From the sharp rise in unemployment to the global pandemic impacting us all, tuning into the news this year often feels like opening Pandora’s box. This summer, as NC and other states struggled to flatten the COVID-19 curve, calls for systemic social change gained traction. On Memorial Day, George Floyd, a Black man, died while under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. His cries of “I can’t breathe” resonated with millions, catalyzing demonstrations throughout the country and world. Floyd’s death, one among many cases of brutality against Black lives, heightened awareness of the longstanding racial injustices prevalent in the US. Confederate statues have been knocked down and police departments scrutinized for their use of deadly force. Yet, these changes alone are not enough to bring justice. Racism has a pervasive, systemic grip on our society, a fact made obvious not only by unjust killings, but through the ongoing environmental injustices faced by the low-income and minority communities that CWFNC aims to work with to protect their rights.

Spearheaded by people of color in the 1980s, the Environmental Justice (EJ) movement is often regarded as a response to white, mainstream and elite environmentalism. EJ activists continue to bring attention to the unequal distribution of pollution in the US. A prime example of this discrimination is the recently cancelled Atlantic Coast Pipeline, which was set to cross through many Black, Indigenous, and poor communities in West Virginia, Virginia, and nearly 190 miles of eastern North Carolina.