Jacquenette Cottrell is scared, drained, and damn near bankrupt. For six years, she helped bankroll a lawsuit to stop construction of a Love’s Travel Stop in the middle of her neighborhood in Joliet, the third-largest city in Illinois. The area in question isn’t in the city limits, but an unincorporated area on the east side […]
Transportation
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Infrastructure, Partner Content, Rural Issues
How Alabama Turned to Restrictive Deed Covenants to Ward Off Flooding Claims From Black Residents
This story was originally published by Inside Climate News. SHILOH COMMUNITY, Ala.—Their land is bound forever. The deeds of three homeowners — Pastor Timothy Williams, Aretha Wright, and Page Jones — all living in the historically Black Shiloh community of south Alabama, tell the tale. Restrictive covenants attached to their deeds limit the ability of current and […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Transportation
Will the Electric Vehicle Push Bring Black Americans Along on the Ride?
Americans love their cars more than practically anyone — only New Zealand has more cars per capita. So, when President Joe Biden announced in 2021 that he wanted to speed up the transition from gas-guzzling vehicles to electric ones, the push drove debate among state leaders, city planners, and everyday people alike. Over the past […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Infrastructure, Transportation
The Port of Baltimore Tore This Community Apart Long Before the Key Bridge Collapse
Around 10 p.m., Eric Johnson left his church service in Turner Station and drove across the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore County. He didn’t know it’d be his last trip across the 47-year-old bridge that had defined much of his adult life, but he was certainly glad it was. Just over three hours later, […]
Posted inPartner Content, Transportation
Birmingham Public Transit Inches Forward With Federal Help, and No State Funding
This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, independent news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — When she was a child in Charleston, S.C., Marva Douglas remembers she had to ride in the back of the bus to visit the zoo, museum, […]
Posted inPartner Content, Transportation
How Car Culture Fuels Racial Inequality
This story was produced in partnership with Vox as part of the discrimination issue of The Highlight. When a Nevada police officer pulled over Leisa Moseley-Sayles in 2010, she was new to Las Vegas. She was getting a divorce and going through a custody battle, raising four young children, and working on a political campaign. Money was tight. […]
Posted inTransportation
The Movement to Make Black Neighborhoods Better for Walking and Biking
Dijon Kizzee’s last living act was riding his bike on the wrong side of a residential road in Westmont, Los Angeles’ poorest neighborhood. In Black neighborhoods where car congestion is routine, protected bike lanes are lacking, and blocked sidewalks are expected, riding on the sidewalk or against traffic is a regular practice. It’s used as […]
