On Majora Carter

I met Majora Carter at the TED Conference last year, or was it the year before? I'm pretty sure it was last year since Al Gore was the big draw and he stood up before the end of the conference to praise her publicly in front of the entire room and then some.

She is being honored this month by Newsweek for her work in New York's Bronx. I saw her presentation before meeting her and thought - "My God, a woman with such passion, such...that Je ne sais quoi, but you knew she has what it takes....."

Apparently the world at large thinks so too. From MSNBC via Newsweek, "Growing up in the South Bronx," said Majora Carter, "it didn't occur to me that what I had here was an environment." More from the piece and what this honor is about:

"Her neighborhood was surrounded by waste treatment plants, garbage dumps and power stations, and she glimpsed nature only when visiting the blueberry patch in her aunt's backyard in New Jersey. Since then, Carter, 40, has been making up for lost time.

An artist and urban planner, she created Sustainable South Bronx (SSBX), an organization dedicated to the idea, says Carter, that 'poor communities of color are just as deserving of clean air, clean water and open space as wealthier ones.' This meant "rallying residents to oppose even more dumping and waste treatment, while bringing nature to urban neighborhoods."

Majora: a special presence, a special gift, a special woman. I hope to get to know her a bit better in the future.