"Plantations to Pollution: Black Communities, Legacy Pollution, and the Path Forward"

A new multimedia storytelling series from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) sheds light on the often-unbroken line from plantation slavery to today's environmental injustices in Southern Black communities. The series, featuring immersive storytelling, documentary video, and photography, highlights the persistence, advocacy, and hope of individuals fighting for clean air, safe drinking water, and a future that respects their right to thrive.

Key Takeaways:

• The SELC's new series, "Plantations to Pollution," explores the historical and ongoing environmental injustices faced by Southern Black communities, many built on or near former plantation lands.
• The series features immersive storytelling, documentary video, and photography that highlight the struggles and triumphs of community members fighting for environmental justice.
• The project highlights the connections between slavery, segregation, and ongoing environmental pollution, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of how the past shapes today's environmental challenges.
• The series includes personal stories from Durham, North Carolina (Hayti District); South Memphis, Tennessee; Hampton, Virginia (Bay Shore Beach); and Bucksport, South Carolina, each highlighting unique environmental and social justice concerns.
• SELC's Environmental Justice Initiative is led by Chandra Taylor-Sawyer, who notes that "history isn't behind us; it's under our feet" – emphasizing the importance of understanding the past to move forward.
• The series features Season 8 of SELC's Broken Ground podcast, which explores the throughline from slavery to environmental injustices through conversations with community members, historians, and descendants of enslaved laborers.
• DJ Gerken, president and executive director of SELC, emphasizes the connection between the South's history of racial injustice and ongoing environmental injustices, highlighting the need for a path forward to a future where all communities can thrive.

Statistics:

• There are an estimated 7,000 fictional and abandoned communities in the United States, with most of them located in the Southern states (Source: [1] Southern Environmental Law Center).
• Communities of color face disproportionately high levels of environmental pollution, with data showing that 67% of residents in environmental justice communities are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (Source: [2] Environmental Protection Agency).
• In 2020, SELC filed more than 100 environmental justice lawsuits, including those related to toxic waste, pollution, and climate change (Source: [3] Southern Environmental Law Center).
• The SELC's Environmental Justice Initiative works with over 30 community partners across the Southern states to address environmental injustices and advocate for policy change (Source: [4] Southern Environmental Law Center).

Sources:

• [1] Southern Environmental Law Center. (n.d.). Forgotten Communities.
• [2] Environmental Protection Agency. (2020). Environmental Justice and Civil Rights.
• [3] Southern Environmental Law Center. (2020). 2020 Environmental Justice Report.
• [4] Southern Environmental Law Center. (n.d.). Environmental Justice Initiative.