Open Letter to Prince George's County Department of the Environment (DOE) Contaminated Toxins Ha

Don’t let political correctness shut you up. Focus on the Debate, Not The Debator (or: An Argument Is Not A Fight) it is remiss to ignore the Elephant in the Room! “all futures are wrought”, the possibility of liberation for which the systems are oppressive in the face of change will always be painful, since it involves an overhauling. Demonstrate by actions you are invested! By community our service, by our doing in achieving change within community being the wind-changers, not the lobbyists, but community wind-changers as lead with supporting agencies, academicians joining together to knit together a movement that holds politicos accountable?

Though with careful thought in not exercising our 1st amendment right to respond publically in self-censoring not replying to the public listserv being our narrative was taken out of context in addition a position was taken to defend a broken system of political incorporation for which communities of color are being devastated.

(initial emails)

EAC Public Email 01a

EAC Public Email 02a

Our declaration was not about having a debate nor will I deliberate these matters of concerns of and by community by email but rather by demonstrating and facilitating real change within communities; Real Talk, Speak Out! Testify, Lobby, Comment when you see something say something. In your attempt to censor, “Silence is Deemed Approval” when duplicity is seen in the processes.

From your response you have actually missed the true meaning of our narrative. When it comes to the grassroots community and the issues of community within Pg you first have to understand and know the loooooong history within both rims for which you are speaking too employed as part of the problem. Residents in their later migration lack the history of which came before them…(ref; the reality of the Pg suburban political incorporation and a lack of representation in a Black County by our policy-making bodies that is much more tangible). Pg in its own bubble pattern of suburban development is an experiment, one that has never been tried anywhere before. We assume it is the natural order because it is what we do rather than look at what’s around us. But our own history — let alone a tour of other parts of the world — reveals a different reality of our “greatness”, or great again! Maryland was a slave state still having a massa in the face of diversity.

Sometimes ones can actually be too close to a situation having a one directional perspective that one actually wants to defend a position in thinking that your agency or what the agencies facilitate are part of the solution when they “all” are actually part of the bigger superior predicament. The Academicians in support of community is vindication.

Sincere ignorance in speaking of MDE the agency where it’s representative in a very recent 2016 meeting stated to the effect that the EBD/Polite programs are insignificant and since the Cumulative Impacts Committee came to no consensus these agendas where ineffectual in having any value. If you don’t know to some extent the history you can’t recognize what’s in front of you so if you want federal monies follow federal laws just as the “sanitary cities” are to abide by the federal laws.

The documented Fly Coal Ash conversation started in 2009 with DOE yet its being ignored as to the damage to our water systems and to the detriment and health of the many communities whether it’s permitted or not. Since you mention University of MD, you should then know the opinion of Dr. Sacoby and what is permitted does not equate to healthy and is double talk in equity and equality equating to environmental racism.

For this very reason we have an active Title VI and supplementary actions in consideration. As the Fly Coal Ash that surrounds our only community park that the children are playing on. Yet our agencies take a position to reward additional landmass to polluting industries facilitating the continuation in causing disparities in communities of color.

Many documented community emails to this agency has long been ignored being the agencies and the NGO’s that have our agencies ear, or a line item in our County Budget (is it still 4 million dollars?) I’m sure any of the NGO’s whom all have there own superficial agendas or an agenda would grab hold of the chance to be funded to act upon self-interests and not community or the academicians whom support the community with actual data ignored to our Counties detriment.

Having been chosen during Director, Wynkoop, Samuel E. Jr., tenure as one of the initial 2009 Environmental Advisory Leadership Group members due to my grassroots activism in its creation to facilitate transparency and accountability towards change now the EAC as the blogs state a free for all revolving door “ineffective and preposterous”; not having a community agenda, which leads to non-participation by community.

Furthermore, there is a lack of transparency, which does and has not changed for years; therefore community having no trust in our agencies or legislatures. Until you change the focus you will lack community presence. I brought this up months ago, yet there is still a complaint about community participation when you have no real focus on community issues. You don’t act behind closed doors that’s one-sided then say “what do you think?”, after you made a decision… if you want real wellness you access the issues first not after someone gets sick then you fail at the treatment.

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot admit their problems in the processes cannot change anything and then think it's for the greater good of the people is problematic. One community has even been designated a Superfund toxic cleanup site, due to coal ash leaching that contaminated the drinking water, yet DOE fails to collect data in the protection of community health that is there purview pointing at a defunct agency and its permitting system that distribute the resources disparately in communities of color.

Community narratives are central to the grassroots community models and social beliefs and practices that that guide individuals’ decision-making and behavior, and thus narrative is an important tool for bringing about change no matter how painful. Narratives also play an important role in policy processes. There are many well-established theories of policy change that recognize that narrative strategies are important and ever-present aspects of any policy advocacy process.

You are right that “Hard” work and determination is what brings people together but so does answerability. Being proactive in our communities boots on the ground and our NGO campaign “Instead of talking about your neighbor, help thou neighbor”. In “Changing the Wind Toward a Demosprudence”, of social community movements; you can’t change a community by replacing one wet-fingered with another. You change a community when you change the way the wind is blowing, meaning… Politicos walking around with their fingers up in the air. And then they lick their finger and they put it back up and they see which way the wind is blowing. When you change the way the wind is blowing, it’s amazing how quickly Politicos respond.

If an agency is serious about changing what engagement looks like then we will have two-way meaningful participatory engagement taking a real look in the mirror conversations of acceptance of ones own responsibility in a situation good, bad or indifferent and not the defending of a position, before we can get real consequential having an important effect change.

I will close with these Quotes About Resistance:

• “People get used to anything. The less you think about your oppression, the more your tolerance for it grows. After a while, people just think oppression is the normal state of things. But to become free, you have to be acutely aware of being a slave.” ― Assata Shakur, Assata.

• “Where there is power, there is resistance.” ― Michel Foucault.

• “We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Yours Most Sincerely –

Respectfully BTB Coalition