ST. LOUIS — The tapping sound drew Jeffrey Bingham to his front window. Outside, the world was folding in on itself. Trees bent sideways. Power lines snapped. Across the street, a two-story brick house crumbled and disappeared instantly. Then his windows blew and the front door ripped open. He ran for the basement as pressure […]
St. Louis
Posted inEnvironmental Justice, Extreme Weather
Why Are Black Neighborhoods Underwater? Science Points to the Wealthy.
In January, a relentless wave of wildfires tore through Los Angeles, reducing a historic Black community to ash and claiming 29 lives. Later that month, a rare winter storm brought heavy snow to the Southeast and the Gulf Coast. Eleven people perished. Then, in March, more than 100 tornadoes ripped through the South in two […]
Posted inExtreme Weather
Sirens Failed. FEMA Didn’t Show Up. Now Black St. Louis Recovers from Deadly Tornadoes Alone.
The sky turned an eerie green over St. Louis on May 16. Rapper and activist Antoine White, better known as T-Dubb-O, recognized the ominous hue immediately. Having family in the heart of Tornado Alley in Tennessee, he knew what was coming. With his wife and son beside him after a school field day lunch in […]
Posted inEnvironmental Justice
This Black Artist Is Using Farming to Heal Herself — and the Land
If you were to drive down Interstate 70 in St. Louis’ predominantly Black North Side today, you’d be greeted by a billboard with the phrase “Listen to your Elders.” Behind those words, a 1970s-era photo of Dail Chambers’ aunt and uncle, Mary and Dubell, illustrates one of the thorny realities of Black history and the […]