Civil Rights leader Gerald Durley is this year’s recipient of the Faithful Climate Champion award from Interfaith Power and Light.
Interfaith Power and Light is a national climate organization that mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take action on climate change.
Durley, a student leader in the 1960s Civil Rights movement and pastor emeritus of Providence Missionary Baptist Church in Atlanta, received the award “for his commitment to environmental justice as a civil rights issue, transforming how we think and act for the benefit of all communities,” according to a news release.
The award was presented during an event at Gallaudet University where Durley and IPL President Susan Hendershot spoke about the current status of the environmental justice movement.
In his remarks, Durley said he and others are laying the foundations for his daughters, son, grandchildren and great-granddaughter. “They did not have to come through the things some of us have had to come through, so encourage them to keep on with the movement for environmental justice. … And remember, they learn not from what we say, but what we do.”
Hendershot, said of Durley: “I cannot think of a more deserving recipient of the Faithful Climate Champion award than Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley. His ability to touch hearts and minds and encourage others to see the interconnected nature of climate justice, economic justice and racial justice knows no bounds. He is a voice for those who often go unheard, and he confronts difficult issues with humility, intelligence and a wonderful sense of humor. Throughout my tenure as IPL president, he has been a mentor, a confidant and a very dear friend.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., spoke to the group by video.
“I take great honor in recognizing this year’s Climate Champion, my colleague and good friend, the Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, a Peace Corps volunteer, a Civil Rights activist, a devoted pastor, a trailblazer in so many ways. Rev. Durley has demonstrated what faith in action looks like. He knows we must not only pray with our lips, but we must also pray with our legs, and be the change we want to see in our communities and in the world.”
