Climate justice comes home
ON A COLD December morning, Anjeanette Brown sat inside a Shari’s restaurant, nursing a cup of coffee and casually pushing sharp objects out of the reach of their 1-year-old daughter. Brown, a Black environmental activist, grew up in northeast Portland, once home to a thriving Black community. The area’s cornerstones — the Cotton Club, Joe’s Place and Geneva’s Shear Perfection — survive only as historical posters, replaced by faux French cafes and vegan restaurants. Brown now lives farther east, around an hour’s commute from downtown.
Every winter, Brown worries about energy bills. Their rental home heats with a wood stove — the cheapest option — but this year, they told me, pulling a fork from their daughter’s fist and smiling at her antics, “I’m not going to use my wood.” That’s mainly for the safety of the child, who gurgled happily and turned her attention to the creamer packages. The only other option,
