In September 2023, we joined UNC Charlotte’s Atkins Library to discuss the historical and social injustices caused by environmental disturbance in Charlotte.

Our panelists discussed and connected parallels between pollution, displacement and forced migration in Charlotte’s Historically Black Communities, urban renewal, environmental racism of the past and what it means for residents today. You can view the video below.

Meet the Panelists:

Dr. Tina Shull (moderator) Associate Professor and Director of Public History at UNC Charlotte
Tina Shull is a historian of race, migration, climate change, and carceral studies and is the director of Public History at UNC Charlotte. In collaboration with the Charlotte Teachers Institute and UNC Charlotte history students, she is the lead curator of the “Climates of Inequality: Charlotte” exhibit at the Levine Museum and creator of the public history project Climate Refugee Stories. Shull is also the author of Detention Empire: Reagan’s War on Immigrants and the Seeds of Resistance and a 2016 Soros Justice Fellow.

Eboné M. Lockett’s Environmental Justice journey began prenatally through the lineage of her melanated skin and unconsciously resurfaced when she witnessed the collapse of her elementary school friend Sandra who died from an asthma attack just feet away from the playground. It never dawned on her then, that the proximity of the neighborhood playground to the neighborhood landfill (just a bridge between and a couple of blocks away) contributed to Sandra’s asthma and ultimately, to her death. Apart from the landfill, the adjacent freeway and the railroad tracks completed the boxed in design of the residential Bellevue Square Housing “Project” where she spent almost a decade of her childhood years resisting a similar fate.

A published poet since the age of 13, Eboné currently serves as CEO of her creative company Harvesting Humanity, LLC and Board Chair of Rosa Parks Farmers Market. From frontline training to Integrated Arts presentations and exhibits, her efforts have been centrally focused on magnifying, amplifying and co-creating innovative solutions by-and-for, impacted communities. One such way that she is in service to her community is through her company’s Flagship “Solar Sistas Serve” experience which trains young children (especially black girls who are disproportionately underrepresented) in Solar/Clean Energy and other Climate and Environmental Justice Strategic Solutions. 

Angela Walker, PhD, has been an educational professional in both public K-12 and university education for 19 years. Currently, she teaches IB, AP, and Honors English at West Charlotte High School and is an adjunct lecturer in the Antiracist Graduate Certificate Program at UNC Charlotte.

About J. Murrey Atkins Library

As the intellectual heart of UNC Charlotte and the greater Charlotte community, J. Murrey Atkins Library advances teaching, learning, research, innovation, academic success, and collaboration for UNC Charlotte and the greater Charlotte community by connecting people with expertise, information, services, technologies, spaces, and experiences. For more information about J. Murrey Atkins Library, visit http://library.charlotte.edu.

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