By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Hip Hop is Green, a local nonprofit organization that promotes holistic wellness as a way of life and transforms urban communities environmentally with the global power of hip hop culture, recently announced that it raised $1.2 million to reimagine climate havens for marginalized communities.
According to Keith Tucker, Founder and Executive Director of Hip Hop is Green, the funding will be appropriated to build a new state-of-the-art hydroponic 2.5-acre garden lab and continue to support their Youth Excellence Program. Some of the money will also be utilized to construct a brand-new kitchen, an outside garden, and solar panels that will provide the necessary power to maintain the lab.
Hip Hop is Green provides a unique impact at a time when African American nonprofit organizations in the climate space aren’t often centered.
“We are the first plant-based hip hop organization in history,” says Tucker. “We specialize in curriculum and programming that help BIPOC communities. One of the most important things about Hip Hop is Green is our mission to move hip hop past just entertainment to environmentalism and health and wellness. And that is our mission.”
The nonprofit began by becoming the first hip hop organization to provide Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) families with thousands of plant-based meals nationwide. Since then, Hip Hop is Green has worked with hundreds of businesses, youth groups, community organizations, and icons in the entertainment industry to make marginalized communities across America healthier.
Tucker, who says that the organization has served over 40,000 meals to youth and families across the country, says that the monies, which come from multi-funding sources, will help them reimagine climate refuge.
“Marginalized communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis can survive if we put in the work—and we deeply appreciate the support of communities and partners across America,” said Tucker. “More than survive, our goal is to ensure our communities thrive through holistic health and wellness. That’s the true meaning of a climate haven.”
The key components of their reimagined climate refuge include:
• The first hydroponic farm and educational lab founded in hip hop culture in Seattle’s Central District, which will expand across America, called Cherry Street Farm.
• Cherry Street Farm also provides space for BIPOC youth to learn about climate change/green careers and have emotional refuge.
• The lab sits on the soil of the executive director’s grandparents in a district that was home to the historic Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
• The movement around this haven involves serving plant-based meals (the nonprofit has served thousands of meals) and planting thousands of trees.
Cherry Street Farm, a hydroponic farm and educational lab founded in hip hop culture, distributes healthy food, builds the resilience of marginalized communities against climate change, and provides emotional refuge while also educating youth of color about the environment. Hip Hop is Green earned grants to support these efforts from the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning, Office of Planning and Community Development, Department of Community and Human Services—as well as King County and the Seattle Foundation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when traditional community engagement was limited, Tucker turned to hydroponic gardening as a solution.
“That’s when I came upon the idea of growing food hydroponically,” says Tucker. “I’ve seen this many times throughout my travels around America. So, we purchased a 45-foot hydroponic lab, and we grow 2.5 acres of food in a hydroponic lab as well as 500 different varieties of vegetables. We are using water instead of soil. The water that we use introduces the same nutrients and minerals that are in soil; we just put that in the water and the plants soak that up.”
“What we are doing is really creating a climate change oasis and haven,” Tucker continues. “It is a haven for climate change for young people. When they come and work with us at Cherry Street Farm, they are going to learn about climate change, they are going to learn about hydroponics, they are going to learn how to grow food. We have our Youth Excellence Program where we have our climate change curriculum that they study. So, we are connected to so many different resources so they can be there and learn in an environment so that they can find their purpose in life. For example, we are partnered with the University of Washington and these young folks at the University of Washington with PhDs show our young people a pathway on how to get into new green careers, climatologist, geologist, engineering, all of these different careers.”
According to Tucker, the work they are doing right now is important because climate change is the biggest issue on earth right now. Every system that we have that supports life on earth is in jeopardy and people are unaware of how dire of a situation this is. For example, right now there is almost 430 parts per million carbons in the air. When we get to 450 parts per million of carbon in the air, that is what they call “the tipping point”. The tipping point means there is no going back to that climate. Now we have a new climate that we are going to have to deal with. And this new climate will create dead zones in the oceans where sea life cannot exist. It will melt ice caps and those ice caps fall into the oceans increasing sea levels up to ten feet.
“Most of society is unaware of this information. Our people are in struggle mode and Hip Hop Green can be a solution to climate change, poverty, and even community and individual self-sufficiency,” says Tucker.
