Next week is Martin Luther King Day, and while most people know King primarily for his civil rights legacy, King was also a pioneer of the environmental justice movement and dedicated to raising awareness of urban environmental issues.

Environmental justice links environmental issues and human rights. In a nutshell, it's the idea that everyone has the right to clean air, water, and other environmental goods, that people who are already marginalized – such as minorities and the poor – have a greater chance of being denied these rights (for instance, building power plants in low-income neighborhoods), and that this imbalance needs to be corrected.

Look for a Martin Luther King Day environmental justice event near you. In New Haven, Conn., for instance, the Yale Peabody Museum is hosting the lecture [1], “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice.” In NYC's Prospect Park, the Sierra Club and the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment are holding an environmental justice forum [2].

For more information on environmental justice, visit the Environmental Justice Foundation [3].

Photo credit: The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute [4]