Diamond Spratling urges local action on climate justice and promotes children’s book tour

Diamond Spratling, founder and executive director of Girl Plus Environment, told Bronxet TV’s Social Justice Forum that climate justice must be rooted in community health and everyday civic engagement.

Spratling, a Detroit native and two-time TEDx speaker, said growing up near heavy industry made the health links between pollution and community outcomes personal. “There are houses and there are kids who are living less than a mile from an incinerator,” she said, arguing that proximity to pollution contributes to asthma and other health problems in Black and Brown communities.

Spratling described a recently completed advocacy training program for young Black and Brown women that teaches participants how to translate climate and health messaging to friends, family and local representatives. “The whole purpose of that is to build leaders within their own communities,” she said.

She also discussed an Earth Month tour tied to her children's book series Sage Sails the World, with stops that the transcript lists in several cities including Alabama, Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and Detroit for book signings and school readings.

On practical steps, Spratling urged listeners to learn from community organizations, bring climate justice into everyday conversations and raise local concerns — including nearby factories, data centers or unusually high energy bills — with elected officials. “Make conversations around it. Bring friends into the space,” she said.

For more information on her work and events, Spratling and the host directed viewers to her web presence and social channels; the transcript contains inconsistent spellings for the URL and handles. (The guest identifies herself as Diamond Spratling; the most consistent site spelling in the transcript is diamondspratling.com.)

The interview closed with thanks from the host and an invitation to rewatch the episode on Bronxet.org.