Marcus Khan

About Marcus Khan

I am a Puerto Rican and Trinidadian American studying Anthropology and Sociology at the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at City College, CUNY. Being born and raised in The Bronx, I have seen the many ways systemic racism affect my community. I don’t only want to develop solutions to dismantle the ways America has kept marginalized communities in perpetual struggle, but I also want to create actionable, sustainable, and equitable solutions to help my community thrive. I am dedicated toward challenging our nation\'s systems to create the most equitable world for all people.

Experience

1. Mellon Foundation Environmental Justice Research Fellowship Sustain-nyc

   Mellon Foundation

   Oct 2025 — Present · Bronx, NY, US

   The Colin Powell School has been awarded a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to launch SUSTAIN-NYC: Storytelling for Urban Sustainability and Transformation in New York City. In partnership with South Bronx Unite, the initiative will document and amplify the environmental injustices affecting Mott Haven and Port Morris, where industrial activities, heavy traffic, and waste facilities have led to disproportionately high rates of respiratory illness and poor air quality.This project, a partnership with local environmental justice organization South Bronx Unite, aims to undertake various media projects that document, analyze, and publicize ongoing issues of environmental injustice in the communities of Mott Haven and Port Morris. These communities have been affected disproportionately by these injustices, which include “last-mile” delivery warehouses and associated industrial activities that produce heavy vehicular traffic, as well as the siting of waste management facilities that cause high rates of asthma and other respiratory diseases due to the poor air quality.An outgrowth of the project’s efforts will be to imagine a better path forward in both the affected communities and in New York City as a whole. One component is the development of a student fellowship program aimed at nurturing emerging scholars in the environmental humanities. This fellowship is planned to launch in fall 2025, with recruitment of the first cohort to be completed by the end of the spring 2025 semester. These undergraduate research fellowships aim to nurture a stronger and broader cohort of future scholars in the environmental humanities and humanistic social sciences.Through a partnership with South Bronx Unite, we can hear the stories of community members on the impacts of environmental racism on individual lives and on a personal level. By creating social media posts online, South Bronx Unite is able to share resources, information, and support to their community.

Education

• Mott Hall Bronx High school

  High School Diploma

• The City College of New York

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Major in Anthropology and Sociology

• Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Major in Anthropology and Sociology