Righting and “Writing” Wrongs: A Postmortem on a Decade of Environmental Justice Activism in Corpus Christi,Texas

Abstract

Abstract

For over a decade, both as academics and activists, we have observed and participated as various attempts have been made to protect the Environmental Justice communities surrounded by heavy industry in Corpus Christi, Texas. We have been fortunate to participate in a wide range of actions that have been undertaken in an effort to protect the health and welfare of the people residing in these communities. We place these efforts into the broad categories of: (1) organizing locally to bring awareness, (2) marshalling scientific evidence, (3) engaging in legal action, and (4) raising funds for a buyout. The article has two primary goals. The first goal was to demonstrate how these efforts worked in practice and whether they were successful. The second goal was to provide guideposts for other academics and activists who would like to utilize their skills to undertake similar efforts in their own communities.