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For Naomi Davis, going green isn’t just about saving the Earth, it’s also about building self-sustained communities in the African Diaspora. Davis is an urban theorist, attorney, activist and self-proclaimed proud granddaughter of Mississippi sharecroppers and a Queens, NY native.

What Davis is most known for is being the President and Founder of Blacks in Green™–a non-profit that she utilizes to encourage development of neighborhoods that foster business opportunity, civic activism and healthy lifestyles.  See below for key points from Davis’ journey as seen on her website (blacksingreen.org).

-Starr Rhett Rocque

Her Inspiration

“In the walkable village where I was raised, the printer…gift shop…dry cleaner…shoe repair…photo studio…pharmacy….fish and produce man…dentist…bus service…restaurants (I could go on)…and the commercial buildings that housed them were all neighbor-owned.  In my Mom’s walkable village, everything they ate, they grew; everything they wore, they made; and they were happy.  They had everything but cash and thought they were poor. But they were rich.”

Finding Her Purpose

“I came to feel my purpose was to create self-sustaining African diaspora communities, and in 2007 founded BIG: Blacks in Green™ in 2007 where, instead of a fixing a broken world, I use the power of my happiness to generate  green opportunity. I developed a model I call “The 8 Principles of Green-Village-Building,” and as an attorney, entrepreneur and activist, enjoy working to serve as a bridge between communities, developers, churches, schools, and businesses collaborating on neighborhoods to foster business opportunity, civic activism, and healthy lifestyle. My mission is to encourage embrace of green-village-building – with its foundation of jobs, careers enterprises – as a whole-system opportunity for building health and wealth in black communities. Just as I was discovering to do, I invite my community to return to our great legacy of environmental stewardship and to the common sense of yesterday’s self-sustaining neighborhoods.”

Shala Monroque, “It” Girl & Fashion Industry Muse

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