The "Noxious and Neglected Neighborhoods: Examining the Impacts of Environmental Racism in Chicago." event is the 6th installment of the Criminalization of Our Neighbors Programming Series.
Please join us for panel discussions on the current state of environmental racism with a Chicago focus. Panels will feature experts from scientific experts, legal and health practitioners, and advocacy organizations with experience dealing with environmental issues that disproportionately affect marginalized populations. We will also hear about the impacts environmental racism has on these communities through the lens of someone who has lived in an inflicted neighborhood and has suffered the consequences of it.
The goal of this event is to bring awareness to the multitude of issues that environmental racism has caused in Black and Latinx communities. Environmental racism contributes to inequities in urban planning including industrial corridors' placement, urban renewal, redlining, segregation, food scarcity, public transportation accessibility, and city-facilitated infrastructure maintenance. The historic placement of environmental carcinogen-producing industrial corridors in proximity to predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods has created devastating health complications for residents and polluted natural resources nearby beyond repair. Environmental Racism is not just a severe injustice on the community level but has both city, state, national, and global implications. Our hope is to spark conversations amongst the community about how we can help with advocacy efforts to educate, support, and raise awareness of the impacts of system racism in housing policy, zoning, community maintenance, resource access, and overall quality of living for our neighbors living in affected communities.
This program is facilitated through the partnerships of the DePaul University Library, Vincent G. Rinn Law Library, the Center for Public Interest Law, and the Jaharis Health Law Institute, with the assistance of the DePaul University College of Health and Sciences Environmental Sciences and Studies Department and Steans Center. Special thanks to our external partners: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Collaborative for Health Equity Cook County (CHE Cook County) / Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, People for Community Recovery (PCR), Top Box Foods, Block Club Chicago, Intergenerational Growing Projects, and Erie Health Center and affiliates. CLE has been requested for eligible attendees.
Attendance is free and open to the public.