(soft wistful music) - Environmental justice looks like safe, healthy homes, housing, air, education, and it looks like access.

- It's a really complex issue.

It's about involving all individuals in the decision-making process, making sure that no groups are left out and exploited.

- There are a lot of folks who have had more impact than others over time, just based on a number of historical factors, who they are, where they live.

- We have this legacy in this history of exploiting, specifically communities of color, as well as poor communities.

And they tend to take the brunt of those harmful environmental actions.

- A more local scenario is Kent County.

They're burning trash.

They call it waste-to-energy, but it's an incinerator.

They're burning trash and it's upwind from the Roosevelt Park neighborhood, a community that's mostly people of color.

- What's the impact on what's coming out of those stacks?

What I'm drinking in my water?

What's in the water that I may swim in or my kids may play in?

It's all about exposure.

And so that is a public health concern.

- In 2016, my daughter went to ICU from lead hazards in my home.

We are people that are not just living in these circumstances, but we're trying to work through them.

- Sometimes we're not making a lot of progress.

Sometimes we are, but I think the potential for growth is there and I think we have the people and we have the hunger and the thirst to make it happen.

(wistful music ends) (ethereal music starts) - Hi, everyone.

Welcome to "Mutually Inclusive."

I'm Kylie Ambu, joined by my co-host, Jennifer Moss.

And as you can see today, we are soaking up the sun in the great outdoors.

- It's the perfect space to dive into our discussion today.

It's a movement sweeping across communities, environmental justice.

- [Kylie] Whether you're talking about water and air quality or access to green spaces, the environment impacts every community, but not all communities are impacted the same.

- And today, we are examining the history of our environment, the people, and talking with community members here in Grand Rapids who are working to create a cleaner and greener home for all.

(gentle dramatic music) (airy music resonating) (gentle brooding music) - [Narrator] There's a popular phrase, being the product of one's environment.

It's a fundamental idea that the surroundings of an individual can impact who they are as a person, what they'll do and how they'll grow.

While many Americans have the environmental stability needed to live a happy and help life, others are at risk from the very air they breathe to the water they drink due to toxic exposure.

- There's actually quite a bit of research that looks at this role of socioeconomics and your relationship with the environment.

It's not just unique to the United States, but we have this legacy and this history of exploiting, specifically communities of color, as well as poor communities.

And they tend to take the brunt of those harmful environmental actions that are taken.

- There are a lot of folks who have had more impact than others over time, just based on a number of historical factors, who they are, where they live, where sites are located in proximity to them.

- Individuals that have lower socioeconomic status where they tend to live, just by default, those areas tend to have higher pollution rates.

And so when we look at who produces pollution versus who is a victim of pollution, we tend to see that those of lower socioeconomic status don't pollute as much as the wealthy, but they are more victims of pollution.

- They realize they're feeling like something is happening to them that isn't happening to other people.

And so that phrasing of environmental justice really was born in the civil rights movement and from that has moved forward and we're using it more and more now.

And so environmental justice is all about equity and addressing those historic inequities in a way that benefits the folks in the community.

(crowd shouting) - [Narrator] While it's been more popularized over the past decade, the term environmental justice isn't new.

The movement is widely credited as emerging in the 1980s, a reaction to discriminatory environmental practices, like dumping toxic chemicals or placing hazardous waste facilities and areas largely populated by people of color.

(gentle brooding music) - So lower income communities, communities of color, communities who were historically redlined into certain communities.

You know, redlining was a government practice of allowing folks to live in certain neighborhoods and steering others to other neighborhoods.

And in that historical timeframe, which was decades and decades ago, a lot of people ended up living right next to where industrial sites were created.

- It's basically taking advantage of those communities that are vulnerable and, you know, are probably less likely to stand up for themselves.

And part of that comes down to action and advocacy, which is one of those challenges we know from political science research that the less educated you are, the lower your socioeconomic status.

If you're a person of color, that you're less likely to be politically engaged, you're less likely to vote, you're less likely to join an interest group, you're less likely to have an interest group represent you.

And all of those things matter in terms of advocacy in your community.

- I mean, one of the things that people are often really concerned about is what's the impact on what's coming out of those stacks?

What I'm drinking in my water?

What's in the water that I may swim in or my kids may play in?

What am I exposed to?

It's all about exposure.

And so that is a public health concern.

- [Narrator] While redlining practices may have been outlawed in 1968, its harmful legacy has left non-white communities struggling with environmental pollution.

This study highlighted in the National Library of Medicine examined a 1939 map over Detroit and found redline neighborhoods today experienced significantly higher environmental hazards and may see increased health risks for cancer.

In addition, studies by the Environmental Protection Agency, University of Notre Dame, and American Lung Association found people of color, specifically African Americans, are more likely to be impacted by air pollution and lead exposure.

- We know that the negative health impacts both on adults and children are significant.

So lower IQ for children, issues with concentration and focus.

Kidney disease for adults, you know, all kinds of other disorders that can come from lead exposure.

That's where you live, like you can't escape it, like there is no other option for you.

A great example here in Michigan would even be like the Flint water crisis and the Legionnaires outbreak that came with that as well.

- [Narrator] The Flint water crisis saw led seepage into the city's drinking water in 2014 causing a public health crisis and federal state of emergency.

At the time, about 40% of people in this majority black city lived in poverty.

And over time, controversy has surrounded local government's response amid the severe health and safety risks.

- Because of the population of Flint in terms of socioeconomic and racial background, there are a lot of questions that remain, right, about how that whole problem was addressed.

But what if it had been Bloomfield Hills or what if it had been East Grand Rapids?

Would the response have been the same or would it have been different?

And I think those that study environmental justice would argue that it probably would've been different.

(gentle music) - The reason my office was created was in the wake of the Flint crisis.

You know, following that, there was a task force that the previous administration pulled together to really look at what could we address moving forward.

- [Narrator] But these issues of lead and advocacy in Michigan aren't confined to Flint.

- We talk about all these historical impacts from before you and I were even here.

- Right.

- I mean, how is it that the effects can impact for that long?

- I like to say we built this and then put it on autopilot.

So things like lead lines under the ground that deliver our water, there are pipes under, particularly this part of the country that have been there for 90 plus years, which means at that time, they thought lead was a good idea, right?

It's strong, it's durable.

Who knew it could leach into the water and cause other issues?

And although it was banned decades ago, older homes often have either lead paint on the surface or underneath layers of paint.

(gentle apprehensive music) - So like many major US cities, Grand Rapids has a history of redlining.

Right now, we're driving through one of its previously redlined areas in the 49507.

Decades later, this zip code is still heavily populated by people of color.

And a few years back, it had some of the state's highest levels of lead poisoning in children.

So we're on our way right now to meet my co-host, Jennifer Moss, and she's talking with two community activists who are working to make change.

- First, I wanna thank both of you for joining us as we talk about environmental justice in West Michigan and beyond.

Tabitha, we're gonna start with you.

What does environmental justice look like to you?

What does it mean to you?

- It looks like safe and healthy housing, air quality, education, transportation, all of the things that goes aligns with our daily needs, right?

And the access to decision making power, so that we can maintain environmental justice.

- Tabitha Williams is a West Michigan mother who leads the advocacy group, Parents for Healthy Homes.

She's a resident of the 49507 and knows firsthand the impacts lead can have on homes, but more importantly, the people living in them.

(hopeful music) - Do you know anyone who has been impacted negatively by lead in their household?

- Oh, yes.

That's how I started in my work.

I'll say myself first, but it's many families and that's how we formed as a group.

I'm the founder of this group and we formed from the people with the lived experiences.

In 2016, my daughter went to ICU from lead hazards in my home.

And what I noticed is that we had a reactive approach to my daughter illness.

I was connected to Healthy Homes Coalition after my daughter was in ICU.

I didn't even know about the resources for my daughter and the things that was happening in my home.

And so I was connected to other people and this is how we formed as a group because it was so many people working in silos and we wanted to collaborate.

We wanted to like work together.

- And that's one of the things, Tabitha, that you have surely been working on there in the 49507.

As we look at lead-based paint and its health repercussions, is it still a problem in 2024?

Are we still seeing a problem with children in lead-based paint in 2024?

- Although we have made great progress moving forward with the lead issues, we still have a big problem.

We had a higher number of lead poison children, just that one zip code than even Flint.

You know, Flint would made a lot of media attention with the water crisis.

But our problem here in Grand Rapids, Michigan is the lead dust.

So doing things that we naturally do, like opening our windows or our children naturally do like crawling and playing can make them at risk.

Parents with healthy homes made some great action and advocacy around getting another city sanitarian back in 2019, but two sanitarians to reduce the hazard in these homes and repair the hazards in these homes are probably be gone before we see the changes there.

The health department already know there's over 33 families that have been impacted by lead poisoning in just that area code.

So there's still a great need for some more work to be done.

(gentle music) - [Narrator] There have been statewide and local lead safety programs, like Grand Rapids Get the Lead Out initiative, which offered up to $20,000 in repairs to eligible households.

Grassroots organizations like Parents for Healthy Homes also have their feet on the ground, trying to rectify these issues that directly impact them.

- We had a campaign going called Raise the Standards, because right now, there's not a lot of policies in place that protects the children and our families.

And though we want our kids to be safe, we always talk about money and and kids being our future.

But there are now.

So in that campaign, we ask for more work to be done, like more sanitation workers and more lead safe certified workers.

We're advocating for different agencies to start being inclusive of that.

Also, having people like ourselves at the tables, right?

They're making policies for people without those people.

So Parents with Healthy Homes is keeping more parents at that tables.

They should be the ones holding agency over these decisions that's impacting their lives.

- [Narrator] But even before getting a seat at the table comes knowledge about the conversation.

- I think that we do need to advocate.

I always say the P's, how do we include the public?

How do we do these policies, the practices?

We need to think about that.

This is like the priority, like how we engage people around these issues, especially the disadvantaged communities.

That needs to be some intentionality and inclusiveness happening there.

And I think that agencies are starting to be more aware that that needs to happen when we talk about environmental justice.

But I believe that they have to also be creative in how we do that.

- I always encourage people to reach out, to talk about their issues with elected officials to be present, because oftentimes in the many, many things they handle, they may not be as in tune to the people who live it every day.

You know, you get into, we're talking about environment and here are our words and this is how we...

But when you talk to real people, they shut you down and they say, hey, you know, this is about our survival and this is about thriving.

Just listening to and speaking to people in a way that they're gonna be able to actually take action and actually hear you when you communicate 'cause that's what it's really all about.

It is really an opportunity, I think, for people to elevate their voices for people in communities.

It's all about advocating and understanding how they can impact change in government.

- And to be real about it, it takes a lot of time, right?

To be able to say, I am concerned about this manufacturing plant and filling out the freedom of information act to understand the right to know laws and what's coming out of their smokestacks or what's going into the water or whatever it is that they're doing.

So having the wherewithal to be able to do that, knowing who to contact for how to do that, having the time to be able to do that.

You know, if you're working 45 hours a week, it's hard to be able to do those sorts of things.

- The information that I'm receiving is because I'm already in this space, right?

But if you're not in this space that you're already 10 steps behind, you're already, I don't know how to always get on programs to help me with my funding on my bills, my energy bills.

I don't always know how to reduce energy in my home.

Everyone is not always informed on those things at the same level of understanding.

And I sometimes think that is a disadvantage to us already.

Even if there is sources that has these programs, I don't always have the time or capacity to sit through 'em or be available.

So I think that a lot of agencies need to be better at meeting people where they are, because I think about that all the time, is how our daily needs, like housing, transportation, this is impacting us daily.

- [Narrator] While advocates say communication like this is a top priority in the fight for environmental justice, many also admit money talks.

And without it, there isn't a lot that can be done.

- So cities in general lack funding, right?

And so going in and trying to replace all of that infrastructure is challenging.

We've since gotten some grant money to help do that, which is wonderful and fantastic, but it's usually not the priority of where we're gonna spend our money.

Same with homeowners or landowners in terms of those requirements, if it's on your side of the line, 'cause that's the challenge too, right?

Is the lead piping a city problem or is it a homeowner problem?

And then the cost of replacing that.

And what we see is that if you have a lower socioeconomic background, spending $10,000 to replace your water pipe is not your priority, right?

It's paying your rent, it's paying your food, it's getting healthcare, it's clothing your kids, like whatever those priorities might be.

The more affluent you become, the more... And it's not just necessarily like you individually, but your nation becomes, the more you are willing and interested in looking at environmental issues, because you can pay your bills, you're comfortable, and so you can focus on these things.

And so once you become more secure financially, it's a more of like a luxury good.

This is from when I was in graduate school, but they wanted to put a trash transfer station in and they wanted to put it near a nice suburb where I was living.

And those people got up and they were like, no, you're not putting it here.

And so they ended up putting it in the poor side of town because those people weren't organized, couldn't fight against it.

So it's from the really big things to drinking water to subtle things like trash transfer stations.

- People are choosing housing sometimes when they know it's poor quality because I've been homeless for two years.

I have a need for housing right now because I may have CPS watching me and I have to put some stability for my children.

There's underlying issues that we face on why we choose these, but if we had housing quality for all, then no matter where I chose to live, it should be safe and free from these environmental hazards, right?

I shouldn't have to have these slum lowers poisoning my children.

And because I have a immediate need for housing that I'm treated as such is like I'm less than.

- [Narrator] And these financial factors can carry heavy long-term impacts.

- Right now, our economy is largely based on fossil fuels, but we know that wind and solar are actually cheaper now, and they're clean sources of energy.

And so when a power plant is burning coal or methane gas, and they're down upwind from community of color, we're the first to to bear the brunt.

Kent County has an incinerator.

They're burning trash.

They call it waste-to-energy.

And it's upwind from the Roosevelt Park neighborhood, a community that's mostly people of color.

- [Narrator] Sergio Cira-Reyes is a climate change catalyst for Urban Core Collective, which supports the agency of historically marginalized communities.

He points to issues of lead, pollution, burn insulation, and energy service surrounding homes that sit in areas more populated by vulnerable groups.

(gentle apprehensive music) - Communities of color and low income communities, they take longer to get their power back and their electricity is not reliable.

We want people of color to be the ones that are prioritized, given that they're at the front lines and also that they're the most likely to not be present in those conversations, those meetings.

So we're pushing for a lot of engagement from communities of color, but also pushing them to ask for resources where they see that they might need them most.

- How does environmental injustice impact communities of color from a mental and physical health standpoint?

- The chronic stress that comes from dealing with all these things they add up on top of, you know, if you're a person of color, you're more likely to be low income.

And so having to deal with all, like how are you gonna pay rent, your bills, kids to school and transportation.

We're seeing the mental impacts of that.

And then we talk about like beyond like what we all see, right?

Like as immigrant, I'm an immigrant, but also, you know, communities of color that are separated from our nature and the environment, right?

We're stuck here in the city.

We're stuck in concrete.

We don't feel like these outdoor spaces belong to us because we have to travel outside of where we feel safe psychologically.

- Here in the United States and like an individual perspective in your association with the environment, when we think about how communities have been set up, where people live and don't live based on socioeconomics, what access you have to engage with the environment.

Do you have parks that you can go to?

Is it safe to be outside?

Can you go on a vacation to a national park?

Those sorts of things.

Who can do that and who can't?

And obviously, we have lots of opportunities here within the state of Michigan.

Beautiful, but do you have the money, the gas money to go up to one of the state parks and do something like that, right?

- This disconnect with nature and environment and the land is affecting our mental health.

And when we're disconnected from that, we're disconnected from our capacity to be fully human.

As individuals, people go to nature to feel fully present, to heal, to recuperate from being around people or from stress.

And that separation from nature land and the environment is also another form of violence against communities of color, which is why we advocate so much about like creating spaces where we can enjoy nature, where we can have fun.

And it's a precursor to environmentalism.

If people that are investing a lot of money in preserving nature and water and land and forest, wanna make it to the next level, they should consider investing in access to those natural resources by people of color that can be allies in that fight.

- [Narrator] Whether it's mental, physical, or financial barriers, the environmental justice movement is moving in Michigan.

Advocates across the board say a combination of federal, state, and local systems, like those seen by Parents for Healthy Homes and Urban Core Collective is a powerful route to fostering inclusion, equity, and change.

While many acknowledge substantial difference may not happen in their lifetime, they continue to push for a sustainable future.

- One of the reasons we got involved in environmental justice here is because there wasn't a lot of capacity here built for people of color to do advocacy work and organize like we see in Detroit and Flint and other areas, but that was because they were going through major crisis.

And I think that we are preparing for that.

We are building a lot of capacity in that, and I'm seeing the fruits of that labor.

I think we have the people and we have the hunger and the thirst to make it happen.

And we're gonna continue to work on that.

(gentle bright music) - I think working with communities like Benton Harbor during their water challenges a couple years ago and spending time in the community and doing community resource fairs and finding people who got jobs working on replacing the lead pipes that were impacting their own families.

And so that interconnectivity really moves me because I think that's really what it's all about.

It is about us all working together to get this done and doing what we can, but not leaving behind the folks who are impacted, but incorporating into the next phase of what we do.

The people who've had the most impact to have the most opportunity.

- So getting it, just getting to know your neighbors, getting involved in your community, and then from there, growing that advocacy to putting in that community garden or arguing against something that you don't support in your neighborhood or whatever that looks like.

And I think that there's a lot of opportunities for that to happen, but it's about building those relationships and connecting those people together.

- It's now up to every one of us to take action.

- The bigger capacity organizations that we can collaborate.

We know that sustainability takes time.

I think that if we continue to, you know, put the people with the problem closer to the power, we will definitely make progress.

I really believe in that.

I've seen it in our own group.

We are small but mighty.

We are people that are not just living in these circumstances, but we're trying to work through them.

So we keep celebrating people in this work.

I mean, 'cause it's not easy work, but we have to find little times to rest and make joy and celebrate.

- Here we go.

We're off to save the world.

(people chattering) - [Narrator] Thanks for watching.

You can find this episode and others online at wgvu.org/mutuallyinclusive or by visiting our YouTube page.

But don't forget to follow WGVU on Facebook.

Thank you for helping us be mutually inclusive.

(gentle bright music)