DeKalb, IL — Singer-songwriter SZA is teaming up with tea company TAZO and American forests, an environmental non-profit, to advocate for climate justice by planting trees in marginalized communities nationwide.
The nine-time Grammy award nominee announced the partnership on her Instagram and said that many people are unaware that climate change affects BIPOC communities more than white communities.
Due to a history of racist housing practices, predominantly BIPOC communities have 20% fewer trees on average than white communities, according to the TAZO Tree Corps website.
“My grandma lives in Newark, N.J., and there are no trees anywhere,” SZA said, according to Elle. "Growing up around that area was definitely a downer.”
Planting more trees can help a neighborhood’s air and water quality, and mental health, to increasing property value, lowering utility bills and creating more jobs.
Over the next two years, the program will employ residents of low-income communities and communities of color in five cities — Minneapolis, Detroit, the San Francisco Bay Area, Richmond, Va. and the Bronx — to receive training in climate justice advocacy and tree planting and maintenance.
TAZO Tree Corps is accepting applications until Friday. Applicants must be 21 or older, identify as Black, Indigenous or another person of color living in Detroit, Minneapolis or the San Francisco Bay Area, and interested in tree maintenance and working outdoors.
"Planting trees can help improve everything – from air quality to economic opportunity to mental health – and everybody deserves these benefits. I'm proud to partner with TAZO and American Forests to stand up for environmental justice and start making an impact in neighborhoods that need it the most," SZA said in a statement.