Editor’s note: Following Capital B’s story, Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Jaclyn Rothenberg tweeted on October 3 that the agency is providing resources to the Dunbar neighborhood. “We are aware of the needs in Dunbar and sent teams to the area yesterday. Our @FEMA disaster survivor assistance teams are going door to door again today […]
Environmental Justice
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Jackson’s Not Alone. Water Crises Are Plaguing Black Communities Nationwide.
JACKSON, Miss. — The historic floods that washed across southern Louisiana in 2016 left Joyce Turner Keller’s home so damaged she was forced to sleep in her car. The Baton Rouge native had no flood insurance to recover the belongings she lost in the floodwaters. Government officials were slow to respond as she struggled with […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Land Pollution
Across the Midwest, Counties Are Building New Jails on Toxic Land
This story was published in partnership with Truthout. Nestled in Cleveland’s Industrial Valley, the intersection of Transport Road and Rockefeller Avenue holds the story of the city’s toxic past — and potentially poisonous future. Once the home of a massive oil refinery, the plot is now the potential new home of a $700 million jail […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Jackson’s Running Water Is ‘High-Pressure Poison,’ Residents Say
JACKSON, Miss. — Tim Finch first heard about the “messed up” water in Jackson three decades ago as a teenager. The lifelong resident has always believed the city’s on-again, off-again, “brown” tap water was unsafe to drink. But as a child in the 1990s, he didn’t completely understand why. Now, at 45 years old, Finch […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Mississippi Water Crisis Is ‘Racism to the Umpteenth Degree,’ Residents Say
The water crisis that has left residents of Jackson, Mississippi, struggling to bathe, cook, and flush their toilets has been decades in the making. For years, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba has asked for financial assistance from the state government to alleviate the city’s infrastructure needs. Local organizers, rather than wait on the government, have […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Black Louisianans Still Haven’t Recovered From 2020’s Storms
As Tropical Storm Laura rapidly transformed into a Category 4 hurricane and barreled toward the Gulf Coast in the summer of 2020, residents of southern Louisiana had little time to react. In Lake Charles, Tasha Guidry was thinking about how to evacuate with her elderly parents in the middle of a pandemic, a task made […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice
Can Biden’s New Environmental Justice Leader Make Climate a Public Priority?
Jalonne White-Newsome sees a path towards climate justice despite the seeming “insurmountable barrier” created by a conservative Supreme Court.
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice
How Will Climate Change Affect the Search for a New Black Mecca in the South?
Rhiana Gunn-Wright knows Black life in America is fragile — by design. The idea of “home” has constantly been threatened: Slavery and segregation legally dictated where Black Americans could live for centuries, and the residual effects of those racist institutions continue to guide where they plant their roots. When you think about it, Gunn-Wright says, […]
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice
These Maps Show the Risks of the New Great Migration
When the coronavirus began its deadly sweep through the streets of New York City, Pilar Johnson knew she needed an escape route. The convergence of rising living costs, growing segregation, and a tight job market had already pushed out more than 200,000 Black residents since 2000. The pandemic was the last straw for Johnson. Once […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Water Quality
Eight Years Later, Flint’s Water Crisis Rages On
The United States’ simmering water crisis boiled over in Flint, Michigan, in 2014. Eight years later, roughly 2,000 homes in the majority-Black city still don’t have clean drinking water. A recent internal audit by the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s watchdog found that the government agency, which is tasked with containing toxic contamination and pollution, hasn’t […]
