What’s the point of a federal disaster agency if the chief priorities of said agency are not to save Americans from disaster?
In September last year, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell joined the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to sign the “Agreement to Advance Equity in Disaster Resilience.”
According to an NAACP press release, the group’s “Emergency Management Task Force … will meet regularly with FEMA leadership to advance progress on equity within disaster preparedness and resilience.”
“The signing comes on the heels of an Intergenerational Climate Resilience Roundtable recently hosted by NAACP and FEMA during NAACP’s Climate Week NYC activations,” the release read. “The roundtable focused on disaster preparedness, climate resilience and instilling equity in emergency management.”
FEMA’s website characterized the roundtable as a forum where “presenters shared their wealth of knowledge and information gleaned from their areas of expertise and personal experience regarding the intergenerational impacts of climate change and how disaster resilience can be improved.”
“At a time when we are experiencing some of the worst natural disasters, we need effective collaboration, communication and transparency of resources to help Black communities,” said the NAACP’s director for Environmental and Climate Justice.
FEMA held another roundtable earlier that year titled, “Helping LGBTQIA+ Survivors Before Disasters: Preparedness and Mitigation Considerations.”
“LGBTQIA people and people who have been disadvantaged already, are struggling. They already have their own things to deal with,” said Tyler Atkins, a FEMA emergency management specialist labeled with he/they pronouns
