Bernice King Kicks Off Greenbuild Conference With Focus On Social Equity

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Bernice King speaking Tuesday at the Greenbuild Conference in Atlanta. / Twitter.com/thekingcenter

Updated on Nov. 11 2019 at 8:30 AM

GPB Morning Edition host Leah Fleming brings out the connection between the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's push for equity and Atlanta's current initiative to reduce emissions and improve living conditions for all residents.

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Bernice King, daughter of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr., opened the Greenbuild Conference Tuesday in Atlanta, with a discussion on nonviolent resilience.

The purpose of Greenbuild is to discuss how to go green to improve sustainability and quality of life.

“While there’s much excitement around building greener and with renewable power and ensuring resilience in the face of chronic stresses we have left our vulnerable populations,” King told the audience at the Georgia World Congress Center.

But she said too often that happens while forgetting about the vulnerable populations living in cities, like homeless, low-income and senior citizens.

"Unless we put the energy and the effort into ensuring all people and communities have the same baseline then we have failed because the system will be imbalanced,” she said.

King said one of her father’s missions was ensuring those with a lower socioeconomic standing had equal access to livable housing conditions. In a city like Atlanta, it’s about making sure the will to increase affordable housing matches the policy, she said.

Former President Barack Obama is expected to deliver a keynote address at the Greenbuild Conference on Wednesday.