In Haiti, as many as 1,000 people have died and an estimated one million left homeless after the impoverished country was hit by four major storms and hurricanes in less than a month. We speak to the renowned physician Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, a group that provides free medical care in Haiti. After visiting Gonaives over the weekend, Dr. Farmer wrote, “After 25 years spent working in Haiti and having grown up in Florida, I can honestly say that I have never seen anything as painful as what I just witnessed.” [includes rush transcript]

via Democracy Now!

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Altering the perception of the environmental movement among African Americans.

The closing keynote speaker of the Netroots Nation convention in Austin last month was environmental and social justice activist Van Jones. Following his Sunday morning speech TPMtv caught up with Mr. Jones and asked him about the perception of the environmental movement in the black community and how to alter that perception for the better in creating a full-blown eco-populism movement.

Watch the video!

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In case you thought they weren’t experimenting on us anymore….

Lawmakers and the NAACP are calling for an investigation into reports that federally funded scientific experiments in 2000 spread sewage sludge on yards in poor, black neighborhoods to test if it could fight lead poisoning in children.

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Environmental justice means no community should be saddled with more environmental burdens and less benefits than others. Race and class tell you where to find good stuff (like parks and trees) and the bad stuff (like power plants and waste facilities).

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Civil rights leader and environmentalist Van Jones talks about suburban sprawl, race and the future of cities.

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