Today, a hunger strike on Chicago’s Southeast side has passed the one month mark, as organizers continue to gain city-wide momentum in protest against the proposed relocation of the General Iron metal scrapping plant. Alderman Byron Sigcho Lopez of Chicago’s 25th Ward is the latest notable addition to the hunger strike in this effort to cease construction and stop the opening.
The move is being criticized primarily for changing locations from the predominantly affluent, white neighborhood of Lincoln Park to the majority working class, Latino and Black community of the Southeast Side and South Deering. Residents of both communities have raised concerns about health risks due to air pollution generated by the plant and have urged Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration to deny the final permits needed to complete the Reserve Management Group’s rebranded “Southside Recycling'' plant.
In a press conference reported on by Block Club Chicago, Southeast side resident Yesenia Chavez, expressed how concern for her family and community prompted her to join the hunger strike in early February.
“Many times, anti-Black, racist and classist policy is implemented in [working-class] neighborhoods like the 10th Ward because our families simply are trying to survive on a day-to-day basis,” Chavez said. “They don’t have the time to organize … . I’m holding myself accountable as someone that’s educated and can be a vessel of change for my community.”
While the Mayor’s Office has not shared their intention to adhere to the protestors’ request, they have stalled on any decision until the EPA wraps up its review of the state’s permit process to determine if state actions violated the civil rights of Southeast side residents.
This controversy has even been raised to federal courts with claims of civil rights violations. In fall of 2020, the Department of Housing and Urban Development referred US prosecutors at the Justice Department to investigate Chicago’s zoning and land use practices due to the likelihood the city was in violation of the U.S. Fair Housing Act.
Around the same time, a pair of Southeast Side Pastors filed a lawsuit in a Chicago District Federal Court to stop the city from permitting under allegations that environmental racism, money, and clout influenced the decision for General Iron’s operations to move.
The link between underserved, minority communities and environmental injustice is nothing new. Hop Hopkins, Director of Strategic Partnerships for the Sierra Club, recently wrote about the connection between institutional racism and climate change in an article for Sierra Magazine:
“All I know is that if climate change and environmental injustice are the result of a society that values some lives and not others, then none of us are safe from pollution until all of us are safe from pollution. Dirty air doesn’t stop at the county line, and carbon pollution doesn’t respect national borders. As long as we keep letting the polluters sacrifice Black and brown communities, we can’t protect our shared global climate.”
Sierra Club’s Illinois Chapter is in solidarity with the residents of the 10th Ward and those city-wide protesting General Iron’s relocation to a neighborhood that is already overburdened with industrial pollution. We call on Mayor Lightfoot to deny General Iron’s permit. This move is deeply unethical as this community already suffers from the highest rates of asthma in the city, and have been the first to suffer the dire consequences of COVID-19. Adding another major polluter to a working class, minority neighborhood would only exacerbate existing health problems during a global respiratory pandemic.
What you can do:
1) Chicago Residents can sign a petition urging Lightfoot’s administration to deny the permit here.
2) Support the hunger strikers financially by donating to this GoFundMe.
3) Chicago residents can call the Mayor’s office at 311. When someone picks up, say you’d like to leave a message for the Mayor’s Office. You can say “I’m calling in support of the hunger strikers on the Southeast Side of Chicago. Some of them have been fasting for more than a month. I’m asking Mayor Lightfoot to deny the permit to General Iron.”
4) Follow news about ongoing solidarity events on social media by following @chihungerstrike on Twitter and Instagram and the hashtags #DenyThePermit and #StopGeneralIron.
This blog post was written by Sarah Ray, a marketing professional based in Chicago. She has been a member of the Sierra Club Illinois Chapter Communications Team for the past year and a passionate advocate for environmental justice and protection of public lands for all.