The two groups recently formed a coalition that focuses on addressing the intersection of environmental and social justice.
Neither strong winds nor the indifference of some passersby could quell the energy of the activists gathered around the Athens County Courthouse, as members of Black Life Action Coalition and Appalachia Resist united to raise money and awareness for the Flint water crisis.
The groups hosted a Demand Water Justice Rally on Monday that focused on the implications of the crisis in Flint, Michigan, which has had unsafe drinking water for nearly two years, according to the Associated Press. The two groups recently formed a coalition to “address the ongoing human rights abuses linked to ongoing water contamination to drinking water supplies,” according to the Appalachia Resist! website.
The Black Life Action Coalition is a student group "dedicated to protecting the black experience," according to its Facebook page. Appalachia Resist! is a group of Athens and Meigs County residents who oppose fracking and injection wells in the region.
“Especially when we talk about environmental justice here, it’s important to not just see one perspective of what’s going on here,” Jazzmine Hardges-Garner, a sophomore studying public communication and public advocacy, said. “A lot of times, what goes on in people of color communities ends up trickling down to other communities, because they often use poor communities as testing grounds.”
The groups are accepting both bottled water and monetary donations, and the money allows groups such as the Red Cross to purchase water purifiers and lead test kits. Donation jars can be found in Fluff Bakery and Catering, 8 N. Court St., and Village Bakery and Cafe, 268 E. State St.
“We understand that having access to clean water is not just an environmental issue, but it also has to do with race and class,” Jolana Watson, a senior studying media and social change, said. “We’re trying to connect what’s happening in Flint, Michigan with the environmental degradation of Appalachia and poor white communities here in Ohio.”
Appalachia Resist! first began collaborating with Black Life Action Coalition after being approached by students who were looking to be trained in environmental justice.
From Cummings’ perspective, the crisis in Flint has certain parallels to environmental and social issues in Southeast Ohio, especially in countries such as Athens, which is home to injection wells used for hydraulic fracturing.
“It has happened. And if there’s any more contamination of drinking water sources in municipalities, they’re going to have a harder and harder time keeping it from being poisoned,” Cummings said. “There’s also a degree of awareness, and connecting with the fact that there are lots of marginalized communities all across the country that are drinking contaminated water and that our municipal water sources are no longer safe, and that is something that predominantly ends up impacting communities of color and poor communities."
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