Description
Book SynopsisIndustrial toxic emissions on the South Baltimore Peninsula are among the highest in the nation. Because of the concentration of factories and other chemical industries in their neighborhoods, residents face elevated rates of lung cancer and other respiratory illnesses in addition to heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular disease, all of which can lead to premature death. Fighting to Breathe follows a dynamic and creative group of high school students who decided to fight back against the race- and class-based health disparities and inequality in their city. For more than a decade, student organizers stood up to unequal land use practices and the proposed construction of an incinerator and instead initiated new waste management strategies. As a Baltimore resident and activist-scholar, Nicole Fabricant documents how these young organizers came to envision, design, and create a more just and sustainable Baltimore.
Trade Review“Eye-opening and inspiring." * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
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Fighting to Breathe [is] an important resource for undergraduate classrooms, particularly in this moment when critical justice approaches to teaching climate change are essential." * New Politics *
Table of ContentsContents
List of Illustrations
List of Characters
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Failed Development on Baltimore’s Toxic Periphery: A History
2. Free Your Voice: An Origin Story
3. Fighting the Nation’s Largest Trash-to-Energy Incinerator
4. “Whose Land? Our Land!”: Land Trusts as Fair Development
5. Compost! Learn So We Don’t Have to Burn: Zero Waste Is Our Future
Conclusion
Postscript: A Letter of Confession to the Activist Scholar
Notes
References
Index
