Almost every day the media discovers an African American community fighting some form. of

environmental threat from land fills, garbage dumps, petrochemical plants, refineries, bus depots, and the list goes on. For years, residents watched helplessly as their communities became dumping grounds.

But citizens didn't remain silent for long. Local activists have been organizing under the mantle of environmental justice since as far back as 1968. More than three decades ago, the concept of environmental justice had not registered on the radar screens of many environmental or civil rights groups. But environmental justice fits squarely under the civil rights umbrella. It should not be forgotten that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis on an environmental and economic justice mission in 1968, seeking support for striking garbage workers who were underpaid and whose basic duties exposed them to environmentally hazardous conditions.

In 1979, a landmark environmental discrimination lawsuit filed in Houston, followed by similar litigation efforts in the 1980s, rallied activists to stand up to corporations and demand government intervention.