Experts, activists, and elected officials are collaborating to promote a healthier environment across east of the Anacostia River, and on March 8 a team of local organizations hosted an open town hall for Ward 7 residents and leaders to discuss ways to address local environmental injustice.
During the event, local environmental activists shared the scope behind their work, particularly as it related to urban agriculture, food insecurity, climate, and housing justice in the District.
D.C. Councilmembers Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), and Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 2) attended, highlighting their commitments to supporting critical legislation aimed to move the needle forward in securing safer homes and a healthier environment.
Allen emphasized the importance of galvanizing community members for initiatives that will bolster health and housing outcomes for residents already facing vast disparities in certain parts of the city.
“We are going to see on the federal side, attacks to try to remove funding, undermine our laws, and scare people. I think we’re going to see a Trump administration that tries to walk away from every commitment we’ve made,” Allen said. “They’re going to try to pick on D.C., because they can and we’re more vulnerable than most, and so we have to be able to stand together and fight for things that we know that are going to be right.”
Other event speakers included: Takiyah Dalton, founder of Soup Farm and Teaching Kitchen; Dennis Chestnut, board Member of the Ward 7 Resilience Hub Community Coalition; Muhsin Boeluther Umar, board president of My Seniors Keeper Foundation; and Oscar Villalobos, coalition coordinator of Green New Deal for DC Coalition.
Amid nationwide concerns about the Trump administration’s handling of environmental challenges and climate change, food insecurity and inequitable housing remain two major disparities for D.C. residents living east of the Anacostia River residents, according to panelists.
“We want to show people in our community that we are literally trying to change the landscape. We better look at what’s going on in the White House,” said Boeluther Umar, while sharing his organization’s agricultural initiatives to help combat food insecurity in D.C. “We have to learn to be self-sustainable, self-sufficient, and understand that we can live off the grid on our own. We have to teach our youth how to do this to give them a better, sustainable way of life.”
