Or the candidates, is not just the economy or immigration they are talking about, but the environment is top of mind for most of them. Thats because swing voters named Climate Change as a key issue, one that could win or lose their vote. But while this green revolution might seem new, it has deep roots in places like the far south side of chicago, where our special correspondent joie chen learned the forgotten history of the Environmental Justice movement, and the woman who made it happen. Joie the tears fall hard here, and often. At this streetsmart memorial to all the lives lost, in a poisoned community. Do you think you know most of them . Yeah, i know charles lamb senior, because i knew his son chilly. He was sick. He died of cancer joie the browns. The smiths. The rays. So many more. This is a lot of suffering. This is a lot of suffering. It is. Which makes the more dedicated to fight for change. Joie Cheryl Johnson remembers many names on the wall. She grew up here. You could say she was born into the fight for Environmental Justice. Thats your father. Cheryl right. John johnson. My father, he died in 1969. Soledad you were eight years old. Cheryl and i was eight years old, and he contracted lung cancer. Soledad the story could have ended there, but for johnsons widow, hazel, who began to see an ugly pattern emerge in her otherwise idyllic neighborhood. Cheryl she thought it was the most beautiful place. The yards were immaculate, a lot of flowers. It was considered the garden spot of america. Joie Altgeld Gardens defies a lot of stereotypes about public housing. Built for africanamerican veterans returning from world war ii, its now an oasis on chicagos very far south side. Did you know growing up that you lived in a poisoned environment . Cheryl no. No. I never knew. I never knew until my mother started working on this. Joie by the early 1970s, Hazel Johnson had begun her search for answers. Cheryl every time my mother talked to someone, someone got cancer. And she was like, why so many people in this area got cancer . And from her own personal research, she found out we have 50 documented landfills. 250 leaking underground storage tanks, and over 350 Hazardous Waste sites. Joie johnson called it the toxic donut. Hazardous waste, toxic releases, even superfund sites, one landfill so full its the highest point of land in all of chicago. Altgeld gardens 2000 homes were completely surrounded by poisons. And more cancer than anywhere else in the city. Cheryl right. Our zip code was 60627, which they said had the highest cancer rate than any other area in the city of chicago. Joie armed with the facts, Hazel Johnson set to work building alliances for her community. One early ally was a young outsider who got his start in Altgeld Gardens as a community organizer. Cheryl he said, people like you make me want to go to law school and come back and help. Because he understood the struggles we had to endure. Joie she pressed political leaders for help, and sometimes got it. By the time her former helper had become president obama, Hazel Johnson was already recognized as the mother of Environmental Justice. Did she know that history would that she was such a big deal, that history would remember her as the mother of a movement . Cheryl no. She didnt believe it. She was just doing something about what she cared about. Joie but today, still visible from the 130th street bridge are the very same industries that brought toxins to Altgeld Gardens, and the same doubts, that a new generation of green politicians will be much help. So to hear this green deal. I hope it aint green washing you know because the community thats been negatively impacted, should be the first to be part of these conversations. And we are not part of these conversations. Joie still Cheryl Johnson says , her late mother would have been thrilled to see todays young activists standing up against environmental racism and social injustice, and having faith that they are putting down roots for a fairer future. For matter of fact, im joie chen, in chicago. Next on matter of fact. What i liken it to is urban acupuncture. Soledad urban acupuncture. Literally. What happens when farming meets carpentry on a neglected street . Were bringing people together to design the rebirth of the neighborhood. Will it work . Plus, the land of lincoln legalizes marijuana, but one chronic problem remains. When we were looking for a roommate, he wanted someone super quiet. Yeah, and he wanted someone to help out with chores. So, we got jeanpierre. But one thing we could both agree on was getting geico to help with renters insurance. Yeah, geico did make it easy to switch and save. Oh no. Theres a wall there now. Thats too bad. Visit geico. Com and see how easy saving on renters insurance can be. Soledad theres a new generation working to redesign urban communities like chicagos south and west sides. They include emmanuel pratt. He studied architecture and urban design at cornell and columbia universities. Now, he uses his expertise to turn areas once neglected into vibrant and thriving communities. Hes the cofounder and executive director of the Sweet Water Foundation and hes literally growing better neighborhoods. Emanuel, thanks for for having us in your home basically. Emmanuel thank you for being here. Soledad you bet. Describe for me what happens here, and by here, i mean all the blocks that you oversee. Emmanuel its the rebirth of a neighborhood. Our tagline is there grows the neighborhood and we put that for a reason, right. Soledad it is on your tshirt. Emmanuel so we have a mixed bag of agriculture. So gardening farming meets carpentry, the basics of measurements and tape measures, and how to use those drills and saws. Were all together very intergenerational, bringing people together to design the rebirth of the neighborhood. So we hand raised the thought barn as a barn raising in 2017. Soledad its beautiful. Emmanuel we got 17,000 pounds, a douglas fir that we came together as a community to be the first piece of architecture. Hand raised as a pavilion. Soledad its beautiful. Emmanuel and weve got, of course, we had to put a barn door together with a star. Soledad i think it would be very easy to kind of come here and think, basically, youre doing a garden, right . I mean, im not much of a gardener but i see kale and broccoli. Emmanuel and chard and carrots. Yeah, collard greens. Yeah. But you know how Many Community farmers are in any city . We have urban farms. But if the farms are not actually tied towards education and the housing and the critical needs of housing that actually that neighborhood needs, ive got a lot of population that we work with that are unemployed, underemployed overpoliced, you , know, all of this undereducated cause, the closure of school systems. But if you tie in housing and education to the farm and the gardening, then you have a Neighborhood Development plan. So ours is a regenerative Neighborhood Development strategy. Soledad so whats this down here . Emmanuel so you know where the sidewalk was not finished, we built a public bench in the seating area where we have our farmers markets every friday, fresh food fridays. Weve got , isgat open to the public . We like we dont have no fence there. Come get it. Soledad anybody in the neighborhood can just come and grab whatever. Yeah, absolutely. Why not . We deserve good food. Humanity deserves it. We have carpentry in the alleyways where we have our apprentices that are learning how to do, build the garden beds, build the furniture for outdoor public seating as an entry way to figure out how to rehabilitate a house. Soledad how many apprentices do you have . Emmanuel currently this round i , think we have 15 at this set. Soledad whats the think do house . Emmanuel so this was a foreclosed property, was abandoned property that the city took over and we decided to turn into a community school. So think it. Do it. Mix it. Share it. Bring somebody. Bring somebody and share the story. And then you meet somebody like mama betty. Soledad hey, how you doing, mama. Emmanuel how you doing, angela. Soledad how are you . Im soledad. Nice to meet you. Hi. Emmanuel give me some. What are you making . Oh, im doing stir fry kale. Soledad so youll make snacks for the kids. I mean, i call them kids, but theyre young adults. Yes. I make healthy snacks for them. I mean, dinner, too, right . Soledad yes. I do from time as much as a five course meal. Soledad what time we eating . I wanna make sure im ready, soon i can hook you up, girl. Emmanuel so, you know, this is a full transformation. Soledad its beautiful. Emmanuel it is actually deep healing. Devontay, who is one of the peer mentors with the carpentry and woodworking, you know, hes taking a lead role with education. Hes also transformed himself. He did the dining room table, another piece, but he also lives right upstairs. Soledad hey, devantay, its a nice size bedroom. Yes, it is pretty decent. I like it a lot. Emmanuel he helped build it, literally. Soledad describe for me what it was like when it when you first started. To work on this house . Soledad yeah. Because the pictures are crazy. I dont know if its words to describe what i think when i look at it. I mean, i get a sense of accomplishment every time i walk through that door. Soledad people seem to think people who live in poverty dont deserve beauty. Emmanuel this is architecture in this neighborhood. Were so conditioned to think that its not supposed to be here which is insane. Soledad do you ever feel like youre pushing a boulder up a massive mountain . I mean this is, its just a big ask to even just get people to think differently about a space. Emmanuel it is. But then here we are. Weve been here for five years. You plant the seed, literally, you cultivate it. I feed it. I share it with you and love it brings people together to talk about life and history and then we talk about potential futures. Soledad thanks for talking with me. Emmanuel thank you so much. Soledad congratulations on all youve done. Emmanuel thank you. Were just getting started. Housing is on the way. When we come back, the mayor of chicago is taking on President Trump with a secret weapon. The census . Plus soledad why worry about getting your conviction expunged . I just want to have all rights restored for me. Illinois legalizes marijuana. But what happens to the thousands of people with previous pot convictions . Soledad in june, illinois become the just the 11th state to legalize marijuana. But they went one step further. Beginning in january, illinois will become the first state to allow the possession and sale of marijuana, creating a new system of taxes and regulations. Cities and counties can prohibit sales within their borders but not possession. Marijuana is still illegal at the federal level, and states are now trying to reckon with the war on drugs, which disproportionately affected people of color, particularly black men. The law in illinois includes provisions to wipe out lower level cannabis convictions and arrests. Darius ballinger runs the mentoring nonprofit called chasing 23. Hes hoping to get a clean record under the new law. Darius, thanks for joining me. Darius thanks for having. Soledad so take me back to 2009 which is when you were convicted of a felony. What happened . Darius yeah. So i am at the time, i was a high school dropout, really just finding my way in life, really misguided and on my way. Coming back from Southern Illinois back to chicago, i was stopped in a routine traffic stop, and at the time, was arrested for possession of cannabis. Soledad how much of the drugs . Darius was close to a pound of marijuana. Soledad and that meant that you were convicted and went off to jail. Darius yeah, i was convicted and sent to jail in ephram county. I sat there for about 45 days and then two years of probation. Soledad what did you do next . Darius and so at this time, i violated my probation and felt like i was gonna go to prison and felt like, you know, all hope was lost. Soledad what was the charge second charge for . Darius the second charge that i picked up was for forgery, was for prescriptions, and so kind of after that arrest and after that time being incarcerated, i had a son, i had a family that i wanted to be for and provide for and be out in the world for. So i was released in 2013. I went to Community College for my ged, earned my associates degree, got involved on campus, became student body president , and kind of the story has been written since. Soledad people would say, well, what a great example of a guy who made it in spite of having a conviction. Soledad what made it hard . Darius recidivism is extremely high. When you look at the criminal Justice System for most offenders, within its first three years of their sentence theyre more likely to pick up a , new arrest or violate their probation. It is a challenge because a lot of folks dont make it out of the criminal Justice System. You have things like probation, court fees, fines, just lack of support that folks dont have coming out of criminal Justice System to really insert themselves in society and do the right thing. Soledad did having a felony conviction hamper any chance you had of getting a good b . Darius yeah, i mean, it was it was my first barrier to employment. Right out of incarceration in college and even when i was, you know, establishing myself through my resume professionally , through my experiences, through my associations, and just to this new identity that the felony conviction was still there. So, you know, even though i had a phenomenal resume on paper, the conviction was still a challenge for most employers, and so i spent from 2010 and 2016, i really struggled to just secure employment until i found myself in the nonprofit sector, really being able to use my my background as an experience, where folks saw that as an added value to do the work that i was doing. Soledad what does chasing 23 do, your nonprofit . Darius yes. We are a Mentor Organization supporting boys, young men of color, and really just create a space for them to be, thrive, and grow. To just know that they could be more than entertainers, be more than inmates, right. That they can be whatever they aspire to be. So its really about chasing your greatest, is really about showing up and being phenomenal in any area of your life. Soledad why worry about getting your conviction expunged . Darius yeah. Soledad youve gone on with your life. Darius yeah. Soledad youve got your college degree, you run a nonprofit. Its successful. Darius yeah. Soledad why does it matter . Darius for a few things, i think. So, for me, i look at change that i want to make in a world at a micro and on a macro level. I think at a micro level, i want to be able to redefine myself in a narrative thats very affirming and very redemptive. And i dont just i dont want to be a bar to anything. If i want to look up and run for mayor of chicago, i dont want this felony conviction from 10 years ago or 20 years ago to prohibit me from doing that. And so at a micro level, i just want to have all rights restored for me, from everything from voting to, you know, opportunities to grow. But at a macro level, just to shape the narrative and let folks know that we arent one person, about one mistake, but we are one person with a bunch of different experiences. Soledad darius bellinger, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it. Darius awesome. Thank you for having me. Coming up next, counting on chicago in 2020. The target of the trump administrations daily deluge to try to push them into the shadows. Is the census the next Breakout Campaign issue in 2020 . You know when you go to ross for a few gifts and realize. Oh yeah you shouldve gotten a cart . Thats yes for less. Get gifts for everyone on your list and save 20 to 60 percent off Department Store prices. At ross. Yes for less. And youre not sure wholl be more excited. You. Oh, yeah. Or them . Ahhhhhh thats yes for less. Be a rock star this season and save big on gifts theyre gonna love. At ross. Yes for less. Soledad now to a weekly feature we like to call were paying attention even if youre too busy. Illinois will spend more than 30 million on 2020 census outreach. Most of the money is coming from the state. But the city of chicago and cook county will each set aside roughly 2 million to help count its population. 10 years ago, chicago had a census Response Rate of 66 . That was among the worst participation levels of major cities in the country. Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot wants to raise the Participation Rate to 75 . Chicago has a population of nearly 2. 7 million, and the u. S. Census considers roughly half of the citys population hard to count. Hardtocount populations include those that are hard to interview because of language barriers, low literacy, lack of internet access, homelessness, or shifting living situations or maybe suspicion of the government. Fears over immigration crackdowns have heightened some concern among immigrants and their families. The census, of course helps , determine the number of seats each state has in the u. S. House of representatives. Grant funding for programs like medicaid, head start, snap, section 8, title one, and special education grants depends on census data. When we return, chicago bumps off the big apple to take top honors in a prestigious new poll. Im really into this car, but how do i know if im getting a good deal . I tell truecar my zip and which car i want and truecar shows the range of prices people in my area actually paid for the same car so i know if im getting a great price. This is how car buying was always meant to be. This is truecar. The calming scent of lavender by downy infusions calm. Laundry isnt done until its done with downy. Soledad finally chicago is , known as the second city, but not when it comes to the best big cities in america. At least thats according to a new survey from condenast. They asked people to pick their favorite big city. A record 600,000 people responded, putting chicago ahead of minneapolis, boston, and new york. What . Its the Third Straight year chicago has come out on top. The travel magazine said chicago is a world class city with beautiful architecture, museums, and of course, great food. And its not just about the deepdish pizza. Chicago is considered a food mecca with 25 prestigious michelinstarred restaurants. Readers also raved about the friendliness of the people here. And after our visit, we have to agree. Thats it for this edition of matter of fact from chicago. Well see you back next week from washington, d. C. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] the van gogh. To harrison, the wine collection. To craig, this rock. I leave these things to my heirs, all 39 million of you, on one condition. That you do everything to preserve and protect them. With love, california. Im robert handa, your host for our show here robert handa hello, Asian Pacific america. On nbc bay area and cozi tv. Today, an iconic Film Festival and an iconic local leader. Its time for the Silicon Valley Asian Pacific Film Festival, celebrating its fifth year of showcasing a wide variety of Asian American and Pacific Islander films, fulfilling its mission to connect and inspire communities through stories. One of the festival organizers and one of the featured filmmakers will join us today. And a local leader weve wanted to have on the show for quite some time, Assembly Member ash kalra will be with us today. He is the first indianamerican to serve in the california legislature, but before that, he was a deputy public defender, San Jose Council member, and throughout it all a dedicated community activist. Well talk to him about his life and get his insights on what is
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