National Grid, a gas and electric company, is building a 7-mile long fracked gas pipeline right through some of Brooklyn’s Blackest neighborhoods.
It isn’t just an environmental disaster – the pipeline is deadly.
They’re building it through North Brooklyn neighborhoods like Brownsville and Bushwick, which have some of the highest asthma rates in New York City because of projects like these. The pipeline is a direct threat to the lives of people living in these communities!
But this environmental racism isn’t new.
It has a long history across the United States. In Louisiana, there’s an 85-mile stretch called “Cancer Alley,” where companies knowingly pollute the air. There’s an ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan. And in the 1950s, the government built highways through the middle of Black neighborhoods across the country.
We shouldn’t still be dealing with this today.
Organizations like No NBK Pipeline have been fighting the pipeline for years. They’ve shut down construction sites and stopped paying utility bills in protest. Activists have also filed official complaints, arguing that the pipeline has resulted in racial discrimination – a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
When we’re strategizing ways to fight systemic racism and dismantle white supremacy, the neighborhoods we call home must be a part of our liberation fight. Black people deserve to live in environments free of deadly toxins!