BLAC In Appalachia
with Bishop Marcia Dinkins
by Michael McKenzie
Bishop Marcia Dinkins. Photograph by Jon Cherry.
Bishop Marcia Dinkins is the Founder of Black Appalachian Coalition (BLAC). Her motivation to form BLAC was driven by the need to represent Black Appalachians in a decolonized way. In Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, African Americans face a range of Environmental Justice issues that stem from historical and ongoing challenges related to political, economic, and environmental injustices.
The region’s coal mining and petrochemical industries have had a significant impact on Black communities in Appalachia. Additionally, according to the EPA, The Chemours Louisville Works plant in Kentucky is the nation’s largest emitter of the climate super-pollutant hydrofluorocarbon-23 (HFC-23), which is 12,400 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.
Here are some key environmental issues faced by African Americans in Appalachia:
1. Coal Mining and Environmental Degradation:
African American communities in Appalachia have been disproportionately affected by the environmental degradation caused by coal mining activities. Mining operations have led to deforestation, water pollution, air pollution, and land destruction, impacting the health and well-being of residents.
2. Health Impacts:
The proximity of African American communities to coal mines and petrochemical hazards such as Rubbertown in Louisville has resulted in increased health risks due to exposure to pollutants such as coal dust, heavy metals, and toxic chemicals. Respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, and other health issues are prevalent among residents living near mining sites.
3. Economic Disparities:
African American communities in Appalachia often face economic disparities exacerbated by the decline of the coal industry. Job losses in mining have led to unemployment and poverty in these communities, limiting access to healthcare, education, and other essential services.
4. Lack of Representation:
Historically, Black voices and perspectives have been marginalized in decision-making processes related to environmental policies and regulations in Appalachia. This lack of representation hinders efforts to address the specific environmental concerns of African American communities.
5. Limited Access to Resources:
Black communities in rural Appalachia may experience limited access to resources such as clean water, healthcare facilities, and educational opportunities. These disparities contribute to a cycle of environmental injustice that disproportionately affects African Americans.
I sat down with Bishop Marcia Dinkins to discuss the BLAC Appalachia Coalition, policy paradoxes, and the power of narrative.
Why does Black Appalachia Coalition exist?
To amplify the voices of Black people along the Ohio River Valley for racial equity and for just equity. To shift the story, we must be in the story. Another part of our mission is to articulate us [Black people]. And to remind people that our roots run deep.
What groups are part of the BLAC Appalachia collective?
The collective is comprised of various groups that we partner with in the Ohio River Valley region. The strength of BLAC is that we're able to connect and create a tapestry and a thread that we're braiding together the humanity of Black people across the Ohio River Valley to not only elevate their stories, but to tackle the issues [in environmental racism]. And that's where our strength is because we believe that he who holds the story is the one who holds the power. And I believe our relationships within the collective is about shifting that power. We are becoming the power brokers because we are owning the story and telling the story the way that it needs to be told.
What is the BLAC Policy Summit?
The Black Policy Summit exists to teach us to train us, to transform our way of thinking, to understand the language of policy. It will be held at Simmons College in Louisville, Kentucky on July 19–21, 2024. This is our third BLAC Policy Summit.
Why did you feel a BLAC Policy Summit was needed?
The BLAC Policy Summit started with a struggle that I was having. I had taken a [doctoral] class …where we were studying from the book “Policy Paradox.” And I just got angry to a point where it brought me to tears because what I realized is there are so many things that has been done to us [Black People] that we do not know about. When I took the Policy Paradox course, it made me realize that we really don't know policy. We don't know the policy language. We don't know how policies are formed. We don't know how policies have been used against us.
Bishop Marcia Dinkins. Photo by Jon Cherry for Counterstream.
“And so, I realized that for policies to change, we must begin to articulate ourselves. But do we know the language? I remember saying to my professor thank you for giving me a double-edged sword, but both sides of the blades are dull.”
[It was a double-edge sword] because it [the Policy Paradox] doesn't do anything for Black people and doesn't do anything for brown people. Instead, policies were consistently repurposing a white supremacist story.
This experience made me think about how I engage and how I build my people up. They always talk about our pain. They highlight our wounds, but they never talk about our wellness. They never talk about our resistance.
The theme of this year’s BLAC Policy Summit is: Black Healing, Justice, Convergence and Resurgence. The convergence speaks to the bodies of water. We have the smaller bodies of water that then converge with a tributary to become a bigger part of water, which then makes it stronger. It means that we are reconstituting ourselves and we're coming up. And then the resurgence is because we have done those things, healed and gotten the justice in the ways that we needed, in the way that we see the power linking together by us converging together — then we become this resurgence.
We understand that to do this work we have to heal for change and we must use healing as a form of our own justice. We have to use healing as a form of our own justice transformation and liberation. And then justice is about defining it on our own terms, a definition around justice but that really wasn't a definition around justice and so it's always left us out. And you know the reason why we adopted this theme is because we understand that healing, justice, convergence, and resurgence means a rebirth. This rebirthing of who we are and what it is we're going to do.
Learn more: blackappalachiancoalition.org