Environmental justice is not just a civil rights issue, it is a human rights issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadly, when discussing issues of civil rights, environmental concerns tend not to register as high as others, nor as high as they should. Issues of pollution in predominantly African-American communities lead to a myriad of health problems including, lung disease, asthma and overall diminished quality of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For years, the residents of North Minneapolis have been calling on officials to address their environmental concerns and it appears some are listening. On the sunny afternoon of March 9, government officials and community partners unveiled the first \u201csolar garden\u201d in North Minneapolis, atop the roof of Shiloh Temple, 1201 W. Broadway Ave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shiloh\u2019s roof will host 630 solar panels providing 204 kilowatts of electricity that will power Shiloh Temple, Masjid an Nur, 1729 Lyndale Ave. N., and 26 neighborhood residents. The project is a partnership between Shiloh Temple, Masjid an Nur and Community Solar Gardens. In addition to providing needed clean energy, the project is providing economic opportunities for people of color. According to representatives from Community Solar Gardens, 50 percent of the panel\u2019s installers will be people of color.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bishop Richard Howell, pastor of Shiloh Temple, said the project is one of divine order.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is a movement of faith, which recognizes the dismantling of systematic poverty and creates opportunities for the indigenous to have hope,\u201d said Howell. \u201cToday we recognize that same light (which God provided) has come to this community from a roof that will provide the right light for energy, power and opportunity. Welcome the light \u2026 solar powered light. This is a triumphant moment for our community and I\u2019m proud to be a part of the process of restoring economic justice to our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to being a partner, Shiloh Temple was selected as a site for the panels because the church\u2019s flat roof allowed for the panel\u2019s to be best positioned to capture the sun\u2019s energy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The additional 26 residents who will draw power from the soon-to-be-installed solar panels, will subscribe through Xcel Energy. For this project, removed are income and credit restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is bigger than energy, it\u2019s about a larger part of equal access in our democracy,\u201d said Jacqui Patterson, national director of the NAACP Environmental Justice Program. \u201cWe want to take what\u2019s happening in Minnesota and replicate it throughout the country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey was on hand for the unveiling of North Minneapolis\u2019 first solar panels. He said the project was funded in part with fees paid to the city by companies considered the \u201cbiggest polluters\u201d in Minneapolis. He said the project is what true community investment looks like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat what inclusion looks like. That\u2019s what progress looks like,\u201d said Frey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minneapolis Fifth Ward Councilman Jeremiah Ellison, who ran on a platform that included environmental justice, said the solar project is about correcting historical ills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have a lot of historic harms to remedy and this helps to remedy one of those harms,\u201d said Ellison. \u201cThis is the first (North Minneapolis solar garden), but we want this to be the norm moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Environmental justice is not just a civil rights issue, it is a human rights issue. Sadly, when discussing issues of civil rights, environmental concerns tend not to register as high as others, nor as high as they should. Issues of pollution in predominantly African-American communities lead to a myriad of health problems including, lung disease, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":4263,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2673,38,2672],"class_list":["post-4262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-bishop-richard-howell","tag-minneapolis","tag-shiloh-temple","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Insight-News-Website-Images-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4262"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4264,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4262\/revisions\/4264"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/apexsamplework.com\/insightnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}