Interfaith Power and Light Honors Durley with Climate Champion Award – Baptist News Global

Civil rights leader Gerald Durley is this year’s recipient of Interfaith Power and Light’s Faithful Climate Champion award.

Interfaith Power and Light is a national climate organization that mobilizes people of faith and conscience to take action against 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 the way we think and act on behalf of all communities. “, according to a press release.

The prize was awarded at 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 foundation for his daughters, son, grandchildren and great-granddaughter. “They didn’t have to go through the things some of us have had to go through, so encourage them to continue the environmental justice movement. (…) And remember: they don’t learn from what we say, but from 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 are often unheard, and he confronts difficult issues with humility, intelligence and a great sense of humor. Throughout my tenure as IPL President, he has been a mentor, a confidant and a very dear friend.”

US Senator Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., spoke to the group via video.

“I take great honor in recognizing this year’s Climate Champion, my colleague and dear friend, Rev. Dr. Gerald Durley, a Peace Corps volunteer, a civil rights activist, a devoted preacher, a pioneer in so many ways. Rev. Durley showed what faith in action looks like. He knows that we must pray not just with our lips, but with our legs, and be the change we want to see in our communities and in the world.”