Reverend Mariama White-Hammond Visits CSW

The CSW community observed Earth Day at its morning assembly on Thursday, April 19, with a visit from Reverend Mariama White-Hammond. Rev. Mariama was born in Boston to two preacher-doctors. She began her activism in high school and continued through college at Stanford University. More recently she has been working to bridge Boston’s racial divide with a message of unity and the environment. With environmentalism being an issue primarily highlighted by white Americans, Rev. Mariama seeks to shed light on the many people of color who also care deeply about such issues.

The CSW community observed Earth Day at its morning assembly on Thursday, April 19, with a visit from Reverend Mariama White-Hammond. Rev. Mariama was born in Boston to two preacher-doctors. She began her activism in high school and continued through college at Stanford University. More recently she has been working to bridge Boston’s racial divide with a message of unity and the environment. With environmentalism being an issue primarily highlighted by white Americans, Rev. Mariama seeks to shed light on the many people of color who also care deeply about such issues.

Rev. Mariama began her remarks by gauging the audience’s level of concern when it comes to issues of climate change, polling whether they considered it to be
the most important issue of our time, or perhaps secondary to other, more pressing issues. She then went on to chart the course of her career in activism, religion, and environmentalism, to exhibit how when it comes to social justice, individuals don’t have to choose one issue to get behind, and that most of the world’s problems are very much interconnected.
 
Growing up in Boston at a time when racial tensions were high, Rev. Mariama shared that she often felt like the importance of issues like climate change — which was then more commonly referred to as global warming or the depletion of the ozone layer — paled in comparison to the violence, discord, and oppression her community regularly faced. It wasn’t until she went to Stanford, and observed the stark contrast between the pristine, ecologically healthy environment of wealthy Palo Alto, versus the pollution and neglect of the neighboring East Palo Alto community, that she really started to gain an interest in the environmental disparities that existed between communities of differing socio-economic and racial backgrounds.

Rev. Mariama also shared reflections from her time at Project Hip Hop — a Boston-based organization that trains young artists as cultural organizers; the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the weak national response to care for victims of color; and her involvement in the protest against the West Roxbury pipeline, an event she saw as an opportunity for members of both the Roxbury and West Roxbury communities to come together.

Overall, the tone of Rev. Mariama’s speech was positive and hopeful. She shared that while she often felt she was fighting an uphill battle, she was proud of the activism she was already seeing in the youth generation, and felt excitement from their demonstrated enthusiasm and passion. She encouraged students to “lean into injustice, but maintain hope at the same time” and to listen to the callings that awoke within them. “We can do so much better,” she said. “We have to stop looking back and allow ourselves to look forward towards a better, healthier, stronger world.”

At the end of assembly, students were able to ask questions about climate change deniers, the intersection of theology and science, opportunities for teens to engage, and more. After assembly, Rev. Mariama joined Tom Evans and Marilyn DelDonno’s “Issues in Global and National Public Health” class to talk about issues covered in class such as the Flint Michigan water crisis. Rev. Mariama was also on hand to continue the morning’s discussion over lunch with students.

CSW thanks Rev. Mariama for her moving remarks and thoughtful insights on some of the most important issues of our time. One student described her as “the best speaker CSW has ever had.”

The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.