• Home
  • All News Articles
  • NC TraCS scholar empowers communities to celebrate their role in environmental justice movement

NC TraCS scholar empowers communities to celebrate their role in environmental justice movement

  • Marla Broadfoot

Community members, university officials, activists, and clergy gathered in Warrenton, N.C. on September 17, 2022 to mark the 40th anniversary of the protests that launched the environmental justice movement. The nonviolent Warren County protests fought against the state's disposal of soil contaminated with PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) in the predominantly Black community.

Reverend Bill Kearney

At the commemoration, people walked from Coley Springs Missionary Baptist church to the infamous dumpsite, retracing the steps and singing the songs of the landmark marches. For Reverend Bill Kearney, an associate minister at Coley Springs and a 2011 NC TraCS Research-Engaged Community Scholar (RECS), the event was the culmination of efforts to empower the community to celebrate its place in combating environmental racism.

"It was through the NC TraCS fellowship that I first envisioned what I would like to accomplish as a community researcher," said Rev. Kearney. "It's taken many years to see the fulfillment of that vision, which was to build our own legacy around the environmental justice movement and to help move my community from a victim mindset to a victor narrative."

Kearney developed the Warren County Environmental Action Team (WCEAT), a network of organizations and individuals working together to record, celebrate, and share Warren County's environmental justice legacy, natural resources, and diverse cultures. He also formed the Warren County African American History Collective (WCAAHC), an effort to collect and create a cohesive history of the area with the goal of making a better future for all local residents.

"It is all about community engagement, documenting stories, elevating people's voices, and informing policy. I felt like this is what I had been called to do, because the more I dug into the environmental justice movement, the more I saw how it connected with my own family history," said Kearney, whose great aunt lived at the proposed site of the landfill. Throughout the years, he has felt a personal responsibility to cast his community's story in the right light.

Sept 17th commemoration ceremony and march to the landfill

"We birthed a movement," said Kearney. "Now we own this movement. We are on the front line when it comes to environmental social justice. And we're going to demand reparation and to be made whole."

Moving forward, Kearney hopes to see support for a comprehensive environmental assessment of the health and economic impacts of the PCB contamination. He wants to see data proving whether the residents are safe or not. And he would like to see compensation, so that those held back by environmental racism are better equipped to advocate for their community. "We need some investment in education, our health system, job opportunities, and that doesn't even address the mental effects of a community that is marginalized and dumped on."

In August, Rev. Kearney and the WCEAT were awarded the '2022 Environmental Justice Legacy Pioneer Award' from the NC Black Alliance during their Grounded in Justice Rooted in Wellness Environmental Injustice 22 + Healthcare Summit. They were recognized for their work engaging community leaders on various initiatives, including: offering environmental justice-focused tours of Warren County; supporting local farms and community gardens; connect Warren County with ongoing environmental justice movements; and building community among residents and grassroots organizers in Warren County.

Several other events are slated to discuss the past and the future of the environmental justice movement in NC and beyond:

Aug. – Dec. 2022: UNC-Chapel Hill Wilson Library Environmental Justice Exhibit
Sept. 18 from 2 – 4 p.m.: Community Worship Service at Coley Springs Missionary Baptist Church
Sept. 20 from 5 - 8 p.m.: Downtown Warrenton & Warren County Jail Museum EJ Tour
Sept. 24 at 6:30 p.m.: "Back Together Again" Virtual gathering NAACP Warren County Branch
Sept. 30 at 12 - 1 p.m.: "40 Years of Environmental Justice: Birth in Warren County to Today & Beyond" with Rev. Kearney and additional speakers, a free lunchtime webinar hosted by Clean Water for NC
Sept. 30 at 1 p.m.: "The Roots, Experiences, and Future of Climate Justice" with William Barber III, Yumna Kamel, and Dr. Jennifer Hadden at Duke University


Related news coverage:

NC recognized as the birthplace of the environmental justice movement (NC Health News)

UNC, Warren County residents commemorate anniversary of environmental justice movement (The Daily Tar Heel)

Series of events to commemorate 40th anniversary of PCB protests (The Warren Record)

Birthing the environmental justice movement (Back Story)

'This is environmental racism:' How a protest in a North Carolina farming town sparked a national movement (Washington Post)

View news related to policies and regulations

Have news or an announcement to share? Contact Michelle Maclay at michelle_maclay@med.unc.edu

Get NC TraCS events and news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our weekly email blast

NC TraCS Institute logo vertical

In partnership with:

Contact Us


Brinkhous-Bullitt, 2nd floor
160 N. Medical Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27599

919.966.6022
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Social


Cite Us


CitE and SUBMit CTSA Grant number - UM1TR004406

© 2008-2024 The North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The content of this website is solely the responsibility of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH   accessibility | contact