reagan um and in trusting
me right in this position and in working to make
sure that environmental justice, equity, and health are not just
talking points but their priorities and driving the investment of
(09:45):
those priorities is something that we need to do. So
here's how we can, you know, kind of shift that narrative.
Number One, we can look throughout our communities and identify
areas that we can rebuild. Right, We've seen how gentrification
has fundamentally transformed our society. Right. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
There's a place in Boston called Mattapan, and my family
(10:06):
lived in Mattapan for a long time. Mattapan now because
of gentrification, just like Atlanta Avenue Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
or Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, and we think about it.
We have to start thinking ahead right and understanding that
we can rent and we can live. But when you
look at income in equality and you look at health disparities,
(10:26):
what happens is that we now we're seeing that we're
being driven out of our of our communities, not because
you know, we're any less valuable or less better than
any other communities, because we lack the understanding and education
right and access that would help us transform our communities.
So I encourage everybody to look at your computer, your
your community and think think long term right. Don't think
(10:49):
a month ahead or a week ahead, think five, six,
seven years ahead. Look at your children every day and
understand that they are living messages to a future that
many of us will never see. So the information you
didn't get from your grandmother, from your uncle, or maybe
that you did get, we've got to pass it on right,
because we've got to rethink and revision our communities. Atlanta
has fundamentally changed since the Olympics. It is change exactly right,
(11:16):
and and from the film industry. So when we think
of film, we think of sports, we think of entertainment. Now,
we've gotta think of green space right. Now, We've got
to think when COVID happened and there were foods off
of shells at grocery stores, how do we grow our
own food right? How do we create community gardens? So
I would encourage people to understand what is available not
(11:37):
just with E p A, but with the with the U.
S d A, right with agriculture, with with opportunities that
exist through grants, through community partnerships, and through organizing locally
to make sure you have the infrastructure you need and
you're in place to be able to build something stronger.
And then second, I'll get these last two really quickly.
The second one is I would encourage every single person
(11:58):
that's listening to make sure that you are active participating
in your local government. Your local government's determined how money
comes into your community and how it's distributed. Understand who
your local representatives are and hold them accountable so that
when you hear a person like me say, hey, one
point two billion dollars coming into my region, you know
the code of your city councilman, and say, I heard
(12:19):
this guy talk about the environment. He talked about brown
fields and super fund sites. And I don't understand all
these things, but I know these moneys are coming into
my community and I'd like to be able to understand
how we can benefit from it. And lastly, it goes
back to what we said about the farmers. We as
a community have to stop thinking about our block. We
(12:40):
gotta stop thinking about our neighborhood. We gotta start thinking
about the farmers in Albany, Georgia that looked like us,
and Tuskegee, Alabama that looks and Audi Alabama that looked
like us. We've got to stop looking at southwest Atlanta
and taking a whole of society view on where our
community is and where we're being left behind because guess what,
forty fifty years from now, because of climate change, the
(13:03):
coastal lines in Savannah and in Charleston, South Carolina, in Miami,
Florida may not be there. And if we're not thinking
decades ahead, then we're gonna be left behind and in
further challenges than we see today. Wow. I mean, that's
so much to impact. And you know, I think what
really resonates with me is like the job is on
us as a community, Like we all wear the mantle
(13:26):
and I think some of us are struggling to figure out,
you know, where can I make the most impact? And
I mean it's like small things that you talk about,
community gardens, growing green spaces. How do we initiate those actions?
And like where can the average person. You know, there's
a mom who's you know, in her community and there
is no green space, so she wants her her son
(13:46):
to be able to go outside. He has asthma, and
have at least some more trees around there, so maybe
it'll you know, less than the impacts of his asthma,
and he wants to be outside. Where do we begin.
The first lesson, most valuable lesson I learned was with
my first US home purchase. UM. I was able to
purchase a home in Atlanta under what was called then
the Tax Allocation District where they gave money to first
(14:08):
time home buyers and encourage people to move back in
the communities. And my wife and I decided we wanted
our first home in the community. We wanted to we
wanted to live in a community we wanted to help
to transform. And we moved into the community and I
remember the first time we wanted to go out to
a nice restaurant just to go out to eat and
get a salad and you know, get get get some
(14:29):
fruits and vegetables and just you know, just regular. Right.
And we lived off of Metropolitan, and I remember as
soon as you left out of our house, there were
at least ten UH fast food restaurants within a mile
of each other. Right. And I remember the first time
I had a chance to work with Michelle Obama. It
was on her Let's Move campaign, and I will never
forget what she said about food deserts. And I remember
(14:52):
hearing her saying it, not realizing that I lived in
a food desk. Right. What is a food desert. It's
an area that has an overwhelming amount of of of
of UH food that does not add nutritional value to us. Right.
So when you think of a of a sprout or
a whole foods or any facility that that that that
has fresh produce, or a farmer's market, nine times out
(15:16):
of ten they were in our communities. So the first
thing I would encourage a single mom or a single father,
or anybody that lives in these communities, whether you're a
renter or a homeowner, is to encourage your local. Again,
back to local government encourage these kind of things, go
to the MPU and zoning planning to end. Absolutely, we
we want a garden, right, I mean we There was
(15:38):
an opportunity a couple of years ago when we supported
a local foundation here in Atlanta and we got UH
six dollar grants to give to schools right in southwest
Atlanta that wanted to have community gardens. Because we went
into these schools and we asked kids, where do your
potatoes came from? Where? Where does your head? Where does
the beef and your hamburger come from? You know what
(15:59):
their answers are, Kroger, that was their answer. They didn't
equate potatoes and broccoli with the farm and growth, and
they didn't equate it to farming and growth and and
and the and the things that built our community in
our society. They didn't understand that beef came from a
from a cow. They knew it, but they're they're understanding
(16:20):
of where the source where that came from was not
from the animals. So we have to do a better job.
People like myself, why we are committing ourselves to education,
access and opportunity to why we have a hundred and
fifteen UH positions that we get to fill in Reaching four. Um,
Reaching four, just so you know, it was Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky,
(16:43):
and uh, I think I'm missing one. But we also
have six federally recognized tribes. Sixty seven million people are
in Reaching four, which includes the state of Georgia, and
I get a chance to use this space to educate
people and to give this information I'm sharing with you today,
three hundred and sixty five days out of the year,
and I absolutely love it, and I'm so I'm in
the position to do it. I feel it, I love it.
(17:05):
I love it so much. In Daniel, we are running
out of time today, but we're gonna have you back
for a deep dive and we're gonna talk more about
this because you piqued my interest now because now you're
talking about money that's out there from the e p A,
jobs that you're creating, and change that you're creating, and
those are some of my favorite things. Before we leave, Daniel,
can you tell our audience where they can find you
on social media? Yeah, so there are a couple of things.
(17:27):
Number One, you can go to e p A dot gov.
The majority of information and I'm gonna pull something up
so I give you the right information, but the right
The majority of what you can do is go to
e p A dot gov and you can find the information.
You can also on Twitter, go to at e p
A Southeast, UM, and that is e p A like
UH for Environmental Protection Agency. Go on online. UH. We're
(17:51):
on Facebook, We're on all forms of social media and
you can contact us directly. And UM, I'm happy to
be on the show anytime I can support platform, be
on this show and get information out to the community.
That's what we're here for. We're here to be supportive
and if you would go online, if you want to
email us directly, UM, you can email me at Blackman
(18:12):
dot Daniel at EPA dot gov. And I'm very happy
to be involved, very happy to continue to share information. Well,
thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to have
you on the show, and thank you for the good
work you're doing. And we'll see you again soon for
our deep dive episode Money Movers. That's all the time
we have for today. Make sure you follow Daniel on
all his social media channels and if we have helped
(18:33):
you make your money move, please make sure to let
us know by sending us a like, sharing the knowledge
on your social media, and or leaving us a review
on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much for tuning in
Money Moves audience. If you want more or a recap
of this episode, please go to the bank Greenwood dot
com and check out the Money Moves podcast blog. Money
(18:57):
Moves is an I Heart Radio podcast powered by Greenwood
Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc. For more podcasts on
I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from
Hey, Money Movers, Welcome back to Money Moves, the daily
podcast determined to give you the keys to the Kingdom
of financial stability, wealth and abundance. I'm your host, Tanya
Sam and today's guest is a friend but also a
(00:22):
regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, Mr Daniel Blackman.
Welcome to the podcast. Hey, it's been a long time,
and COVID has been the best and worst of situations.
We've had more time with our families and our friends
and our loved ones, but in that same respect, we're
further apart than we should be. In is even though
(00:43):
it's virtual. Is great to see you. You can say
that again, Oh Jill Daniel, it's great to see you now.
You have spent years and years in Atlanta, you know,
doing such incredible and powerful work. And for those in
our audience who don't know what you do, can you
sort of talk about your history both in politics and
in the Atlanta scene. I feel like I look behind
(01:04):
you and probably your backdrop is a little bit exemplatory
of that. But I think there's more to be said.
I mean, it's it's an interesting journey. My family is
from Barbados, and so my family I'm first generation. My
family got here by way of my grandfather serving in
the United Nations. My father and listening to the military
when I was very young. And uh So, I was
(01:25):
born in Boston, but moved to Vicenza, Italy, and spent
some very early years overseas. We were then stationed in Columbus, Georgia,
while I went to middle school and high school. And
then I was very fortunate and privileged to be recruited
to go to Clark Atlanta University. Um So, I'm an
HbCO alum. Uh proud of my city, proud of my institution.
(01:47):
My wife is a Spellman alum, and so we have
a lot of ties to the rich history of the city,
the irony. And you asked me about politics. I started
off in entertainment, you know, I was. I was working
for Arista Records. I worked for you know, Andre Horrell
for a little while, worked for Clive Davis. I was
very fortunate, and then I met Maynard Jackson. And for
(02:07):
all of us that have ever met Maynard or Congressman
John Lewis or any of our icons, when they called man,
you listen, and you know the reason why I had
a relationship with Andrew Young, Uh, Reverend James Orange, Uh
you know, Reverend Lowry ct Debby, and Reverend Gerald Durley.
These guys were all a part of my tribe. Man.
(02:30):
They were the individuals that helped catapult me to where
I am. So when I you know, left working in music, um,
I I actually began to do voter registration, helped Shirley
Franklin get elected and became a very close friend of
Shirley's for a while. And uh, three years after that,
I met Senator Barack Obama, worked on his campaign, ultimately
(02:52):
served on three White House initiatives. But prior to that,
my life changed. Hurricane Katrina happened. And when Hurricane Katrina happened, I,
like everybody else, millions of people, I wanted to know why.
And I was on I was on a talk show
man on earlier after it happened, and I remember being
(03:12):
in Atlanta and seeing the images of climate refugees, our community, um,
you know, up to their waste and water, you know,
not having food, not having electricity, not having running water,
and um, and it hurt me because that I was
literally watching our community underwater with no answer, no no,
(03:32):
no one that looked like us to explain what climate
change in global warming was and why the weather had
shifted in such a violent way. And that was my
entry point. So when Obama got elected, I worked on
two or three White House initiatives, including one called the
Clean Power Plan, got involved in you know, uh, energy issues.
I grew up with asthma. Um my son is a
(03:53):
standout athlete. He has an emergency and hailer on the
sideline and look, you know there there is a quote
Frederick Douglass made one time that said it's better to
build strong boys and to repair broken men. And so me, yeah,
I mean, but but it's real. Like that quote alone
made me understand that it was my responsibility, our responsibility
(04:16):
to raise a stronger community or to repair a broken
one down the line. And I saw a huge sense
of brokenness and our public health right, and so I
wanted to be in a space which so happened to
be environmental issues and environmental justice and equity. I wanted
to be in that space and was very fortunate early
in my career to have met the right people, done
(04:37):
the right things, and navigate it in a way where
I can now focus on clean water, clean air, and
so many of the areas. And now I am the
first African American male, first Blackmail to ever serve as
regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency in the Region four.
And it's such an honor and so I'm very happy
to be here, love what the show is doing, love
what the community is doing, and just happy to add
(04:59):
my voice to such a important conversation now. And you know,
we really appreciate because this is one of those things
when we talk about the Environmental Protection Agency, a lot
of people are like, well, what do they do, what
does that mean? Why is that important? And you know,
conversations like this, and I feel like they're so critical
because it's constituents as citizens, Like we need to understand
the power of what people like you when you sit
(05:21):
in roles, what it does, and how it trickles down
to us, Like you think about Flint, Michigan and what
happened there. So seeing someone that looks like us in
powerful rules like this is really important. And I'm really
glad to just sort of share your story and get
a better understanding of you know, what you do in
this role and what it means for us as citizens. Yeah,
and I think it's important that We find these intersections
(05:43):
because when people think about your show, and when people
think about money and economics, we don't think of ownership
in many cases, and very fortunate and at ep A
to work on the agricultural side. And I would even
go as far as talk about land because sixty seventy
years ago, black folks in this country owned eighteen million
acres of land in the United States. We now own
(06:04):
less than two million. Right so the fact that we
have lost over fifteen and a half million acres of
land due to a lack of secession planning, unfortunate challenges
that our land has been taken uh challenges where our
communities have not been able to pass it down. And
so we have to rethink what ownership looks like, what
(06:25):
generational wealth looks like, and what generational health looks like.
It's great to talk about wealth, but if you're not
healthy enough to be around to invest in support your families,
and take care of your community, then the wealth means nothing.
So we've gotta we've gotta simultaneously build health and wealth
at the same time. The e p A gives a
(06:46):
tremendous platform for my voice to help to lead in
that conversation in every community throughout the country. I mean,
that is a staggering statistic of how much land loss
to Black people over the years. I mean, and when
we're talking about how to build generational wealth, like, a
lot of the wealth in this country is seen through
like people whose families passed on land, blumbard steel like.
(07:08):
And I mean it's changing now we have technology and
different influences, but that is I mean the loss that
our communities suffer. When I hear that, I just I
get it. I get how this keeps you up at night.
It does. But I think, you know, so it's it's
in my thinking right because I'm an optimist. You know,
with every challenge we have, I view as an opportunity.
(07:30):
And so you know, there are black farmers that need
this information, There are landowners, There are you know, young
men and women that are looking for the next opportunity
in their lives. And I'm very fortunate when you look
at our communities. E p A is one of the
only agencies in the federal government that I personally believe
can help directly impact our communities as it relates to
(07:53):
recovery and and and realistically and restoration. Right because If
you want to know why COVID hit our community so hard,
it was because of pressing conditions. It was because we
suffer from asthma rates, we suffer from respiratory rates. We
live as black men uh ten years less than our
white male counterparts, and our black women live eight years
(08:14):
less than our white female counterparts. Right, So when we
think about why life expectancy as a challenge, why are
are our black women and brown women, why are the
rates and childbirth that are very uh disproportionate? Why do
these things happen? And it's because of the air we breathe,
It's because of the water we drink. It's because of
what you mentioned earlier about flint Michigan. It's multiple areas
(08:37):
and knowing and understanding that flint was the one we saw,
and there are hundreds, not thousands of other flints out
there that exists that are compromising the health and the
longevity and the success of our communities and m And
again that's why this position, while we might not know
as much about it, is so critical to the longevity
of our society and of our communities. So like as
(09:00):
you know, citizens, as you know, we try to inform
ourselves as much as possible and make the best decisions,
you know, may make the best choices for people in power, etcetera.
What can we do because I do feel like, you know,
when we talk about global warming, we talk about water quality,
we talk about air quality, climate change, Like, what can
we do to make sure that our communities are protected? Well?
(09:24):
The first is platforms like this, whether it's media or
it's reading or getting information and knowing. You know, I'm
I applaud President Biden, Administrator Reagan um and in trusting
me right in this position and in working to make
sure that environmental justice, equity, and health are not just
talking points but their priorities and driving the investment of
(09:45):
those priorities is something that we need to do. So
here's how we can, you know, kind of shift that narrative.
Number One, we can look throughout our communities and identify
areas that we can rebuild. Right, We've seen how gentrification
has fundamentally transformed our society. Right. I was born in Boston, Massachusetts.
There's a place in Boston called Mattapan, and my family
(10:06):
lived in Mattapan for a long time. Mattapan now because
of gentrification, just like Atlanta Avenue Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn
or Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, and we think about it.
We have to start thinking ahead right and understanding that
we can rent and we can live. But when you
look at income in equality and you look at health disparities,
(10:26):
what happens is that we now we're seeing that we're
being driven out of our of our communities, not because
you know, we're any less valuable or less better than
any other communities, because we lack the understanding and education
right and access that would help us transform our communities.
So I encourage everybody to look at your computer, your
your community and think think long term right. Don't think
(10:49):
a month ahead or a week ahead, think five, six,
seven years ahead. Look at your children every day and
understand that they are living messages to a future that
many of us will never see. So the information you
didn't get from your grandmother, from your uncle, or maybe
that you did get, we've got to pass it on right,
because we've got to rethink and revision our communities. Atlanta
has fundamentally changed since the Olympics. It is change exactly right,
(11:16):
and and from the film industry. So when we think
of film, we think of sports, we think of entertainment. Now,
we've gotta think of green space right. Now, We've got
to think when COVID happened and there were foods off
of shells at grocery stores, how do we grow our
own food right? How do we create community gardens? So
I would encourage people to understand what is available not
(11:37):
just with E p A, but with the with the U.
S d A, right with agriculture, with with opportunities that
exist through grants, through community partnerships, and through organizing locally
to make sure you have the infrastructure you need and
you're in place to be able to build something stronger.
And then second, I'll get these last two really quickly.
The second one is I would encourage every single person
(11:58):
that's listening to make sure that you are active participating
in your local government. Your local government's determined how money
comes into your community and how it's distributed. Understand who
your local representatives are and hold them accountable so that
when you hear a person like me say, hey, one
point two billion dollars coming into my region, you know
the code of your city councilman, and say, I heard
(12:19):
this guy talk about the environment. He talked about brown
fields and super fund sites. And I don't understand all
these things, but I know these moneys are coming into
my community and I'd like to be able to understand
how we can benefit from it. And lastly, it goes
back to what we said about the farmers. We as
a community have to stop thinking about our block. We
(12:40):
gotta stop thinking about our neighborhood. We gotta start thinking
about the farmers in Albany, Georgia that looked like us,
and Tuskegee, Alabama that looks and Audi Alabama that looked
like us. We've got to stop looking at southwest Atlanta
and taking a whole of society view on where our
community is and where we're being left behind because guess what,
forty fifty years from now, because of climate change, the
(13:03):
coastal lines in Savannah and in Charleston, South Carolina, in Miami,
Florida may not be there. And if we're not thinking
decades ahead, then we're gonna be left behind and in
further challenges than we see today. Wow. I mean, that's
so much to impact. And you know, I think what
really resonates with me is like the job is on
us as a community, Like we all wear the mantle
(13:26):
and I think some of us are struggling to figure out,
you know, where can I make the most impact? And
I mean it's like small things that you talk about,
community gardens, growing green spaces. How do we initiate those actions?
And like where can the average person. You know, there's
a mom who's you know, in her community and there
is no green space, so she wants her her son
(13:46):
to be able to go outside. He has asthma, and
have at least some more trees around there, so maybe
it'll you know, less than the impacts of his asthma,
and he wants to be outside. Where do we begin.
The first lesson, most valuable lesson I learned was with
my first US home purchase. UM. I was able to
purchase a home in Atlanta under what was called then
the Tax Allocation District where they gave money to first
(14:08):
time home buyers and encourage people to move back in
the communities. And my wife and I decided we wanted
our first home in the community. We wanted to we
wanted to live in a community we wanted to help
to transform. And we moved into the community and I
remember the first time we wanted to go out to
a nice restaurant just to go out to eat and
get a salad and you know, get get get some
(14:29):
fruits and vegetables and just you know, just regular. Right.
And we lived off of Metropolitan, and I remember as
soon as you left out of our house, there were
at least ten UH fast food restaurants within a mile
of each other. Right. And I remember the first time
I had a chance to work with Michelle Obama. It
was on her Let's Move campaign, and I will never
forget what she said about food deserts. And I remember
(14:52):
hearing her saying it, not realizing that I lived in
a food desk. Right. What is a food desert. It's
an area that has an overwhelming amount of of of
of UH food that does not add nutritional value to us. Right.
So when you think of a of a sprout or
a whole foods or any facility that that that that
has fresh produce, or a farmer's market, nine times out
(15:16):
of ten they were in our communities. So the first
thing I would encourage a single mom or a single father,
or anybody that lives in these communities, whether you're a
renter or a homeowner, is to encourage your local. Again,
back to local government encourage these kind of things, go
to the MPU and zoning planning to end. Absolutely, we
we want a garden, right, I mean we There was
(15:38):
an opportunity a couple of years ago when we supported
a local foundation here in Atlanta and we got UH
six dollar grants to give to schools right in southwest
Atlanta that wanted to have community gardens. Because we went
into these schools and we asked kids, where do your
potatoes came from? Where? Where does your head? Where does
the beef and your hamburger come from? You know what
(15:59):
their answers are, Kroger, that was their answer. They didn't
equate potatoes and broccoli with the farm and growth, and
they didn't equate it to farming and growth and and
and the and the things that built our community in
our society. They didn't understand that beef came from a
from a cow. They knew it, but they're they're understanding
(16:20):
of where the source where that came from was not
from the animals. So we have to do a better job.
People like myself, why we are committing ourselves to education,
access and opportunity to why we have a hundred and
fifteen UH positions that we get to fill in Reaching four. Um,
Reaching four, just so you know, it was Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky,
(16:43):
and uh, I think I'm missing one. But we also
have six federally recognized tribes. Sixty seven million people are
in Reaching four, which includes the state of Georgia, and
I get a chance to use this space to educate
people and to give this information I'm sharing with you today,
three hundred and sixty five days out of the year,
and I absolutely love it, and I'm so I'm in
the position to do it. I feel it, I love it.
(17:05):
I love it so much. In Daniel, we are running
out of time today, but we're gonna have you back
for a deep dive and we're gonna talk more about
this because you piqued my interest now because now you're
talking about money that's out there from the e p A,
jobs that you're creating, and change that you're creating, and
those are some of my favorite things. Before we leave, Daniel,
can you tell our audience where they can find you
on social media? Yeah, so there are a couple of things.
(17:27):
Number One, you can go to e p A dot gov.
The majority of information and I'm gonna pull something up
so I give you the right information, but the right
The majority of what you can do is go to
e p A dot gov and you can find the information.
You can also on Twitter, go to at e p
A Southeast, UM, and that is e p A like
UH for Environmental Protection Agency. Go on online. UH. We're
(17:51):
on Facebook, We're on all forms of social media and
you can contact us directly. And UM, I'm happy to
be on the show anytime I can support platform, be
on this show and get information out to the community.
That's what we're here for. We're here to be supportive
and if you would go online, if you want to
email us directly, UM, you can email me at Blackman
(18:12):
dot Daniel at EPA dot gov. And I'm very happy
to be involved, very happy to continue to share information. Well,
thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to have
you on the show, and thank you for the good
work you're doing. And we'll see you again soon for
our deep dive episode Money Movers. That's all the time
we have for today. Make sure you follow Daniel on
all his social media channels and if we have helped
(18:33):
you make your money move, please make sure to let
us know by sending us a like, sharing the knowledge
on your social media, and or leaving us a review
on Apple Podcasts. Thank you so much for tuning in
Money Moves audience. If you want more or a recap
of this episode, please go to the bank Greenwood dot
com and check out the Money Moves podcast blog. Money
(18:57):
Moves is an I Heart Radio podcast powered by Greenwood
Executive produced by Sunwise Media, Inc. For more podcasts on
I heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts from
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.