Coffee and Conversation: Environmental Justice Starts Here

Planning Ahead Blog | April 10 | 9:00 AM | A Place at the Table, Raleigh, NC | Free

What does the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the parks in our neighborhoods have to do with justice? Everything — and that's exactly what we're gathering to talk about.

I'm honored to join A Place at the Table and the City of Raleigh for their Coffee and Conversation series this April, where I'll be in dialogue with Lance Shinholser, Community Engagement Analyst with the City of Raleigh's Community Engagement Department. Together, we'll explore one of the most pressing and underexplored intersections of urban life: environmental justice.

This isn't an abstract policy conversation. It's about the lived experiences of families in Raleigh and communities across the country who face disproportionate exposure to pollution, flooding, heat islands, and environmental hazards — often as a direct result of historical planning decisions, disinvestment, and systemic inequity.

"Where you live shapes your health, your safety, and your future. Environmental justice is about making sure that geography is never destiny." — Keshi Satterwhite, Founder & Executive Director, Planning Ahead

Why This Conversation Matters Now

Environmental justice — the principle that all people, regardless of race, income, or zip code, deserve a clean, healthy, and safe environment — has been a civil rights issue for decades. Yet it rarely occupies the center of local planning conversations. As Raleigh grows rapidly and land use decisions accelerate, the stakes have never been higher for communities that have historically borne the heaviest burdens.

Research consistently shows that low-income communities and communities of color are more likely to live near industrial facilities, lack access to green space, experience flooding from inadequate stormwater infrastructure, and face higher rates of asthma and other environmentally linked health conditions. These are not coincidences — they are the compounded results of land use policies, zoning decisions, and investment patterns stretching back generations.

1. The Planning Connection Urban planning shapes who gets clean air and who doesn't. Zoning that places industrial land uses adjacent to residential neighborhoods, or infrastructure projects that fragment communities, have lasting environmental consequences. Planning Ahead exists to ensure those decisions are made with full community voice and equity at the center.

2. Raleigh is at a crossroads. As one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, Raleigh is making decisions right now that will define its environmental character for the next 50 years. Investments in transit, green infrastructure, tree canopy, and stormwater equity can either deepen or begin to close longstanding disparities — depending on who's at the table when those decisions are made.

3. Community Engagement Is the Leverage Point Policy change follows power, and power is built through community engagement. When residents understand environmental justice and know how to navigate planning processes, they become powerful advocates for the conditions their families deserve. That's why this conversation matters beyond April 10 — it's about building lasting civic capacity.

4. Coffee Shops as Sacred Civic Space A Place at the Table is itself a model of economic justice — a pay-what-you-can café where everyone is welcome regardless of means. Hosting this conversation is intentional. Real change doesn't only happen in government buildings or conference rooms; it happens in the community, over coffee, when neighbors feel safe enough to speak and heard enough to stay.

Come Ready to Talk, Listen, and Act

This event is for everyone — whether you're a lifelong environmental justice advocate or you're hearing these terms for the first time. We'll be exploring what environmental justice looks like in Raleigh, how the City is thinking about community engagement on environmental issues, and what residents can do to make their voices part of the process.

Tickets are free and open to the public. Bring your questions, your concerns, and a neighbor. The most important conversations about our city's future happen when the most diverse voices are in the room.

• Friday, April 10

• 9:00 AM

• A Place at the Table — 300 W. Hargett St., Suite 50, Raleigh, NC 27601

Speakers: Keshi Satterwhite — Founder & Executive Director, Planning Ahead Lance Shinholser — Community Engagement Analyst, Community Engagement Department, City of Raleigh

Justice is a planning issue. Let's build it together.