Activists Create Innovative Ways to Fight Against Environmental Injustice
Black people, people of color, and poor communities are exposed to environmental problems that affect their health and living conditions. To combat this, there is environmental protection that grants rules, regulations and government programs to provide ecological quality for areas affected by poor environmental conditions. However, these programs are not implemented in all communities, so activists and organizations are working to make a difference in their respective communities and cities to fight against the environmental injustice that plagues these areas.
In Texas, catastrophes like hurricanes contribute to environmental injustice for citizens in various communities. When Hurricane Harvey hit the southern state in 2017, oil refineries in Beaumont and Port Arthur were damaged, releasing hazardous pollutants in the cities. The citizens were left to deal with the flood of the hurricane and the tremendous effect on their health due to the location of the oil refineries in their areas.
Texas isn’t the only state with these issues.
In Louisiana, the House Committee on Natural Resources: Democrats has the initiative to grant people the right to have pure air, clean water and an environment that enriches life. The organization has addressed environmental justice concerns and created outreach and inclusion strategies to fight injustices in communities. One of their projects is the Environmental Justice for All Act.
The environmental bill is a community-led process that protects public health and prevents the destruction of the environment. Through this act, the committee wants to “restore, reaffirm and reconcile environmental justice and civil rights.” The bill is set to be a new model for preparing legislation to all citizens who have experienced discrimination to seek legal remedies. It also forces agencies to consider the health of the people living in the areas who are impacted by their facilities.
One of the plans to achieve this goal is through their #EnvironmentalJustice tour, which kicked off this past August and is set to go through the remaining year. The virtual tour is organized by Chair of the Natural Resources Committee Raul M. Grijalva and Rep. A. Donald McEachin. The tour consists of the activists attending forums and meetings to promote the Environmental Justice for All Act and pass the bill.
The tour is dedicated to hearing from citizens left out of the conversation and directing community leaders on legal powers to protect communities from polluter abuses. The tour has representatives from various polluted areas speak on their experiences living in their communities with little help from their governments. Chair Grijalva said, “Our towns and cities didn’t choose to be dumping grounds. It’s time to give political and legal power back to the people to protect themselves.”
One of those people is Asti Davis, The Climate Justice Network Engagement Manager of the Foundation for Louisiana. Davis’ family has lived in a city that’s polluted from chemical plants.
“My family refuses to leave despite these conditions. Our roots are here. A lot of people tell others to leave and move. I’ll fight ‘tooth and nail’ with my grandmother in a place that she calls home,” Davis said.
Other cities have found innovative ways to correlate nature’s evolution and how communities should adapt their practices to the city’s culture and system. Activist and author of Emergent Strategy: Shaping Change, Changing Worlds, Adrienne Maree Brown teaches her community in Detroit how the way citizens exist in their communities helps create patterns in their societies.
Brown addressed that one way to fight against environmental issues in communities is to shape the patterns in citizens’ lives, which involves organizing. She believes that locals can isolate their issues in a larger context of environmental justice.
“I like to think of ourselves as seeds,” Brown said. “We bloom under different conditions. You look at a garden over a few months and you see different things bloom. Different things come to harvest and flourishment at different rates. I think of our local organizing that way.”
Not all solutions are the same because areas have various economic troubles that need different results. The Detroit activist stated that in regards to her city, the citizens need to think of ways Detroit’s culture adheres to the communities.
“It’s a music city. It operates on its soul,” she said. “It’s not going to work to do organizing that’s analytical without having some component of culture on a vast scale. But, I’ve been to places that the culture is more analytical and where folks are saying, ‘We don’t need music as much as we need these deep conversations.’ And you think, oh! That’s very different.”
Some of the activists in Louisiana and Detroit believe citizens’ voices and the dynamic of their culture are the solutions to environmental issues in communities.
No matter the state or city, there are activists out there fighting for the health of the communities.