Environmental racism presents in many forms, including housing and schools on busy streets with commercial traffic, and industrial plants. Often these things are ubiquitous in our neighborhoods, things you don’t even acknowledge because they have always been there. Our communities were red-lined into unhealthy areas for decades and we continue to live with the results. This year the BIOLAB accident impacted multiple neighborhoods because man cannot control the wind. What was thought to be limited to the CONYERS area was felt by residents throughout metro Atlanta. Residents in DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett all experienced the impact of this major environmental failure. Devin Barrington-Ward founder of the Black Futurist Group speaks about the challenges and solutions.
Barrington-Ward shares how Black Futurist was started in October 2018. He shared his family history and spoke about his great-grandfather fighting in the 1865 Jamaican revolution. He shared that Black Futurist is concerned with both the imagination and statistics. While most people are not inspired by numbers they are important too.
I asked about concerns about the businesses that receive permits to operate in our communities including those preparing industrial chemicals like Bio-Lab. Barrington-Ward provided insight about concerns from federal, state, and local officials with the parent company. He explains that the company has been under investigation since 2004. The Bio-Lab clean-up will include testing of air quality and water near and around the facility.
As with most things, Barrington-Ward shares this all goes back to voting for your local officials and then holding them accountable. Politicians profit from the ignorance of the electorate. To learn more about voting for the environment he recommends following the Black Futurist, the Georgia Sierra Club, and the South River Watershed Alliance.
Barrington-Ward also speaks about “self-determination” in our community and that our voices are needed for the coming innovations needed to clean up the environment.
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