Caring for Our Common Home: Langston Swafford (MS-ESM’24)
During the month of February, Georgetown McDonough joins the nation in commemorating Black History Month. To celebrate, we are spotlighting several of our exceptional Black students in the McDonough community who are creating impact and exemplifying the Georgetown spirit through their academics, careers, and personal lives.
Langston Swafford (MS-ESM ‘24) believes in the power of climate justice. With his brother, Swafford started an organization called Everything Business Social Culture (EBS Culture), which aims to foster a more holistic approach to tackling the challenges of climate change.
Founded in 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana, where Swafford was born and raised, EBS Culture promotes sustainable behaviors through community service and dialogue. It started as a gathering of 13 men dedicated to picking up trash in the city. But, over time, the organization has evolved to include partnerships with nonprofits that promote water management and green infrastructure.
Swafford has led community clean-ups, a tree planting event that involved over 100 volunteers, as well as green infrastructure and water management demonstrations.
“I serve as an advocate for communities that are susceptible to the impact of climate change,” said Swafford. “As an African-American male, I have a duty to my community. With New Orleans being a majority Black community and being probably the most vulnerable community in America to climate change and sea level rise, I have a double obligation, not only to my racial community but also to my city as a whole.”
His commitment to instilling a positive change in the world was the driving force that led him to attend Georgetown. Swafford recognizes the importance of continuing to immerse himself in the university’s Jesuit values while pursuing an education with a meaningful purpose.
“The combination of Georgetown being a highly regarded institution but also being grounded in Jesuit values was an important factor in my decision to enroll in the Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability Management program.”
In class, Swafford has analyzed the difficulty of quantifying the intangible pain experienced by those who lose their homes due to climate change, a topic that hits close to home as a New Orleans native who saw the devastating impacts of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. He is convinced that the environmental degradation on our planet requires advocates to address the human aspect of the impacts beyond statistics and metrics.
As Swafford continues his educational and personal journey at Georgetown and EBS Culture, he believes that the world is bigger than himself. It’s his commitment to sustainability and embodying the ideals of Caring for Our Common Home that he will use to foster a brighter, more sustainable future for generations to come.