Pollution Turned a Dream of Opera Into Activism

article originally posted here

Downtown Los Angeles partially obscured in 2019 due to poor air quality. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

My life began in the Hollywood Hills, where smog often overshadowed the breathtaking view. As a child, I struggled with asthma, constantly coughing and clutching my inhaler like a lifeline. That same golden California light that drew in tourists drove my family out — relocating to Ohio for me to live surrounded by somewhat cleaner air. But the damage was done. I didn’t just grow up with asthma — I grew up breathing proof that pollution is personal. And with allergies, climate change is real.

Under Administrator Lee Zeldin, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the rollback of 31 crucial protections targeting air and water pollution, toxic substances, and emissions. This is more than deregulation; it’s the erasure of essential safeguards for too many communities suffering from a legacy of deliberate oversight. It erases the idea that clean air is a right, not a privilege. This injustice must be challenged now, and we need everybody’s help.  Even if you have ever struggled with breathing like I do, my story proves you can gain your voice for the right purpose.

I pursued my passion for music and opera in college at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida, where I trained to be an opera singer. Opera, to me, was more than art — it was power. I was hoping to control my breath and asthma. However, the heat, humidity, and pollen were too much. My lungs couldn’t keep up with my dreams. So, I pivoted. After graduation, I moved to Washington, D.C., and became an elementary school teacher. I also found a new way to raise my voice — through activism for clean air and environmental justice. I traded arias for activism.  

EPA Rollbacks Endanger Our Lives

Currently, the air feels heavier, not just from pollution and rising heat but from deliberate neglect. The EPA is failing us by actively endangering our lives and opportunities. The EPA rollbacks aren’t neutral. They’re lethal. And they hit hardest where protections are needed most: Black, Brown, and frontline communities already overburdened and often overlooked due to a legacy of environmental injustices.

Pollen levels are rising, and this isn’t just about allergies — it’s about climate change affecting our health and well-being. This spring, Atlanta broke a 35-year record for pollen. Washington, D.C., isn’t far behind. According to Climate Central, longer growing seasons and higher temperatures mean more prolonged exposure, ER visits, missed school days, and inflamed lungs for children, teachers, and parents. Statistics show that Black Americans are 40% more likely to have asthma, with Black children facing particularly severe outcomes. They are eight times more likely to die of asthma than white children. 

Systemic Neglect, Environmental Racism

In my classroom, I see it up close. My 6- and 7-year-old students struggle to breathe and frequently miss school. This isn’t “just spring.” This crisis is the result of systemic neglect and environmental racism. It’s the consequence of generations of racist zoning and a government pollution agenda that profits off of our pain.

This Trump-era EPA is playing pollution-for-profit power games with people’s health. Instead of clean energy and care, we’re watching a climate of corporate greed. But we have a different kind of power—the power of purpose. Even when we’re gasping for breath, we can do something. 

We were born into this crisis, coming of age under increasing climate change—wildfire smoke, hurricane sirens, massive floods, and heat domes. We, as rising young leaders and advocates, carry inhalers and climate anxiety. We also carry the urgency of the climate crisis, knowing it’s not far off. It’s here. It’s now. It’s deadly.

You Don’t Need a Science Degree to Act

My own experience with asthma became my calling. I found my breath advocating for organizations like Young, Gifted & Green. I learned you don’t need a science degree to care — start where you are. Attend a climate rally. Sign a petition. Contact your members of Congress. Join local or national organizations like the Climate Action Campaign, a coalition that supports more than 60 partners and allies nationally and in 10 states, working together to rally public support to tackle the climate crisis. Share why you can’t accept EPA’s pollution agenda.

Use your voice — even if it trembles. Because every post, every call, and every conversation is a push against pollution and a pull toward the possibility of change.

Yes, we all breathe the same air. But the air in some communities is far worse than in others. We all need to raise our voices. Our collective strength is the oxygen this environmental movement needs now.

We deserve better than burning lungs and broken promises. We deserve climate protections that actually protect us. We deserve investments in clean jobs, healthier neighborhoods, and breathable futures. We deserve environmental justice.  We need an EPA that honors its mission by reversing its rollbacks and releasing the funds already allocated to help communities survive and thrive.

If we don’t demand better now, what will the next look like? Let’s not find out by staying silent.

Dakota Gant is an elementary school teacher in the Washington, D.C. public school system and a dedicated advocate for environmental justice. Born into a creative family — her father an actor and her mother a costume designer in the film industry — she grew up in Los Angeles, where the beauty of the Hollywood Hills was shadowed by pollution and health challenges that shaped her journey. A graduate of Bethune–Cookman University, Dakota was named one of Young, Gifted & Green’s “40 Under 40” for her environmental justice work. She serves as a U.S. Youth Representative for the international organization African Renaissance and Diaspora Network (ARDN), helping elevate youth voices on the global stage.