Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

environmentalRacism

By Charlie Berg and Joe Vital

Minneapolis, MN – Residents of the East Phillips neighborhood and organizers with the Climate Justice Committee rallied outside of Smith Foundry on Tuesday, June 4, after an announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it had reached a settlement with Smith, with the most significant provision requiring that the heavy-polluting foundry shut down its furnace within 12 months.

Read more...

By Jasper Becker

Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MPCA, confronted at a Minneapolis community meeting on Smith Foundry.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Minneapolis, MN – On the evening of February 7, residents of East Phillips confronted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) at a community meeting and then held a press conference regarding the Smith Foundry.

East Phillips is a primarily oppressed nationality neighborhood and home to the Little Earth indigenous community. East Phillips has the highest rates of asthma in all of Minnesota, with many residents suffering from COPD among other respiratory health issues.

Read more...

By Laci Gagliano

Minneapolis protest against environmental racism. | Fight Back! News/staff

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, November 10, community members gathered outside Smith Foundry in the Minneapolis East Phillips neighborhood to demand accountability following the EPA’s discovery of many violations of the Clean Air Act and other pollution control standards.

Read more...

By Tracy Molm

Climate Justice Committee marching against environmental racism.

Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis’ Mayor Frey and seven Minneapolis city council members are talking about how they feel personally threatened after the Roof Depot struggle has become national news – after years of ignoring the East Phillips Neighborhood Institute, the group that has been spearheading the push to buy the building with the goal of creating a neighborhood space. As the neighborhood is mobilized and righteously angry about the pollution, Frey and his cronies in the Minneapolis city council try to demonize the neighborhood, attempting to paint activists, particularly indigenous activists, as violent.

Read more...

By Katherine Gould

Marching against environmental racism in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, March 5, residents of the south Minneapolis neighborhood of East Phillips and supporters marched to celebrate community and fight against an environmentally racist project.

Read more...

By Tracy Molm

Standing up to environmental racism in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – This week has been eventful in the East Phillips fight to stop the demolition of the arsenic-contaminated site of the Roof Depot building in south Minneapolis.

Read more...

By Whitney Wildman

East Phillips residents hold a banner that youth in Little Earth painted.

Minneapolis, MN – On January 29, 70 activists, community members and supporters held a rally and healing circle in response to the Minneapolis city council’s recent vote in favor of continuing their legacy of environmental racism in the city of Minneapolis. The East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and the Climate Justice Committee organized the rally.

Read more...

By staff

Protest at Minneapolis City Council meeting to defend East Phillips neighborhood

Minneapolis, MN – Over 100 protesters rallied at a Minneapolis City Council meeting on Thursday, January 26, where the city council members voted 7 to 6 to demolish the Roof Depot building. Protesters, called to action by East Phillips Neighborhood Institute and Climate Justice Committee, demanded a “no” vote on the demolition of the building, as it is currently trapping an arsenic plume underground, keeping it out of the air of the East Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

Read more...

By Dr. Edward Holifield

Why has Florida State University (FSU) shipped in secrecy 24.32 tons of dangerous radioactive waste from a “low-level” nuclear waste disposal site in Tallahassee, Florida? Why was the waste was sent 2100 miles across the country to Clive, Utah?

Read more...

By staff

Enter a descriptive sentence about the photo here.

The Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) recently joined the Fairway Oaks community in a struggle against environmental racism.

Read more...