Haunt candidates in 2020. Soledad im soledad obrien. Welcome to matter of fact. On tuesday, four more states have their say at the polls. Arizona, illinois, ohio, and florida all have president ial primaries. One platform democratic hopefuls agreed on Environmental Justice. Swing voters named Climate Change as a key issue, one that could win or lose their vote. While this green revolution might seem new, it has deep roots in places like the far south side of chicago. During our listening tour last fall, our special correspondent joie chen learned the forgotten history of the Environmental Justice movement, and one woman who made it happen. Joie the tears fall hard here, and often, at this streetside memorial to all the lives lost in a poisoned community. Do you think you know most of them . Cheryl 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 sufering. Cheryl this is a lot of suffering. Yes, it is. But it made me want to fight more dedicated to the fight for change. Joie Cheryl Johnson remembers many names on the wall. You could say she was born into the fight for Environmental Justice. Thats your father. Cheryl right, correct. John johnson. My father, he died in 1969. Joie you were 8 years old. Cheryl and i was eight years old, and he contracted lung cancer. Joie 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 yarns are kept immaculate. There are 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 more than 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 remember her as the mother of a movement . Did she know she was such a big deal . Cheryl no, she didnt believe it. She was just doing something because of what she cared about. Joie but today, still visible from the 130th street bridge, are the same industries that brought toxins to Altgeld Gardens and the same doubts that a new generation of green politicians will be much help. Cheryl so to hear this green deal, i hope it aint greenwashing, 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. In chicago, im joie chen for matter of fact. Announcer next on matter of fact davante our poor students are truly subsidizing not only higher education, but very much affluent students in this state. Announcer plus, how did lowincome College Students get shut out of programs designed to help them pay for school . Plus, do you see is known for its monuments and museums but what about its farms . And, disconnecting from the past, new york removes some iconic features from its sidewalks. Iconic features from its sidewalks. 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Before a senior official in charge of Student Loans for the Trump Administration resigned last year, he called for sweeping Debt Forgiveness in his announcement. His proposal contradicts the position of education secretary betsy devos, who has called student loan forgiveness proposals crazy. Some states have tried to nip the problem in the bud by offering to send some students to school tuitionfree. But an analysis by the Hechinger Report, which investigates education inequality, found in many states, poor students who are eligible for Financial Aid never get it. Matter of fact partnered with the Hechinger Report to look at why thats happening at one louisiana university. Rodney and i think we will get this on top. Soledad movein day at Nicholls State University in thibodaux, louisiana. Sophomore rodney woods is excited to get back to his studies. Rodney when i walked into the art department, it just, like i instantly fell in love. I seen cameras. I seen art. I was like, yes, this is where i was supposed to be. Everywhere i go, i have my camera. Everybody knows me as, you know, the dude that walk around with the camera all day. Soledad the hard part paying for college. The annual cost of tuition, fees, and housing at nicholls state is about 18,500. About 21,000. Rodneys entire Family Income is just 10,000. Has there been a big financial burden for you to go to school here . Rodney yes, there have been. Soledad rodney estimates hell owe between 25,000 and 50,000 in loans by the time he graduates. Rodney we had money, but we didnt have, like, College Expense money. So its like we have money like were basically living check from check. Ethan we do have peltier hall right here. This is kind of my home, as i like to call it. Soledad ethan henry is a sophomore from houma, louisiana. Hes studying english and business. Ethan what am i getting out of nicholls . Im getting an amazing experience. I love it. It is amazing. So yeah, its home to me. Soledad solidly middle class, ethan is going to school tuitionfree, thanks to the state of louisiana. So you have a t. O. P. S. Scholarship . Ethan yes, maam, i do. Ethan it helps to have help. My parents have paid for my education my whole life. This is the first time. Soledad ethan goes to school on a t. O. P. S. Scholarship, a state program that paid tuition for 50,000 Louisiana Students last year. Although t. O. P. S. Started as a private program for underprivileged students, the state took it over in 1997, and dropped the requirement that students show financial need. The result 42 of t. O. P. S. Recipients now come from families with sixfigure incomes, and 74 are white in a state where 43 of Public High School students are black. Longtime senator dan morrish chairs the States Education committee. 42 of t. O. P. S. Grants go to people whose parents make over 100,000. 100,000 in the state is seriously good money. Sen. Morrish its very good money. Soledad so youre giving a really good scholarship to people who are welloff. Sen. Morrish it has become a middleclass entitlement program. And it has become extremely political, especially in changing it. I have constituents who tell me, you know its the only thing i get from government. Soledad the meritbased system works like this. Any louisiana student with a 2. 5 high school gpa and a minimum score of 20 on the a. C. T. , the College Entrance exam, gets a full tuition t. O. P. S. Scholarship, regardless of their ability to pay. Davante lewis, with the louisiana budget project, says many poor black students have the right grades, but they have trouble getting high scores on the a. C. T. Because they go to some of the states weakest schools, which offer little or no test prep. Davante the a. C. T. , as we know nationally, is a barrier to black and brown students. Average a. C. T. Score for a black student is around 17. So they are below the bare minimum. Soledad louisianas white students score an average of 21 on the a. C. T. , good enough for a t. O. P. S. Scholarship. Ethan henry did even better, 29, to compliment his gpa of 3. 8. Ethan my high school, we would go through different strategies to take the test. The class that i had, it was a teacher whod actually made a 35 on her a. C. T. She knew the a. C. T. Forwards and backwards. She helped me improve my science score from like a 25 to a 30. It was amazing. Soledad rodney woods had a 4. 0 gpa, but received virtually no test prep for the a. C. T. Rodney certain questions on there, we didnt learn at all. Soledad he scored 18, two points shy of having his tuition paid for. Rodney i struggled with the math part. I was like, i dont remember this from class. Like, you know, i didnt do this. Ethan my heart goes out all those kids. I definitely had an advantage. That is something i realize every single day. Soledad t. O. P. S. Funding has roughly doubled in the last 10 years, to 300 million, while support for universities in luisiana has fallen by nearly a billion dollars. The result . Tuition is twice as high as it was 10 years ago, rising for students who are the least able to pay. Davante so, our poor students and our lowincome students have taken a significant hit, and are truly subsidizing not only higher education, but very much affluent students in this state. Announcer when we come back, could your u. S. Citizenship get revoked . Plus gail my living room has had a thousand pounds of potatoes in it at some point this year. Announcer meet the woman changing the face of farming. Why she says her urban farm is about much more than just food. And whens the last time you actually used a pay phone . Soledad yes, those things still exist. Announcer but for how much long soledad right now, there are more than 23 million americans living in what are known as food deserts. These are areas that are more than 10 miles from a supermarket, where many of the residents are living in poverty and have limited transportation options. It makes finding fresh fruits, vegetables, and healthy, affordable food difficult. Washington, d. C. Is one area struggling with food insecurity. More than 11 of the city is considered a food desert. But Community Organizers are trying to change that, one small urban farm at a time. Gail when you take a group of Elementary Students in this country and you ask them to close their eyes and visualize what a farmer is, it doesnt look like me. [laughter] soledad and so gail taylor went on a mission to change that perception, creating this space, the three Part Harmony Farm, right in the heart of washington, d. C. Gail we are basically like a greens and roots and earth and and herbs and flower farm. Soledad here, gail and her partners, john and cristina, along with trainees and volunteers , work six days a week to cultivate the land, then distribute the produce to a local communitysupported agriculture program, or csa. Gail our csa is different because its urban. So there arent many farms that can say that their lettuce is being harvested within a bike ride of where like 95 of their customers live. Soledad gail says its also different because it partners with other farms to bring its members a wider range of products. Those farms are carefully chosen. Gail none of the contributing farms to our csa are owned by majority cisgender white men. One of the things thats hard for farmers of color is to have access to land is a huge thing. But access to markets is a really big thing. I washed them, but i have not finished rinsing this one out. Soledad it hasnt been easy. Gails quest began in 2011. A trained farmer, and a former policy advocate, she found this plot of land. Gail its a twoacre parcel of land thats been owned for over 100 years by an order of priests, the missionary outlets of mary immaculate, and i approached them about starting a Vegetable Farm on their property. We will start with ms. Taylor. Gail we all have a role to play to implement positive environmental changes in the state. Soledad together with church representatives, law students, and a local council member, she drafted a bill that encouraged people to lease their land to farmers in exchange for tax benefits. The legislation now known as the d. C. Farm bill passed in 2014, and the three Part Harmony Farm was born although farming in the city hasnt been without challenges, including a lack of space. Gail sometimes, theres overflow. My living room has had a thousand pounds of potatoes in it at some point this year. Like, all the winter squash that weve had, i get 300 pieces every week, so 250 of them end up in my living room. Thank you. This is all set. I did exactly what you said. Soledad to keep the quality on point, the vegetables are distributed on the same day theyre harvested which means gail and her team have to work quickly. The tables are laid out, and the members have started arriving. Some are here purely for the vegetables. Theyve convinced me to try these radishes. And have given me a really easy way. Soledad others, with a deeper purpose. Black Women Farmers are a dying population. Having land that you can actually grow on in the black community is now down to less than 2 in the nation. So for all the reasons, its important. Soledad as the market wraps up, the day winds down. Its been 13 hours of nonstop work for gail and the team, but one with a simple reward. Gail my dream is for myself and my staff just to wake up and to be able to do this, and only to grow food from people we care about, to nourish our neighbors, and have that be enough. Announcer coming up next, is the u. S. Cutting down on Legal Immigration . Soledad the Justice Department now has an office dedicated to denaturalizing citizens. Announcer plus, nostalgia or a nuisance . Why one American City plans to say goodbye to a piece of history. Soledad now to a weekly feature we like to call were paying attention even if youre too busy. The Justice Department now has an office dedicated to denaturalizing citizens. Naturalization is when a person gets citizenship or nationality through a statute or an approved application. There are about 20 million naturalized citizens living in the u. S. Like my mom and dad. My mom was originally from cuba, dad originally from australia. Justice Department Officials say the new division will, quote, bring justice to terrorists, war criminals, and other fraudsters who illegally obtained naturalization. Immigration lawyers say they fear denaturalization lawsuits could be used against immigrants who have not committed serious crimes. Under president barack obama, the Justice Department pursued denaturalization cases, but theyve ramped up under the Trump Administration. Since 2008, about 228 cases were filed. About 40 of them were filed since 2017. Announcer when we return, the long goodbye. Soledad new york city has about 3,000 pay phones. And get this four of those are big, private pay phone booths announcer those pay phones may disappear, but what does the future hold for those phonebooths . Still fresh. Unstopables inwash scent booster downy unstopables doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Breathe freely fast, with vicks sinex. My congestions gone. I can breathe again ahhhh i can breathe again ughh vicks sinex. Breathe on. Disconnecting from the past. New york city plans to remove most of its pay phones from the citys streets. Yes, those things still exist in the age of the smartphone. New york city has about 3,000 pay phones. And get this four of those are big, private pay phone booths you know, where clark kent transformed into superman. City leaders say the old pay phones take up muchneeded sidewalk space. In the first phase of what some are calling the long goodbye, 30 pay phones will be removed from Hells Kitchen this