SPEAKER_02: Hey listeners, it's Jenny. I want to tell you about a new podcast you should be listening
SPEAKER_04: to. Conversations with People Who Hate Me from the TED audio collective. What happens when people who've clashed in the past have a conversation? Host Dylan Marron is an expert in tough conversations. He's called up his own haters and online trolls to find the humanity on the other side of the screen. On this new season, Dylan explores how we can find common ground through conversations between people who think they see the world differently. On this season, hear from a survivor of conversion therapy and the man who ran the so-called gay clinic, a mother and her trans son, a person turned meme and online troll, and more. Part therapy, part confessional, it's a podcast about talking it out to understand each other. Find conversations with people who hate me wherever you get your podcasts.
SPEAKER_05: Hello from Wonder Media Network. I'm environmental activist, Erin Brockovich. This is Womanica. This month, we're highlighting eco warriors, women fighting for conservation and ecological justice. Today's eco warrior is known as the mother of environmental justice. Her work focused on bettering the lives of her family and her neighbors in the face of government oversight. Along the way, she opened the doors to a national movement, recognizing the intersection of environmental and social justice. Let's talk about Hazel M. Johnson. Hazel was born
SPEAKER_05: on January 25th, 1935 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the oldest of four children and the only one to survive to adulthood. Hazel grew up along the lower Mississippi River, an area also known as cancer alley. It was and still is populated by nearly 150 petrochemical plants and refineries. Cancer rates were significantly higher in the area, which predominantly housed African American residents. When Hazel was 17, she met John Johnson. They got married and had seven children together. In 1962, they moved to Altgeld Gardens, a public housing project on Chicago's south side. It was a peaceful, isolated area distanced from highways and full of green space. But the charming exterior could only disguise so much. Just seven years after moving to Altgeld, John died of lung cancer. He was 41 and hadn't been a heavy smoker. Hazel began to notice similar seemingly unexplained health issues around the gardens. Several babies there had been diagnosed with multiple forms of cancer. Four infants passed away. In 1979, Hazel's suspicions were confirmed in a TV report. South side residents had the highest rates of cancer in the city. Determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, Hazel started making some calls. She founded the People for Community Recovery, or PCR, a group made up of folks like her, residents asking the Chicago Housing Authority to investigate their quality of life issues. But as Hazel looked into these problems, a larger, more harrowing picture came into focus. From 1863 until the early 20th century, the Pullman Motor Company used the land around what became Altgeld Gardens as an industrial sludge dump. The area was surrounded by 50 documented landfills, nearly 400 industrial facilities, and an estimated 300 underground chemical storage tanks. Nearby steel mills, refineries, and chemical corporations continued to pollute the air and water with toxic waste. As Hazel began to unravel the ecological consequences of Altgeld's history, she also realized the systemic racist history of the development. It had been built in the 1940s specifically to house Black World War II veterans, knowingly placing the community on some of the most hazardous land in the country. At the intersection of environmental and social issues, Hazel became known as the mother of environmental justice. The People for Community Recovery led a door-to-door campaign to grab the attention of local and government officials. They achieved several victories, including extending water and sewage services, building a new health clinic, removing asbestos from homes, regulating lead checks, and preventing further landfills from causing similar destruction in other parts of Chicago. The PCR extended their reach to other areas. They got city officials to test other South Side neighborhoods and revealed toxins like cyanide in everyday drinking water. They also protested the creation of a new incinerator, eventually persuading the Illinois EPA to shut down the project altogether. In one of the PCR's efforts to standardize asbestos removal, Hazel mentored future President Barack Obama. Although there were many environmental campaigns in the 1970s and 80s, Hazel's work was a bit of an outlier. She focused on people like herself and her neighbors, communities of color impacted by big business and government negligence. She said of her work, For so long, environmental activism has been primarily a white middle class issue, far removed from the daily reality of inner city life. It's all very well to embrace saving the rainforest and conserving endangered animal species, but such global initiatives don't even begin to impact communities inhabited by people of color. In 1994, the PCR entered the national arena. Hazel was among the activists present when President Bill Clinton signed an Environmental Justice Executive Order holding the federal government accountable for urban communities exposed to pollution. She also served on the EPA's first National Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Hazel passed away in 2011. In her memory, South 130th Street by Altgeld Gardens was renamed Hazel Johnson E.J. Way. Today, her daughter Cheryl is the Executive Director of PCR. All month, we're highlighting eco-warriors. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram at Womanika Podcast. Thank you to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan for having me host this week. I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.
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SPEAKER_01: Do you hear it? The clock is ticking. It's time for the new season of 60 Minutes. The CBS
SPEAKER_02: News Sunday Night tradition is back for its 56th season with all new big name interviews, hard-hitting investigations, and epic adventures. No place, no one, no story is off-limits. And you'll always learn something new. It's time for 60 Minutes. New episode airs Sunday, September 24th on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
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