Black Coral Inc.'s Pam Goncalves, J. Lynda Blake, Mic Theirry, and Hank Ebanks join the program once again. They speak with host Deborah Shariff about the need to protect the environment around us, and how you can get involved!
WBCA Podcasts
Urban Empowerment Today
OK. Boston, we're back. This is Urban Empowerment today on WBCALP102.9 FM. I'm your host and producer, Debra Sharif, bringing you the conversations that matter, uplifting the voices that inspire and empowering the change makers in our community. After four years away, I missed you guys, we're here to tackle the real issues, break down barriers, and build the future we deserve. The movement starts now. The power is ours. Are you ready, Boston? Let's go. And welcome, welcome to Urban Empowerment today. I'm Debra Sharif, and I'm thrilled to announce a brand new, powerful three-part series on climate change, produced in partnership with Black Coral, Inc. Together, we're diving deep into the urgent fight to protect our planet and empower communities impacted by environmental change. Don't miss this transformational journey right here on WBCALP102.9 FM Boston. Let's get started. Today, we have our returning guests joining us for an eye-opening conversation about climate change and community empowerment. Today, I'm thrilled to introduce PAMG, the inspiring president of Black Coral, Inc., leading the charge for environmental justice. Alongside her, we have the dynamic co-founders, Linda Blake and Mike Theory. Visionaries and change makers who are working tirelessly to protect our planet's endangered ecosystems and uplift marginalized communities. And for a special treat, we have Hank, who is the interim executive director. Did I say that right, Linda? - Yes. - All right, okay. - I'm like a girl, yeah, I'm here. - Excellent, well, I want to welcome all of you. So PAM, Linda, Mike, Hank, welcome to Empowerment Today. Again, we're excited to continue the conversation and dive deep into your mission and hear how Black Coral, Inc. is making waves for our future, even more so. With this environment today in America. So, number one, let me begin with you PAM. Last week, you mentioned the importance of the bee community. Can you explain to our listeners why the bee community should matter to all of us and how they're linked to the health of our ecosystem? - Absolutely, Deb, and thank you for having me back. First, I want to say the most important part of the ecosystem is our bee community. And if we don't know, there are all different kinds of bees, but the main bee is the western honeybee, which we know as the honeybee. And the honeybee colony, she has three workers in there. She has her work of bees. She has the drones, and of course we have the queen who handles everything. So, absolutely, let's get started on the bees. (laughs) - Well, it's so interesting because I don't mean to equate the movie, the beekeeper, but I saw the movie recently and it talked about the colonies and it was really interesting. I mean, I'm not gonna go off on that, but if anybody is interested in knowing the concept, go check out the movie and what PAM has just mentioned, but we're gonna talk more about the bees. Those are the questions that I usually get PAM. So thank you, and I know we're gonna continue the conversation about the bee community. Linda. - Yes, ma'am. - With so many factors, with so many factors, contributing to climate change, what specific role does pollination play in sustaining our food supply and ultimately our survival? - That's a great question. And just the piggyback on what PAM alluded to, pollination plays a critical role in sustaining our food supply and is deeply connected to our survival. Many crops we depend on for food like fruits, vegetables and nuts rely on pollinators, mainly bees, butterflies and other insects to reproduce. So without pollinators, these plants wouldn't produce the fruits and the seeds we eat, lead into a decline in the food variety and also the quality. - You mean to tell me if they cease to exist, I won't be able to eat an apple? - Basically, yes. (both laughing) And this decline has a direct impact on our food security. As fewer pollinators mean lower crops, crop yields and higher risk to our food systems. So protecting pollinators from the impacts of climate change is crucial. Not only for individual crops, but for the balance of our entire food system. - Wow. If anybody is tuning in, this is an urgent, urgent message. You're listening to WBCALP 102.9 FM Boston, Boston's Community Radio Station, I'm Deborah Sharif and I have the co-founder, the president and executive director of Black Coral, whose mission is to save the planet. Mike. - Yes. - All right, Black Coral often focuses on ecosystems under threat. - Right. - Could you share with us some of the real tangible impacts you've seen when a species like bees decline in a given area? - Okay, what we're talking about is what we call tipping points. When a tipping point is something that occurs in the ecosystem that when it occurs, you can't undo it. So the loss of a species like the Western honeybee, that you're not gonna be able to replace that species. And so any kinds of foods that are affected by that, we're gonna lose that ability to be secure in that source of food. So this isn't just something about farming. This is about our local supermarket. This is about when you go to the supermarket and you're looking for peanut butter, why is peanut butter $20 a jar? It's because there's no more bees. Why is an apple, why can't we get apples? Why can't we get fresh fruit in our community? Why can't we have that security of healthy foods? Why do we have to eat processed foods? Again, that it cascades into the health of the community at large. And who's first affected by this loss of quality food and access? People without money. People in urban communities. People in communities where there's not an access to a farm next door, where we don't have fruit trees growing in the yard. Where we don't have a farmer down in the lane that we can go to and say, hey, Joe, can we get a bushel and make some pies and raise some money? It's not gonna happen. So we have to protect those things that protect us. So that's what it comes down to. - Wow, thanks, Mike. Hank, can you add to what Mike is referring to? - Yeah, I totally agree with him. And it's a different part of it too, because it will deal with the reef. As a kid, I realized that we had a lot of different species, like octopus, different type of fishes. And then going back after a while, and all of those things disappear. And like he says, once it starts, it's hard to reverse it. So being a part of not knowing better and destroying the reef and coming back now to regrow it, it's a very big deal to me. So I'm looking forward to that. And like I say, educating on how important the visa is where we're important also. - Absolutely. - If I may say that's- - Sure. - That's another tipping point. When you talk about the loss of coral reef, that's a tipping point. It's something that affects much more than just that particular part of the beach. You affect the fish there. That's gonna affect the fishing industry in that location. We just saw a loss of reef all along the Caribbean. People are fighting now to save their reefs because they realized, you know, without that, then we're not gonna have this whole industry that supplies my family with food. We've lost so much of the saltwater fish along the Pacific coast because of lack of understanding of the connectivity of nature to our daily lives. - You know that while that brings up another important question. I've been noticing beaches around the world. Fish have been, what is it? What is it? They've been showing up on the shore. And that's scary and people have been putting them back. Now does that have anything to do with climate change? - Yes, it's ocean acidification and warming. When you warm the oceans, it causes death in the plant, biology of the oceans. Acid from the deeper parts of the oceans comes closer to the surface. You get a change in the type of organisms that live there. So even a small change such as plankton can mean that a certain species dies. And then the change in the warming will have you with what we call blooms, algae blooms. And that's what's occurring all over the Caribbean. We're getting sogasum and different types of species of algae that aren't conducive to the health of the ocean as we know it today. So we don't wanna go back to a time where we see the oceans rise to a point where all our fresh water is now filled with salt. If you go to a beach community on islands, you'll notice a plenty salty taste. Now if we start seeing that inland, we're gonna know that our groundwater is being affected by the salt from the ocean water, the acidification, the ocean rise into our water table systems that we drink. And we're seeing this happen around the globe. We're seeing it look at a place like Miami, which is 24/7, constantly having ocean water being pumped from the city. They don't tell you that because they want you to buy real estate there and buy something like that. But that's what's going on. And this is not a long thing. There's a website that you can see the city of Boston. You can see the effects of the Boston, actually the Boston City Hall funds it. And you can go and see what places will be underwater at certain levels of water rise. And this is not something that's 100 years in the future that we can expect. And that might be somebody from City All Calling now to tell us that we've got to be concerned. So this is something that will happen within our children and grandchildren's lifetimes. And we have a responsibility. We have a responsibility to ourselves and we have a responsibility to the posterity of our nation, we have a responsibility to our families to make sure that we don't do harm that is irreparable. - I didn't get that. - Wow. - I'll say it again. We must not do harm that is irreparable. (laughing) Wow, this is some really serious stuff here. And I hope folks are, you know, taking notes and we're gonna talk about what you can do as a community resident to combat some of these climate change activity. Pam, I'm gonna go back, circle back to you. People sometimes feel that protecting the environment is beyond their control. How does black coral empower individuals and communities to protect species, species, I'm sorry, like bees and take actionable steps for conservation? - Well, what we have to do, there's a few steps here. And I'm just gonna give a very few today and not really go and do it because sometimes people investigating some of the things that they hear, they understand it a little bit better than me sitting here talking about it. Read it on your own, absorb it on your own and understand it. I'm just gonna say, individuals and communities can protect species like our bees and support us by focusing on education, resources and accountable steps. Education and awareness is number one. We have to educate. That's that's almost, so does that baby can say that word, he's outside and he sees this thing buzzing around and it's big and pretty. Identify, say the name, teach the word B, B, B, Z. (all laughing) That's education, we're teaching sounds. Yeah, I mean, growing up, we all had, you know, the cow sound, the move sound, so teach the bee, the buzzing sounds. The next point that I just wanna make, we're gonna have to look at community engagement and collaboration. We have to engage with each other in what we're doing in our yards. I'll be using pesticides. Can I reach out to my neighbors and say, "Hey, please don't do that." And doing it in a respectful way so people can understand that, you know, we can keep our landscapes and things beautiful, but we can do it with organic means. That's gonna be very important. Action, conservative, I'm sorry, bleh. (all laughing) I talk all the time and after I was like, a recording. We wanna start planting pollinator gardens, building bee habitats, supporting organic farming, organic everything, citizen science projects. Work with your kids and do a science project. Wow. Pay attention, access to resources and tools. Ask your city for tools. Ask your city. Get your legislators to get tools. Do the work. To figure that out on that, I just wanna say, the city of Boston is very active and they've helped us and funded programs with us. And also, we were able to give people things like shovels and gardening gloves that were funded by Grow Boston and the city of Boston. So I just wanted to make sure that people know your city is behind you. That's right. You just have to be aware and we wanna provide that access to that awareness. Thank you, Ma'am. Wow, shout out to the city of all. Grow Boston. Grow Boston. The next thing we wanna talk about fundraising and volunteer opportunities. Crowd funding. There's so many ways that we can raise money. You could just, you know, get some natural lemonade, make it with some of the things that the bees pollinated, some lavender lemonade and it's, you know, have people experience that. I infuse lavender honey. Ah. We can also talk about this, how do we do this and how do we come together to do this? So before I go on another rampage, I'll stop and turn it on to somebody else. Wow, listen, go on a rampage. I mean, this is some exciting information, you know, just to know what you can do. And also the details, questions that I think should be more public. And I think people really need to get it. And I think educating people to climate change is it's important to our planet, to our life. Absolutely. You know, anything else that we talk about, is, you know, we can have robust conversations with our colleagues and friends about business, about our careers. And we would have nothing if we don't have the planet. So I find this a very stimulating conversation. And again, if you're just tuning in, this is WBCALP102.9 FM Boston, Boston's Community Radio Station. I'm Deborah Sharif and I'm speaking with the two co-founders, the president and the executive director of Black Coral. I'm going to switch gears and go to Linda. I think a lot has been spoken about the community, but let me just ask you this, Linda, your work also connects with local communities. How are you working with urban and indigenous communities to raise awareness about the broader impacts of climate change on agriculture and food production? That's a great question, Deborah. You know, one of the things that I realize is that we all can make a difference. And as a construction manager and a developer, I work closely with a lot of folks in the urban and indigenous communities. But as a member of BCI, Black Coral, you know, our goal is really to create educational programs and workshops, focus on unique ways that climate change is impacting or bringing the awareness that climate change is impacting the agriculture and food production. And so with that, you know, in terms of the urban communities, we emphasize and conduct, sorry, I can't speak either today. Like I'm so excited, you know, we emphasize, you know, interconnectedness of food systems, you know, showing how changes in rural areas and also urban areas can affect what ends up in our, on our table, basically. And in indigenous communities, we focus on incorporating traditional knowledge to adapt farming and production, food production methods in the way that respects and preserves their cultural practices and ours, because we're all indigenous to this. So that's how we try to do the things that we do in Black Coral, with our production. Wow. I just wanted to piggyback on that. Sure. And then Black Coral has worked with other organizations to take people to different states, to different locations, to understand about all ancient or indigenous farming practices. Ask Pam about that, she's very well, you know, burst in in that. And as Hank grew up on a banana plantation, and on an island with coral reef, that's the second largest coral reef in the world, you can ask Hank, there's a lot of people that are here that at the table and people that we work in conjunction with that are herbalists, foragers, people that do, I remember Pam and I just, we were at a farm, a local community farm, and had about a half an hour talk with a local honey beekeeper on just what his, what kinds of issues he was faced with. And it was very enlightening, and it inspired us to, you know, say, well, we've got to inform the public about this. We're working with people in Brockton on some things that are on the hush hush now, but pertaining to different trails and saving certain parts of the forestry land and around that city. So we get involved, that's the main thing. And we want people to feel empowered to get involved themselves. - Well, speaking of involvement, can you let us know, may I have, were people may get in touch with you? - Sure, we have a website. You can read just either at admin@blackcoralinc.org. If you wanna become a member or you wanna check out some of the programs that we have on our website for, that are open now, or that we're gonna be doing next year, because we try to tell people ahead of time what's coming. You can come to our website again, www.blackcoralinc.org, but information, we're not trying to sell you anything. We just wanna empower you in understanding what's available, and we wanna outreach to all ages, because what we don't talk about a lot is the impact. The impact of climate change threatens two major populations first before any other. That's elderly people and people, children under the age of five. Those are the most vulnerable. You're past your libraries and your children, your future. So when you think of it that way, it's in everyone's best interest to be concerned about our planet. We only have one. - Absolutely, we're gonna take a short break, and we will be right back. - W-C-A-L-P, 102.9-S-M Boston. - This is the Chef of Love, Chef Gennard, TV host and restaurant tour. My grandparents harvested their land to sell food and share this overflowing bounty with our community. Grandma said, "For every yam we pick, we give one away." In the world they cultivated, I love preparing and eating dinner with my family on Sundays. When our resources change, food assistance programs sustained us. They gave me food to start my first culinary business at 16 years old, and inspiration to donate the extra food in my community. Through my life, I've developed an appetite to work with others to ensure everyone has access to the nutritious food we need to thrive. Together, we can help end hunger. Come on, join the movement with Feeding America by volunteering, donating, and advocating. Learn more at feedingamerica.org/actnow. - Brought to you by Feeding America and the Ag Council. Let's take a moment to breathe. Deep inhale, extend your spine. Remain focused on what you're doing. If safe to do so, exhale slowly leaning to one side. Inhale back to center. If safe to do so, exhale slowly to the opposite side. Find mental health resources at loveyourmindtoday.org. This message is brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Ag Council. - You can learn how to make your radio show a reality. Register for the WBCA radio workshop, now open for enrollment on bnnmedia.org. Get involved and become a member to produce and broadcast your own shows. On Boston Neighborhood Network and WBCA 102.9 FM. - And we are back. You are listening to WBCA, LP, I'm sure you all could say this now. WBCA, LP, 102.9 FM, Boston. Boston's Community Radio Station, I'm Deborah Sharif. And I'm speaking with the two co-founders, the Executive Director and President of Black Coral Inc. I'm speaking with Pam, Mike, Linda and Hank. So one of the things that I definitely want to find out with, you know, with this particular group of professionals on climate change, you know, partnering with other organizations for awareness is, I think, incredibly important. So I guess the question is, for all of you, what type of partners have you connected with to sort of let them know what's happening with the planet and how important it is that they partner with you so that educational information can be disseminated throughout their organizations, whether it's a for-profit or a nonprofit. And I'll open that up for all of you. - Okay, we've worked with community improvement associations, we've worked with local people that have their own businesses that are involved in agriculture. And what we look for when we partner with people like this and organizations is people that are transparent because we tell everyone what we're gonna do. We are not, this is not a money-making operation. This is like, this is a lot of we give of ourselves, our time and our money and it doesn't, so we're not, we're not, you don't see us on the corner bringing a bell trying to get donations all the time. Although we don't say no. We do wanna work with people that have a passion for what we have a passion for, that put the work in. And when we go out and we beat the streets, which we do, like we did with our fruit tree giveaway to the city of Boston, we went door to door, we delivered, we talked to people, we gave advice on planting and structure, what we gave fertilizer, we know different tips, we gave the tools that you need to dig the hole and we'll help you dig the hole if necessary. So we want people that we work with to have that same kind of work ethic because this involves work, it involves education, involves being here and so on. - Got it, you know what, I definitely, I can't believe we're out of time. I am, yeah, I mean, that's 30 minutes, we're gonna have to do a special hour. But I do wanna say one thing that I think is important and from each of you, lastly, please, all four of you, if you can inspire our listeners with one action, they could take this week to support biodiversity and combat climate change, what would it be in 10 seconds or less, each one of you? - Well, I would say in visiting local farmers markets is a great step. One powerful action, anyone can take this week is to support biodiversity and fight climate change to connect with the local sustainable food sources. And that, to me, is very important. Support local farmers markets. - Awesome, for me, it's education, educating the kids. Pam, touch a point that I remember 'cause I used to take care of my mom garden and I saw a beautiful beast when I go and grab it. So I said, I gotta tell Pam, tell the kids, don't touch the bees. (laughing) - Yeah, so that's where we important education. - And my takeaway is, walk out your front door, take a breath, look around you and see what's not beautiful anymore. Wow, awesome. I wanna thank Pam, Linda, Mike, and Hank. And again, this is a three-part series. We actually are on the radio on Mondays from seven to 7.30. And I look forward to your participation in terms of engaging with this particular program. That's why it's called empowerment today. It's to empower the communities. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Deborah Sharif, until next time.