Anthony Thomas

Anthony Thomas, is a resident of the South Bronx and has been active in Bronx River leadership and stewardship since he was 12 years old. Anthony was the youngest member ever of the RIVER Team (Reaching and Including Youth Voices for Environmental Rights), a team of young people at Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice (YMPJ) who work on Bronx River restoration and renewal, environmental justice, and environmental development. For several years, Anthony trained new youth leaders on tactics and methods of community organizing and youth leadership. Through his work on the RIVER Team, Anthony had the opportunity to lead several organizing campaigns, teach other youth and community members about the significance of the Bronx River, and lead projects that protect and restore the river. Anthony was an active leader in a river cleanup that removed 22 junked cars and several tons of garbage from the river. He has led campaigns for gathering community input on the development of parks and facilities along the Bronx River. He was one of the lead youth to stop the auctioning of the Concrete Plant to a private developer and instead encouraged the New York City Department of Parks &amp; Recreation to take ownership of the property and develop a park. When a proposed truck route looked like it would halt plans for a park at the Concrete Plant, Anthony took a lead role in organizing a community rally and securing 10,000 petition signatures against the route. In addition, Anthony drew up the first plans for a boathouse to be located at the future Starlight Park and has taken an active role in ensuring that Con Edison cleans Starlight Park to acceptable standards. Anthony is a co-founder and currently a research assistant in YMPJ’s Center for Community Development and Planning.

In this position, he has conducted an economic development study for small business opportunities along the Bronx River Greenway and has led a youth team to plan a new youth center for YMPJ. Anthony also leads a youth team performing research on the South Bronx Waterfront Brownfields Opportunity Area.

Anthony is currently a James Baldwin Scholar at Hampshire College, where he studies African American Environmental Thought.

http://philanthropy.com/article/South-Bronx-Sophomores-Take/49944/

http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/legal_protection_pdf/part375hr.pdf