Alabama Institute for Social Justice
Written by
Lenice C. Emanuel, MLA
Executive Director
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Knowledge is
Power
is a bi-weekly blog by the Alabama Institute for Social Justice offering information, stories, and thoughts to inspire, educate, and empower.
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March marks Women's History Month and we are pleased to
highlight women whose work and lives elevate the powerful role
of women in making the world a better place for all.
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Women's History Month Spotlight
Catherine Coleman Flowers:
Environmental Justice SHE-ro!
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Most of us do not give it a second thought when we run water from the faucets in our homes to drink or use for cooking, or when we use our restrooms in the middle of the night and then return to our cozy beds. But, in Alabama, there are communities that are not so fortunate. In fact, clean water and effective sanitation are two things some citizens have to think about constantly.
Meet Catherine Coleman Flowers. She was born in Birmingham, but raised in Lowndes County, Alabama, a community that is included in a group of counties known as Alabama’s Black Belt. This region has a rich history steeped in its value for effective cotton farming. It produced some of the greatest wealth for the state of Alabama, beginning in the early 1800s. Paradoxically, the Black Belt also came to represent the dense population of African-American slaves that farmed those lands. Today, the Black Belt represents some of the poorest communities in Alabama, with a per-capita regional income of $15,633. For years, the dire needs of Lowndes County citizens have been ignored in regard to the environmental impact and implications of failed septic tanks that force residents to live with raw sewage backing up into their homes and yards.
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For well over 20 years, Catherine Coleman Flowers has maintained a relentless focus on addressing these conditions faced by her community. Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with Catherine to visit some of these dreadfully affected homes. During that time, she also arranged for Rev. Dr. William Barber, renowned leader of the
Poor People’s Campaign
, to visit these homes. To say that it was an emotional experience would be an understatement. As we all listened to how these residents are living on a daily basis, it was deeply heart-wrenching. From the poor infrastructure of the trailers, which serve as permanent homes for most of the residents, to the lack of basic services like regular trash collection, many live in deplorable conditions. Some of the children in these families suffer from sleep apnea and are required to wear a CPAP breathing-mask apparatus to enable them to live in their own homes. During our visit, Catherine spoke to the local media about the problems residents were facing and stated “It is unthinkable that this type of poverty and conditions exist in a first-world country.” Without question, Catherine is correct. It is unimaginable that people would be living in such squalor in a country with America’s wealth and standing in the world.
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One great irony is that Lowndes County is the birthplace of The Black Panther Party. The Party eventually moved to Oakland, California, where Stokely Carmichael became its famed leader, but, contrary to popular belief, the movement for change was begun in Lowndes County. The very place that served as the catalyst for one of the most noted organizations to play a role in facilitating historic national, social, and political change, was left behind, left out of the so-called American dream, and did not receive even the basics of civilized progress. According to an article by
Green America
,
“While local and state governments brought basic infrastructure like good sewage systems to affluent, primarily white neighborhoods decades ago, many Black and low-income homes in Lowndes County just got running water in the 1990s. In addition, more than 35 percent of homes in the county have failing systems, and 15 percent have nothing but outhouses or a pipe that runs from the house to the woods.”
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How does this happen? How are communities like Lowndes County left behind and seemingly forgotten, when the needs are so great and the calamitous implications so consequential? According to Catherine, places like Lowndes County have become a mirror to the social injustices that continue to permeate every aspect of its residents’ humanity, due to the prevalence of long-held and established systems of racial and economic oppression. The fact of the matter is that having clean water and adequate sanitation are basic human rights, and not simply luxuries to be enjoyed due to access, class, or power. Therefore, it stands to reason that the conditions faced by Lowndes County and similar communities are intentional. And because of that, the Alabama Institute for Social Justice salutes the incredible work and fortitude of Catherine Coleman Flowers, a woman who, with great and unparalleled determination, has dedicated her life to elevating the poverty and conditions faced by the majority-Black families in Lowndes County into the national consciousness.
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As a woman, person of color, educator, nonprofit leader, and long-time advocate for equity, Catherine Coleman Flowers reflects the highest ideals of AISJ, and we stand in solidarity with her in the critical fight for environmental justice for some of the most disenfranchised people in Alabama. And, for this, she reigns as an admired and celebrated SHE-ro, as SHE is making the world a better place for all.
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To learn more about Lowndes County and the work of
Ms. Coleman Flowers, please visit the following links:
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