Podcast episode transcript & companion document: Disrupting environmental racism (Mind the Disruption, Season 2, Episode 1)
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“I thought to myself, ‘How could the environment be racist?’ At that point not understanding that the policies are racist, just like everything else.” – Dr. Ingrid Waldron (Mind the Disruption, Season 2, Episode 1)
In the second season of the NCCDH’s Mind the Disruption podcast, we explore social movements for social justice: groups of people working together to build collective power for change in service of a healthier, more just world.
As founder and Executive Director of the Environmental Noxiousness, Racial Inequities and Community Health (ENRICH) Project, Dr. Ingrid Waldron works alongside African Nova Scotian and Mi’kmaw communities to disrupt environmental racism as a necessary part of the environmental justice movement. In this episode, Ingrid positions environmental racism as an urgent health equity issue and highlights how the ENRICH project builds community power through meaningful partnerships, research and collective action. Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, a former Medical Officer of Health, then reflects on how public health can better respond to communities whose health is affected by systemic racism.
You can discover this episode by listening to the episode and/or reading this episode companion document, which includes a written transcript of the episode, key quotes, curated related resources and reflection/discussion questions.
Use this resource to
- Use the reflection questions to facilitate discussion about how public health can better hear and respond to the needs and concerns raised by racialized communities.
- Learn about pressing health equity and social and structural determinants of health issues and solutions
- Explore embedded related resources from NCCDH and others to support public health action to disrupt the status quo
Related resources:
There’s Something In The Water: Environmental Racism in Indigenous & Black Communities book (Waldron, 2018)
There’s Something In The Water film (2020)
The Canadian Coalition for Environmental and Climate Justice
Environmental Racism and Climate Change: Determinants of Health in Mi’kmaw and African Nova Scotian Communities (Waldron, 2021)
Anti-Indigenous Racism in Canada (NCCIH, 2013-2014)
Let’s Talk: Racism and health equity
Reference
National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. (2025). Podcast episode transcript & companion document: Disrupting environmental racism (Mind the Disruption, Season 2, Episode 1). Antigonish, NS: NCCDH, St. Francis Xavier University.
Tags: Environmental health, Racism/racialization, Anti-Black Racism, Audio, Podcast