Leah Thomas, also known as Green Girl Leah, is an American environmental activist active on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

whose work focuses on the application of intersectionality to environmental justice. She has been recognized in the 2024 Forbes 30 Under 30 list of notable young professionals. Thomas grew up in

Saint Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which ...

, 10 minutes from where the shooting of Michael Brown by police happened. She found no one was talking about the intersection of environmental and social injustices, such as the

Flint, Michigan Flint is the largest city and seat of Genesee County, Michigan, United States. Located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit, it is a principal city within the region known as Mid Michigan. At the 2020 census, Flint had a population of 8 ...

water crises where 57% of the population is Black. She gained notoriety after an Instagram post of hers that used the phrase "intersectional environmentalism" and called for environmental activists to support Black Lives Matter in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. She runs ''Intersectional Environmentalist'', a website targeted towards people interested in the relationship between the environment and social justice. She is the author of ''The Intersectional Environmentalist: How to Dismantle Systems of Oppression to Protect People + Planet'', which provides advice to environmental activists and describes theories of relationships between race, privilege, social justice, and the environment. Thomas advocates for climate change activists to adopt anti-racist approaches in order to facilitate an intersectional environmental movement.

Education

Thomas graduated

Chapman University Chapman University is a private research university in Orange, California. It encompasses ten schools and colleges, including Fowler School of Engineering, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Fowler School of Law, and Schmid College of Scie ...

in Orange, California in 2017 with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Policy.

External links

Personal website

Instagram page

References

American environmentalists American social media influencers African-American activists African-American feminists American feminists Ecofeminists American women environmentalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Environmental justice {{US-activist-stub