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With a Sling and a Stone:
Advocates for Environmental Human Rights

“I think one of the clear messages and lessons that came out of the disaster with Hurricane Katrina is that in neighborhoods where the right to a healthy environment is not ensured, you can die,” says Monique Harden, co-director of Advocates for Environmental Human Rights, a New Orleans-based public interest law firm that’s dedicated to advancing and defending the human right to a healthy environment. Like other organizations working to advance opportunity in America, AEHR believes individuals deserve a chance to reach their full potential. The opportunity to live in a safe environment free of toxins shouldn’t be in question in America, but it is in some communities. Operating under the belief that “everyone has the human right to a healthy environment,” the organization works within affected

communities on strategic public advocacy campaigns, education and training, and litigation to guarantee this basic human right. That work now includes demanding that the government help Louisiana residents to return to safe and non-toxic neighborhoods in the wake of the hurricane, AEHR has worked with communities throughout the state to fight for environmental human rights.

Opportunity Gained and Lost

In Louisiana’s Chemical Corridor, often called “Cancer Alley,” millions of pounds of pollutants are released into the air, land, and water each year. The area’s residents are mostly people of color, specifically African Americans, and high rates of cancer, asthma and other illnesses plague those living in close proximity to the area’s refineries and power plants. “Originally it was the place where, for the first time, African Americans could really have a bite at the American dream,” says Harden. “They saw it as nothing but opportunity. First time homeowners, a wonderful subdivision neighborhood to have families and raise children in—a state of the art elementary school! That’s tons of opportunity for economic prosperity and the future of their children.”

For AEHR, understanding the loss of promised opportunity has been just as important as figuring out ways to create new opportunities for residents. Working with community leaders to identify the specific needs of all community members can be slow and difficult. Yet it is necessary to ensure that those directly affected by the toxic conditions have a voice in identifying their own needs and empowering their participation.

“We have a very good reputation of working very well in collaboration and in support of communities,” says Harden. “We recognize that they are in charge of and create their own destiny. And we see ourselves as being able to support their efforts through litigation and public advocacy work.”

AEHR’s commitment to letting communities speak for themselves at townhalls, in the media, and with policymakers demonstrates the importance of promoting “public voice” to ensure real opportunity.

“There’s a reason why there is so much time and effort put into supporting and respecting the self-determination of a community. That’s the only sure way to get to a victory. And then that victory is often not isolated—it also spurs other organizing efforts and mobilization of similarly affected folks.” As Harden said, “Communities were waking up, saying, ‘If they can do it, we can do it. Because we’re dealing with the same problems.’”

Divided, Not Conquered

United by an overarching belief in the core opportunity value of basic security, specifically that no one should be denied access to a basic level of health, AEHR has managed to keep its battles focused on the perpetrators of pollution instead of allowing disagreement to fracture the community. According to Harden, polluting companies try to create discord in order to prove the lack of consensus among community members. This can dampen potential support for advocates’ efforts.

So AEHR counters such divide and conquer techniques by emphasizing the importance of Community in their messaging. It encourages its clients to keep their human rights in mind, rather than focusing their negative attentions on community members who have sided with the polluters. “The people responsible for the pollution in our lives, that’s where we keep our focus,” says Harden, “not turning it on the people supporting polluting companies or governmental entities in our community.”

Community is International

Spearheaded by the residents of Norco, the fight against Shell has reached an international audience, including many people in other countries who are also affected by Shell’s health-threatening practices. Crucial to that strategy has been making the connection between shared national values of opportunity and the system of international human rights that the US helped to create after World War II.

“Not only did residents ultimately win in getting the relocation that they were fighting for over a decade, and pollution reduction facilities that [community members] have the access to monitor … they also have spurred this quest for opportunity in the same way for other Shell-impacted communities around the world,” Harden says, noting that campaigns have taken place in the Philippines; Durban, South Africa; the far east of Russia; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. “There’s now a Shell accountability campaign that came out of that struggle.”

In the American South, where protests have been launched against industries that have polluted the bayou waters so extensively that they can no longer be used for baptisms, the fight against Shell and other companies carries strong echoes of the biblical story of David and Goliath. It’s a simple message, utilizing the basic values of equality, community, and security, and it is a powerful one, standing up for those who are so often denied true opportunity.

As Americans continue to grapple with the lack of opportunity revealed by Hurricane Katrina and strive to rebuild the City of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, AEHR will continue its efforts to advocate for justice in an international context, insist on a voice for community members in the decisions that affect them, and emphasize the community value of shared responsibility. AEHR is striving to build a broader consensus for lasting change.

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