Charles Young

Charles Young was born into slavery in Kentucky on March 12, 1864. His father escaped bondage to join the Union Army during the Civil War, and Young later followed in his father's military footsteps, attending the United States Military Academy. Young was only the third African-American to graduate from West Point when he earned his degree in 1889. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Ninth Cavalry, the famed Buffalo Soldiers, in Nebraska. In 1901, Young was promoted to the rank of captain (the first black officer in the regular army to receive that rank) and led his troops with distinction in the Philippines.

In 1903, Captain Young and his men were stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. They were sent to Sequoia and General Grant National Parks as part of the army's role at the time of protecting national parks, an acting superintendent, making him the first African-American to be put in charge of a national park.

Under Acting Superintendent Young's leadership, the Buffalo Soldiers kept the park free from poachers, and from the ranchers whose grazing sheep destroyed the parks' natural habitats. The soldiers also completed the first wagon road into the Giant Forest of Sequoia, a feat no superintendent before Young had been able to accomplish.

Later, Young was dispatched to Haiti as the United States' military attachè, sent again to the Philippines, then to Republic of Liberia. During the "punitive expedition" in pursuit of Pancho Villa, Young was put in command of troops from the Tenth Cavalry and promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel. He would eventually become a full colonel, although – to his bitter disappointment – he was not permitted to serve in the field during World War I.

Charles Young died in 1922 during a visit to Nigeria; ultimately, his remains were buried in Arlington Cemetery.

Glacier National Park

In the early 1890s, Glacier National Park was discovered by George Bird Grinnell on a hiking trip with his wife. While they were there, President Taft, 27th president of the United States, acknowledged that Glacier National Park was going to be a tourist destination. This was called the "Crown of Continent," due to the fact that the water from the waterfalls travel from the Gulf of Mexico to the Hudson Bay and also to the Pacific Ocean. This was the first "Peace Park" after a treaty that was to make peace with the Canadians and the New Yorkers. After World War II, the lodges and the hotels were destroyed and now is an International site.

Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

On March 23rd 1989, the Exxon Valdez left from Alaska with the intention to carry 53 million gallons of crude oil. The captain, Joseph Hazlewood was under the influence of alcohol, and allowed an unlicensed friend steer the ship. The boat hit Bligh Reef, which was understood to be a navigation hazard in the Prince William Sound. The impact caused 11 million gallons of crude oil to spill in the water, spreading over 1,300 miles. Hundreds of thousands of animals died, and thousands more were affected by the spill. Even after cleanup, oil was still present and affected the lives of these animals. This oil spill was also responsible for the decline of salmon and herring fish. Fishing is what kept small shoreline towns, striving, and after this incident they suffered economically. In 1990 Congress Passed the Oil Pollution Act which was put in place to prevent incidents like this. In order for shipping companies to travel with large amounts of oil, they must prevent a detailed containment and cleanup plan in case of an emergency.

Anthony Kapel "Van" Jones

Well, Who do you consider to be a great, genuine environmentalist for the Black, African-American communities around the world today? Let’s take a look, for starters we have Audrey and Frank Peterman, Wangari Maathai, Nikki Silvestri, Norris McDonald, Barbara Hillary, and others. I can’t speak for anyone else but Anthony Kapel “Van” Jones has really taken a toll in my heart. Anthony Jones is an advocate for environmental, economical, political, social change for the African-American communities. Don’t let that sincere smile fool you, he is a “rowdy nationalist.” Anthony Jones also promotes injustice in the Black communities.

Anthony Jones was born September 20, 1968 in Jackson, Tennessee, approximately 90 miles east of Memphis. Anthony Jones parents are Loretta Jean (High School Teacher) and Willie Anthony Jones (Principal at a Middle School). Mr. Jones twin sister Angela described him as “the stereotypical geek -- he just kind of lived up in his head a lot.” Jones’ grandfather was a leader in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. And sometimes he would accompanied him to church. Anthony graduated in 1986, from Jackson central-Merry High School. Anthony Jones founded several non-profit organizations including; Color Of Change Mission, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, and several others. During this time Anthony Jones really began promoting Eco-capitalism and Environmental justice. Anthony Jones is much more than a speaker, he is a proponent Black man who is not afraid of speaking his mind even though he may received criticism afterwards.

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai is a politician and environmental activist from Kenya. She was born on April 1, 1940. She is the first women from the east and coastal part of Africa part of Africa to receive a Ph.D. for her contributions to environmental developments, peace, and democracy. The peace that the talks about are the ability to secure a living environment not just for the people that were living in Kenya at the moment but also for people that were still to be born. She was educated in the United States at the University of Pittsburgh, where she studied Veterinary Science. Later on, she went back to the University of Nairobi and became the chair of the Veterinary Department.  While working with the National Council of Women she developed the idea to improve the environment, this would slow the process of deforestation and desertification. Wangari Maathai is the founder of the Green Belt Movement in 1977, the purpose of this movement was to encourage the women to work together to seedling and plant trees to bind the soil, store rain, provide food and receive money for their work. She helped to mobilize African women in contributing to sustainable growth.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Around 1988 between North America and Japan there was tremendous amount of garbage in the Pacific Ocean. There was around 1.6 billion of marine debris in the ocean but it continuously grow by the day. This disaster is not only affecting the water it’s also affecting our animals and by this it’s affecting us humans as well. The reason why is because our sea creatures do not have brains like us so they think the garbage that is filled in the sea is their food which they are clearly wrong. These animals are dying because of this reason and it’s not look so good for us humans as well because we need these animals for us to live.

But there are some companies trying to prevent this disaster from increasing by take out some trash little by little. The reason why we have to take some part out instead of everything is because it’s too much trash. So by theory if one country try’s to this on their own they will unfortunately go bankrupt and that will be bad for a lot of people. The way to prevent this from happening again is that we recycle the right way instead of throwing the trash all over the place.

My Research of John Muir

Alexander Cruz
John Muir

John Muir was a writer, a lecturer, a geologist, a botanist, a glaciologist, an explorer, a school teacher, and an inventor. He also was known as “John of the Mountain” and “Father of the National parks”. He was known for protecting and bettering national parks. His family and him got emigrated to America where he began his life with observing nature. He had a philosophy had nature that God is revealing through nature. So when he was younger a tragedy happen which had him temporarily blind. John still however continued his dream, John was a writer and he would write about things he saw and life about nature. He used his writing to paint a picture to others. Him and a few others establish a Sierra Club which is a club where they protect and explore the wilderness.