Did you know that North Carolina is considered the birthplace of the environmental justice movement when Black community members fought against cancer-causing PCB dumping in Warren County (also the birthplace of Ella Baker) in the late 70s and early 80s? The words "environmental racism" and "environmental justice" became part of the global social justice vocabulary as a result of this movement. Black working-class community members are at the forefront of many environmental justice struggles in North Carolina (and beyond) since then, including winning a multi-million dollar lawsuit against swine industry pollution that is causing sickness and deaths in Black, Brown, working-class people living around those areas. It is not surprising that polluting industries, trash landfills, and major highways causing particulate pollution are often located close to where Black and people of color communities live. Black-led movements have also shut down the Atlantic Coast gas Pipeline by Duke and Dominion Energy in Eastern NC to stop climate change, rejecting false claims of "economic benefits" for the community. Recently, a wood pellet industry was shut down in Robeson County, NC, due to a campaign by the Black, brown, and working-class people's coalition who challenged the wood-pellet industry's fake claims of addressing climate change. None of these victories can be claimed by a single organization; they were won by a coalition of forces where the Black working class played a major role. Also, there is a backlash from the polluting industries and racist forces to reverse these victories or launch other polluting projects, so the struggle is far from over. Still, the power of the environmental justice movement, led by the majority Black and working-class community, is well established in North Carolina and many states in the USA.
One prominent leader in the environmental justice movement in NC is Naeema Muhammad who co-founded North Carolina Environmental Justice Network in the late 90s to challenge environmental racism. A native of Rocky Mount, NC, Sister Naeema is dedicated to fighting racism and inequality, ranging from worker exploitation by Kmart in the 80s, fighting for justice in the wake of Hamlet Poultry Plant Fire in the 90s, the largest industrial disaster in NC, killing 25 people, mostly Black workers locked inside the plant by the management. Sister Naeema's late husband, Saladin Muhammad, was one of the biggest Black and Muslim social justice organizers in North Carolina, organizing tens of thousands of people in his lifetime, and co-founding incredible organizations, ranging from Black Workers for Justice, Southern Workers Assembly, and Muslims for Social Justice.
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| Panelists of "The Power Under 30: The Power of Intersectionality" Session at the NCEJN's 2024 Summit. Panelists included Anthony Diaz, Hwa Huang, Jalind Lampa, and Samuel Scarborough. The session was moderated by Ajamu Amiri Dillahunt. |
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| "Worker Power: Rural to Urban" workshop at the NCEJN's 2024 Summit. Workers representatives from El Futuro Es Nuestro (It's Our Future), UE Local 150 (North Carolina Public Workers Union), and SEIU (Service Employees International Union) joined the conversation. |
A network of environmental justice, anti-racism, worker rights, and other social justice organizations, NCEJN recently organized the 25th Annual Summit to celebrate achievements and strategize for future struggles. The summit was organized at the historic Black-liberation site, Franklinton Center at Bricks in Eastern NC. This site is historic since it was turned from a slave plantation into an educational institution for freed slaves during the Reconstruction Era. NCEJN has rooted their struggle in the historic anti-slavery movement, and they have also made connections to the global liberation movements, including Palestine Freedom. In fact, a session, led by Palestinian activist Vivien Sansour, was devoted to preserving Palestinian seeds and resistance during this year's NCEJ Summit. One of the co-directors of NCEJN, Rania Masri, has emphasized the connection between environmental justice movement in the USA and anti-imperialism movement, including the Palestine Freedom Movement.
This year's summit highlighted the oppression against migrant workers who are sprayed with chemicals causing loss of hair and even dying in heat in the fields, to organizing by youth at university campuses against racism, Zionism, and inequality (moderated by Ajamu Amiri Dillahunt), and other topics. The summit also included a community speak-out and government listening session, where state candidates for the upcoming election were held accountable by attendees. Participants celebrated many victories by the movement, including successful environmental policies at the federal level due to movement building. Yet, participants also recognized the long way to struggle against ongoing genocide in Palestine, environmental racism in the USA, attacks on workers, and other struggles. On the environmental justice front, Black community members still face extreme injustice. For example, according to a CDC study, 12.5% of Black youth suffer from asthma as compared with 5% of white youth, because many Black community members live near polluting plants, or in rental homes with mold and other harmful environments. Similarly, Black youth have the highest level of lead in blood compared with children of all ethnicities. Black community members are 75 percent more likely than whites to live next to commercial facilities causing noise, odor, traffic, or emissions pollution. These and many other challenges have reduced the Black life expectancy by 5 years compared with white life expectancy.
The summit concluded with an emphasis on continuing to unite our struggles to build our collective power and change the balance of power. In her 80s and overcoming a fight with cancer, Sister Naeema participated in the summit with an attached oxygen cylinder, inspiring young and old with her lifelong dedication for social justice. Whether working for Palestine Liberation or local social justice issues, we need to join local movements by Black and working-class people who are demanding an end to Israel's genocidal war on Palestine, as well as, fighting to end the war on Black, brown, working people in the USA.
