The Data Centers Are Coming: Ep. 3 - Contamination Without Representation

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of data centers on Black neighborhoods, focusing on the Boxtown community in Memphis and featuring expert guests on environmental justice.

Some residents of the Boxtown neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee, didn’t know Elon Musk was building a huge data center nearby until they saw city and Chamber of Commerce officials hyping the deal. A historic Black neighborhood founded by freedmen after the Civil War, Boxtown is one recent example of an old pattern: corporations siting polluting, noisy facilities in Black or poor neighborhoods, which the corporations see as less likely to mount a resistance to their plans. We chronicle this history, finding useful context in the decades-long fight against trash incinerators. We also learn what Memphis is doing to fight back, from citizen journalism to liberation science. Guest voices + context: Dr. Sacoby Wilson : Director of The Health, Environmental, and Economic Justice Lab, and Professor in Global, Environmental and Occupational Health. Focuses on environmental health science, including water quality analysis and air pollution studies, and works closely with community-based organizations, such as those in Memphis. Collaborated with Representative Justin Pearson on work to advocate for Black Communities in the fight against data centers and environmental racism. Andrew Chow…

People in this episode

Guests: Dr. Sacoby Wilson, Andrew Chow, Jennifer Kunze, Brenda Platt

Topics covered

• environmental justice
• data centers
• community activism
• pollution
• racial inequality

Keywords

• data centers
• environmental racism
• Boxtown
• Memphis
• community activism
• pollution
• citizen journalism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Institute for Local Self-Reliance

Places: Boxtown, Memphis, Baltimore

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