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Environmental justice representation is consistently concerned with and influenced by the places where people live, work, play, and receive education. However, some texts do this by shining light on political agency, while others emphasize self-representation.

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In much of Robert Bullard’s writing, he provides information on movements that involve the intersectionality of environmental justice. Bullard writes, “The 1991 First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit was probably the single most important event in the environmental justice movement's history. The summit broadened the movement beyond its real focus against toxics to include issues of public health, worker safety, land use, transportation, housing, resource allocation, and community empowerment. The meeting also demonstrated that it is possible to build a multiracial grassroots movement around environmental and economic justice” (Bullard 20). You cannot talk about environmental justice without also talking about other factors that it overlaps with such as work and living environments. This is an example of Bullards use of political agency. In this Summit, people are coming together towards a common goal to try to draw attention to all areas of environmental justice. This social movement deals with environmentalism and intersects with other issues that come along with environmental justice. It began as a movement that solely involved toxic waste then it turned into something that involved housing, systemic racism, and public health.

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Bullard emphasizes environmental justice through political agency. The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit showed how much intersectionality there really is when advocating for environmental justice. There were many white-led environmental organizations that were interested primarily in wilderness and wildlife. Additionally, there were many Black and Brown communities that also wanted to advocate for environmental justice. They fought for the right to be entitled to healthy environments where they live and work. Regardless of one's race, gender, class or sexuality all of these different identities are fighting for environmental justice. Numerous diverse groups are advocating for different things because it is influencing where people live, work, play and receive education. (Menrisky)

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Bullard shines light on political agency throughout Environmental Justice in the 21st Century. In doing this, Bullard is trying to explain that people are fighting for environmental justice because it is a basic human right. Bullard writes, “These protests prompted a study by the U.S General Accounting Office…This study revealed that three of the four off-site, commercial hazardous waste landfills in the U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 4 happen to be located in predominantly African American communities…” (Bullard 20). This environmental justice movement led to a study by a governmental agency to investigate the correlation between waste facility sites and demographic characteristics. Using political agency to work towards environmental justice will hold institutions and companies responsible for their environmental impacts. These environmental impacts disproportionately affect African-American communities living and working conditions. This community of people are at increased risk of health problems such as asthma, heart attacks and other health problems.

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Bullard points out that this protest led to learning that hazardous waste landfills “happen to be” located in the majority of African American communities. This type of environmental racism puts African Americans at a disadvantage in regards to their living environment and health. This may not have necessarily been a result of targeted malice however, this is something that had been going on for a while and there was no attention brought to it until the protests occurred. Putting these hazardous waste landfills in places where there were predominantly African American communities benefits the white communities so that they don’t have to suffer from the detrimental effects of living near the waste landfills. Without this community of people coming together and protesting, the people living in the hazardous area wouldn’t have gotten the environmental justice attention that they deserve. (Menrisky)

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Throughout Terry Tempest Williams' environmental justice writing, she uses much self-representation to talk about the issues she experienced with environmental justice. She writes, “...I must question everything even if it means losing my faith, even if it means becoming a member of a border tribe among my own people. Tolerating blind obedience in the name of patriotism or religion ultimately takes our lives'' (Williams 286). Generations of Terry’s family had breast cancer. Living in Utah near the nuclear bomb testing site might have been the cause of her family members getting breast cancer. As a Mormon, you are expected to obey and respect authority. Many people felt that they couldn’t speak out about this detrimental issue. As a woman, who was seeing the generational effects of living in this area of Utah, Williams fought back and didn’t want to be silent about this issue anymore. Williams emphasizes self representation when pursuing environmental justice. By doing this, it appeals to the reader's emotions (pathos).

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Williams' story emphasizes a structural/indirect example of environmental injustice. Women living in Utah over several generations experienced a higher prevalence of breast cancer. This was disproportionately impacting many women and their way of life, education and work. However, because the government performed nuclear bomb testing around that area, they had to suffer the consequences. Being Mormon, you’re expected to obey the higher authorities so a woman trying to speak up about change was something that was looked down upon. It is easy to hide structural/indirect environmental injustice because it is systemic and no one questions it. However, Williams is no longer following everyone else and she is representing all women to get the environmental justice that every woman deserves. (Menrisky)

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While Williams lived in Utah, she experienced and saw numerous health concerns in that area. Williams states, “It was at this moment that I realized the deceit I had been living under. Children growing up in the American South-West, drinking contaminated milk from contaminated cows, even from the contaminated breasts of their mothers, my mother – members, years later, of the Clan of One-Breasted Women'' (Williams 283). This section is concerned with the living conditions of the children, women, and families growing up in the American South-West. Due to the location of where they lived, they were going to soon get sick from what they were consuming. Williams uses self representation throughout the text by sharing her own experiences and the experiences of her peers. Williams adds specific details to her writing about the lives of people in Utah. In representing environmental justice in this way, it humanizes and puts environmental issues into perspective for people that may not be experiencing such effects.

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Williams' writing represents the slow violence of the nuclear testing that occurred in Utah. Overtime, children would experience health concerns from contaminated food/drink. Also, mothers would later develop breast cancer from being exposed to the unhealthy toxins in the air. When exposed to radiation, the effects are slow, however they develop over a long period of time. The government denied and refused to acknowledge the effects that could potentially happen from the nuclear bomb testing. Williams includes slow violence in her writing to show that it is a difficult thing to measure when no one is giving it the attention it deserves. It’s hard to place blame on the government/higher authorities because this slow violence is happening over many many years. However, through Williams self representation (storytelling), she is able to advocate for environmental justice for the community she is part of. (Menrisky)

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Simon Ortiz writes about environmental justice through his Native culture. He talks about how big companies are taking over land that many cultures use for living and work. Ortiz writes, “Power companies and corporations, railroads, agribusiness, electronics, states, cities, towns, the men and women who work in them, all of them –all of America– take and take from the land and People. The land lets you. Kudrawaa yah ahni.” (Ortiz 330 & 331).  Ortiz uses language as a device of self-representation. Implementing language to represent environmental justice allows the reader to see its cultural relevance. Environmental justice affects everyone however, Ortiz wants to emphasize how it is affecting his own personal community. He is saying that Americans took land and things that they need for their own survival without taking other people into consideration. The indigenous people who were here first, deserve cultural sovereignty and political independence. However, they did not receive this because Americans exist in their territory now.

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Environmental injustices occur when people are treated as, “virtual inhabitants.” Throughout Woven Stone, Ortiz wanted us to see that the Natives were treated like virtual inhabitants. Americans only cared about the expansion of their territory and when it came time to expand, they thought of Native land as something that didn’t really exist or matter. Throughout Ortiz's writing, he pointed out the historical mistreatment of the Native Americans. He explained how the Native Americans' autonomy was stripped away due to them being thought of as people that didn’t really matter or weren’t of any value. (Menrisky)

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In NBC CT’s media coverage on environmental justice, it emphasizes how climate is disproportionately affecting people of color in underserved communities. The central point of this news clip is to show that activists are coming together on Earth Day to rally for change. One activist says, “Hartford is being affected by pollution…We’re taking and burning trash from the suburbs that isn’t being burned in the suburbs, so I have to breathe garbage coming from other places.” Many of the protestors are people that live in urban areas, underserved communities, and people of color. This demographic of people are experiencing the consequences of damage that they’re not even in control of. These consequences are affecting their way of life and have detrimental health impacts (asthma/environmental illness). So, coming together to protest for change is a powerful way of representing change for environmental justice.

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Some People Live More Downstream Than Others

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Some People Live More Downstream Than Others

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This news article by Jane Caffrey displays the idea that some people live more downstream than others. The Black and Brown communities are disproportionately being impacted by climate change. Trash that isn’t even from their communities is being burned in their communities. This article emphasizes the idea that not everyone is equally exposed to the toxins that are being put in the air and the people in the Black and Brown communities are getting the worst of it. Why do they have to suffer while others benefit from this? This type of political agency creates awareness to the general public that this happens around the world and needs to change. (Menrisky)

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According to NBC CT’s media coverage, the 2022 Earth Day protest brought attention to the United States government. The media says, “...[those] protests prompted a study by the US General Accounting Office, Siting of Hazardous Waste Landfills and Their Correlation with Racial and Economic Status of Surrounding Communities…” Through media and protesting, activists were able to come together to promote change and environmental justice in their communities. This representation is crucial because not only does it draw attention to governmental officials but also citizens that are watching the media. This form of environmental justice representation is shining light on public policy. Activists coming together to organize a protest to bring attention to environmental injustices that people are experiencing. These events are important because they bring a call to action for policy changes.

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The representation of environmental justice media/writing from NBC News captioned, “Alabama County Plagued by Septic Woes'' calls attention to a rural poor part of Alabama that is experiencing a “hidden” environmental crisis. Citizens living in this community were interviewed and shared their experiences of environmental injustice. People were able to share stories of personal experiences such as living without running water and having raw sewage flooding their house. It is important that these people call for environmental justice because these conditions are affecting how most live and work. This form of self representation is crucial for others to see because it allows the audience/people watching to be able to have a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. Things that America tries to “hide” from the average person were able to be spoken about. This type of environmental justice representation also shines light on the political agency of the people living in this part of rural Alabama. The residence didn’t see any change from higher officials until they were represented in the media. Alabama Department of Public Health created a program called, “The Black Belt Unincorporated Waste Water Program.” This program raised money for the people in this community and eventually installed a new septic system.

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Environmental justice representation hasn't changed much if not at all. We are still finding pockets of racism and we still have environmental injustices all over the world. It is now clear that communities of color have been fighting environmental justice for many years. They have done this through protests, media, poems and narratives. The same patterns we’ve seen have spread throughout American society from its inception and continue to impact every aspect of our lives, from housing to health care, from education to housing, and are responsible for almost all environmental injustices. Up until this day, we continue to see that wealthier communities are more likely to invest in infrastructure, to properly enforce environmental regulations, and to hold polluters accountable or keep them out of the community completely.

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“Alabama County Plagued By Septic Woes.”CBS News. 23 Feb. 2022, https://www.cbsnews.com/video/alabama-county-plagued-by-septic-woes/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.

Berndt, Brooks. “30th Anniversary: The First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit.” United Church of Christ. https://www.ucc.org/30th-anniversary-the-first-national-people-of-color-environmental-leadership-summit/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.

Bullard, Robert D. The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of Pollution. Sierra Club Books, 2008.

Caffrey, Jane. “Activists Call for Environmental Justice for Communities of Color.” NBC Connecticut1.https://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/activists-call-for-environmental-justice-for-communities-of-color/2768059/. Accessed 6 Dec. 2023.

Menrisky, Alexander. ENGL 2635E Lecture.

Ortiz, Simon J. Woven Stone. Univ. of Arizona Press, 2006.

Pillion, Dennis. “How Much Untreated Sewage Gets Dumped in Alabama’s Black Belt? UA Team Trying to Find Out.” Advance Local News.  www.al.com/news/2019/04/how-much-untreated-sewage-gets-dumped-in-alabamas-black-belt-ua-team-trying-to-find-out.html. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.

“Simon Ortiz.” Lannan Foundation, https://lannan.org/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2023.

Williams, Terry Tempest. The Clan of One-Breasted Women. Penguin Books, 2021.