Catherine Coleman Flowers facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Catherine Coleman Flowers
Flowers in 2020
Born	1958 (age 66–67) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Cameron University University of Nebraska at Kearney
Employer	The Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
Known for	Environmental activism
Awards	MacArthur Fellow (2020)

Catherine Coleman Flowers (born 1958) is an American expert on environmental health and a writer. She started an organization called the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice. In 2020, she received a special award called a MacArthur Fellow. This award is given to very talented people.

Her first book, Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret, talks about how different groups of people are affected by environmental problems. She focuses on rural areas in the U.S. Catherine Flowers is well-known for showing how bad sewage systems are harming communities, especially in Lowndes County, Alabama.

Early Life and Inspiration

Catherine Flowers was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1958. She was the oldest of five children. Her father, J.C. Coleman, was a salesman and a veteran. Her mother, Mattie Coleman, was a teacher's aide. In 1968, her family moved to Lowndes County, Alabama.

Catherine's parents were active in the American Civil Rights Movement. They inspired her to work for environmental fairness. She learned a lot about the history of Lowndes County, including its challenges related to race. Her family had lived in Lowndes County for a long time.

When Catherine was 16, she became a Robert Kennedy Fellow. This helped her get involved in important issues at her high school and in her community. She worked to improve conditions at her school. She also helped to bring about changes in school leadership. These experiences made her want to continue working for change as an adult.

Education and Early Work

Catherine Flowers grew up in Lowndes County, Alabama. This area often had problems with old pipes and systems. This caused sewage to spill into people's yards. It also led to unsafe drinking water.

Catherine earned her first college degree from Cameron University in 1986. She began her career as a geography teacher. She also worked to protect civil rights. She became the Executive Director of the National Voting Rights Museum. As she became more involved in activism, she took on other roles. She led the NAACP Voter Empowerment Program. Later, she went back to school. She earned a master's degree in history from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Working for Change

In 2001, Catherine Flowers moved back to Alabama. She focused on helping the economy in Lowndes County. About three-quarters of the people in Lowndes County are Black. By 2002, she saw major problems with the local sanitation systems. Some people were being unfairly treated for not having proper septic systems. Others paid for systems that did not work well.

Catherine was surprised that the government was targeting poor people. She felt it should focus on bigger polluters instead. This experience made her want to work on environmental justice. She worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They approved her plan to fix the raw sewage problem in Lowndes County.

In 2011, Catherine worked with a UN Special Rapporteur. This person helps the United Nations understand poverty. They looked at how poverty affects basic services in Lowndes County. Since 2015, Catherine has been a Senior Fellow at the Center for Earth Ethics. In 2019, she started her own group, the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice.

Catherine Flowers and the Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute studied how unfair systems affect access to clean water. They found that poor, rural communities often have bad water and sanitation. This can lead to health problems like hookworm. In 2019, Catherine and JoAnn Kamuf Ward wrote a report. It was called Flushed and Forgotten: Sanitation and Wastewater in Rural Communities in the United States.

In the report, Catherine wrote that many people in Lowndes County lack basic services. The report suggested ways to improve things. It said that communities should be part of decisions. It also said that everyone should have access to good sanitation.

In 2019, she spoke to the United States Congress. She asked the government to help with diseases linked to poverty in the U.S. She was also chosen for the Joe Biden Task Force on Climate Change. This group works on climate issues. Catherine Flowers was the only Black member of this task force. In 2021, she joined the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council.

Personal Life

Catherine Flowers is married to Thurgood Bunche Flowers. They have one daughter. She grew up following the Missionary Baptist faith.

Awards and Recognition

Catherine Flowers has received many awards for her important work. These include:

• 2004 Interreligious and International Peace Council's Crown of Peace Award
• 2016 Grist 50
• 2017 Women Who Shape the State
• 2020 River Rally River Hero
• 2020 The Jean and Leslie Douglas Pearl Award
• 2020 Studs and Ida Terkel Prize
• 2020 Greenmatters Black Climate Scientists and Scholars Changing the World
• 2020 Selected as a MacArthur Fellow