Jacqueline”Jacqui” Patterson; Time Woman of the Year; Time Earth Award (Headshot_Jacqui-Patterson-500×500-metgroup.com_-e1729715358301.jpg)
Jacqueline “Jacqui” Patterson
2024 Time Woman of the Year
Time 2024 Earth Award
Climate justice activist Jacqueline “Jacqui” Patterson receives dozens of accolades for her dedication to helping underserved communities receive proper environmental equality. The most recent recognition she received is Time magazine including her in its 2024 Women of the Year and Time presenting her with a 2024 Earth Award.
Patterson grew up on the south side of Chicago, probably in the Altgeld Gardens community where power plants had emitted hazardous gasses. In July 2021, I featured Hazel M. Johnson (1935-2011), Mother of Environmental Justice and Founder of People for Community Recovery, who lived in Altgeld Gardens. Just like Patterson, several of Johnson’s relatives and friends had health issues and died of cancer before reaching old age. It wasn’t until Patterson was in the Peace Corps in Jamaica that she connected the way major companies ignored the environment to the detriment of people’s health.
She received a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. No dates were given when she received them. The only personal information I found about Patterson was that her father was from Jamaica, and she was 47 years old in 2015 (born in 1968??) and lived in Baltimore, Maryland at that time. The articles containing this information were not available.
She visited Sandbranch, Texas and discovered the residents didn’t have running water and burned trash in the backyard. This inspired her to found the Chisholm Legacy Project in 2021. She named the project after Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress. The Project advocates for those affected by environmental and social injustices.
Career:
- 2007-present – Coordinator and co-founder of Women of Color United
- 2009-2021 – founding director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program
- 2021 – founded and became executive director of the Chisholm Legacy Project. She named the project after Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress. The Project advocates for those affected by environmental and social injustices.
Other titles:
- Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program
- Steering committee for the Interfaith Moral Action on Climate
- Advisory board for the Center for Earth Ethics
- Board of directors on seven boards: Institute of the Black World, The Hive: Gender and Climate Justice Fund, American Society of Adaptation Professionals, Greenpeace, the Bill Anderson Fund, People’s Solar Energy Fund, National Black Workers Center Project
Further information:
thechisholmlegacyproject.org
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgd8ELjKrd0
sps.columbia.edu/person/jacqueline-patterson
My ebooks available at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com:
Honoring 23 Black Women, Recognizing 23 Notable Mothers, Saluting 23 Faithful Suffragists
