Last September, at his graduation from Northwestern University, Michael Broadway reconnected with his mother, Elizabeth, for the first time in two decades. Due to her ailing health, she couldn’t visit him. As an incarcerated man, he didn’t have the option to travel to her, either. For those two decades, Broadway was held inside Stateville Correctional […]
heatwave
Posted inClimate Change, Environmental Justice, Extreme Weather
‘We Can’t Wait’: How Black Neighborhoods Are Preparing for the Summer Heat
After closing out May with four days of triple-digit temperatures and New Orleans’ first heat advisory of the season, the group of mainly Black elders welcomed the “dip” in temperature on June 1. Still, it swelled to 96 degrees that morning as roughly 35 people huddled in a community center in the city’s Upper Ninth […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
How to Protect Yourself During Record-Setting Heat Wave
The dangerous heat wave sitting over two-thirds of the country comes two weeks after the globe’s average temperature was the highest recorded in 12,000 years. In Phoenix, one of the fastest-growing cities for Black people, temperatures have topped 110 degrees for three weeks straight. In Houston, the heat index pushed 110 degrees for multiple days. […]
Posted inHealth, Health Equity
As Heat Scorches Texas, Lawmakers Loosen Worker Protections
Eugene Gates worked for the U.S. Postal Service for nearly 40 years before dying on his route in Dallas. On that day in mid-June, the heat index hit 115 degrees, the highest since 1980. The exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed, but his wife and others attribute it to the brutal heat […]