Across a rural pocket of cotton and soybean fields in northeast Louisiana, Meta, the eighth most profitable company in the world, is attempting to build America’s largest data center. The project, which is located in Richland Parish, an area home to three times as many Black residents as the national average, has seen its anticipated […]
Environmental Justice
Posted inExtreme Weather, Infrastructure, Politics & Policy
From Memphis to Gary, Black Communities Are Being Left in the Dark
In the pews of a Memphis, Tennessee, church on Monday morning, the Rev. Earle J. Fisher wasn’t getting a headstart on next Sunday’s sermon, he was preparing a resource hub. “This can’t be my normal Monday because like so many others, we’re without power,” said Fisher, who teaches at LeMoyne-Owen College, an HBCU in Memphis. […]
Posted inCommunity, Extreme Weather
I Grew Up in Gary. I’ve Never Seen a Power Outage Like This.
I’ve experienced dozens of power outages growing up in Gary. But usually an outage had boundaries. A neighborhood, a section of a city, or maybe part of a county. You could drive a few miles and eventually find light again. But last Tuesday, as my wife and I drove through Merrillville, Hobart, and Portage in […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
In Roseland, an Oil Disaster Leaves Black Parents Asking How to Keep Their Kids Safe
ROSELAND, Louisiana — As a young boy in the 1960s, almost every weekend Elbert McGee walked a half-mile with his father through the wooded streets of Roseland to the Tangipahoa River. There, he learned to swim and fish for bass, crappie, and the occasional catfish. “We had a good, good life as children,” McGee said, […]
Posted inCourts, Environmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Trump Ordered to Release Billions in Climate Grants Meant for Black Communities
Dominika Parry never stopped fighting for Jackson, Mississippi, residents even after the Trump administration terminated a multibillion-dollar program last year meant to help the Black city still reeling from a water crisis. For years, if water did flow out of Black households’ faucets in Jackson at all, it was often brown. It left elders and […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy
Data Center Surge Worsens Electricity Costs for Black Families
In the sweltering Alabama heat, where a trailer home can feel like an oven during each new heat wave, Esther Calhoun’s electricity bill has doubled in recent years. On a fixed income of about $1,300 a month, the 63‑year‑old Calhoun now pays roughly $350 monthly for electricity in rural Alabama. President Donald Trump came into […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Politics & Policy, Redevelopment, Transportation
From the South to the Coasts, New Highways Are Threatening Black Land
Timothy Williams’ family has lived in the same community for over 150 years, but he is afraid that they are one big storm away from losing it all. Eight years ago, the Alabama Department of Transportation widened the highway that runs just a few yards from Williams’ home in Shiloh. Since then, every time it […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice, Partner Content
Black Families Breathed Toxic Air as Chemical Companies Blocked Monitoring
This story is from Floodlight, a nonprofit newsroom that investigates the powers stalling climate action, in partnership with The Guardian and with contributions from The Louisiana Illuminator. Sign up for Floodlight’s newsletter here. Kimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St. Rose, in southeastern Louisiana. Oily fumes […]
Posted inAir Pollution, Environmental Justice
As Wildfire Smoke Chokes the Northeast Again, Black Communities Are at Risk
The skies over New York City turned a hazy orange and grey again this week. Reminiscent of when the skies turned a deep orange in 2023 — and then again in 2024 — this reality is quickly becoming a normal summer occurrence. More than 850 wildfires are actively burning across Canada, with more than 180 […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Partner Content
Jackson Residents Warn New Pearl River Plan Won’t Stop the Next Flood
JACKSON, Mississippi — Tamitha Dill worries her house could be in danger every time it rains. Her northeast Jackson neighborhood is highly susceptible to flooding from the nearby Pearl River and its tributaries, and she was one of many residents who evacuated in 2020 when the river crested at near-record levels. Dill has followed evolving government plans […]
