Christian Rodriguez: Planting Possibility in the Ironbound

• This interview and its related materials focus on Christian Rodriguez, an urban farmer and community leader in the fence-line community of Ironbound in Newark, New Jersey.
• Christian explains their role in educating the community's youth and affecting change, their inspiration for starting this work, and their experience fighting for the space to be themselves.
• Christian's story and the story of their community include elements of environmental racism, hazardous conditions, and a lack of representation.

Positives

• The interviewee shares a powerful message about being yourself that will resonate with many students.
• The urban farm is a beautiful example of how people in communities can help bring about the change they want to see.

Additional Prerequisites

• Before watching the video, students should understand how industrial practices affect neighboring communities.
• It may benefit students to know the term regenerative economy.
• The speaker talks about their experience growing up as a queer person of color. Prepare students to listen respectfully and maturely.

Differentiation

• The speaker mentions composting, reducing the use of fossil fuels, and reducing over-consumption as some topics they teach to the community. Students can brainstorm ways to align their daily lives with these ideas.
• Students can learn about the urban heat island effect and discuss how green spaces like Christian's keep the community cool.
• Students can research other case studies where marginalized groups are disproportionately impacted by industrial pollution, contaminated water, and other environmental hazards. Students can then discuss solutions to the pattern of environmental racism in the United States.