This story was originally published by MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Subscribe to their newsletter here. Easter Knox’s brick home in Boxtown has a garden, space for her dog to run and a bench under a sprawling acorn tree planted by her husband. Years ago, he built a large gazebo in the yard adjacent to theirs — a […]
Environmental Justice
Posted inClimate Change, Criminal Justice, Environmental Justice, Health Equity
The End of DEI: What Trump’s Executive Orders Mean for Black Americans
President Donald Trump has spent the early months of his return to the White House dismantling the nation’s diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The moves, he’s said, are designed to forge a “color-blind” society that rejects the sorts of race-conscious programs that are intended to make amends for the historical wrongs experienced by Black Americans […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Rural Alabamians Lived With Poop-Filled Water for Decades. Trump Just Killed Plans For Relief.
Last April, Sherry Bradley and the Black Belt Unincorporated Wastewater Program helped rural Alabama resident Willie Perryman install a septic system in his home for the first time. Since his grandfather purchased the land and homestead more than six decades ago, none of the family’s properties had a proper disposal system for their waste. Thousands […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
Living in Industry’s Shadow: How Black Communities Are Left Behind by EPA Cuts
From Gary, Indiana’s steel mills to the oil refineries of Beaumont, Texas, and the toxic waste sites in San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point, Black communities across the country are living with the harsh realities of industrial pollution. As the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations are rolled back, efforts to address these toxic hazards in these areas […]
Posted inClimate Change, Rural Issues
With Southern Utilities Quietly Dismantling DEI Programs, Black Households Pay the Price
When Chris Womack became the first Black CEO of Southern Co. in 2023, he called the company’s commitment to racial equity one of his guiding principles. His leadership of the third-largest private utility company in the world offered hope of fairer wages and more representative employment for thousands of Black employees and cleaner air and […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
This Climate Program Saved the U.S. $6 for Every $1 Spent. Trump Just Killed It.
As floodwaters surged through the streets of Natchitoches last month, soaking homes and businesses in this rural Louisiana town, residents were left grappling with yet another devastating blow. Over a thousand residents lost power as the muddy waters left behind waterlogged homes and damaged possessions. It was the fifth major flooding event the small majority-Black […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
After a Wildfire Takes Your Home, How Do You Get Your ‘Soul’ Back?
ALTADENA, Calif. — Adonis Jones’ house was gone, but the keys were still in his hand. For weeks after the fire, he carried them out of habit. They jingled in his pocket, and sometimes he twirled them between his fingers. And then, sitting in his car one evening after making the two-hour drive from Los […]
Posted inEducation, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Natural Disasters Are Driving a School Crisis. Black Children Are Hit the Hardest
Adrinda Kelly watched from New York as Hurricane Katrina swallowed her hometown of New Orleans in 2005. Floodwaters rose, neighborhoods disappeared underwater, and she felt a familiar ache deepen. Her family was safe, but devastation quickly compounded a painful realization: Black children were portrayed as disposable, and New Orleans’ education system was almost completely privatized. […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
EPA Rollbacks Mean More Pollution, Less Justice for Black Communities
For a quarter of a century, a Black neighborhood in Beaumont, Texas, where Chris Jones lives has been the subject of two federal civil rights investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency that explore the role of race in his community’s disproportionately high levels of air pollution. In San Francisco, Kamillah Ealom’s neighborhood has been the […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Trump’s Anti-Immigrant Policies Undermine Recovery in Black Disaster Zones
For two months, hundreds of workers have cleared smoldering, toxic ashes in Altadena, California, removing what remains of a historic Black neighborhood. All the while, many don’t know how much longer they’ll be in the country. Since Hurricane Katrina, undocumented immigrants have been the backbone of America’s disaster recovery system, trailing nature’s fury from hurricanes […]