Far South Side schools, organizations mobilize for Earth Day

After her brother died of asthma in 2009, Jermica Davis said she was drawn to environmental justice work. This year, she spent her Earth Day collecting trash around Altgeld Gardens, the public housing community where she and her brother grew up.

“When he passed away, it sparked something in me,” she says. “Working in the community and actually seeing how the environment can influence the community is so important.”

Schools and environmental groups on the Far South Side mobilized for the holiday Monday, organizing trash collections and cleanups. Davis was joined by more than 50 volunteers collecting trash on Hazel Johnson EJ Way in the Riverdale neighborhood, while more than 100 students gathered in neighboring Roseland, working on 111th Street.

Adella Bass-Lawson, a health care organizer with People for Community Recovery, helped organize the cleanup against Hazel Johnson. She said the location was a no-brainer for the organization, founded by the road’s namesake in 1979.

The group aims to address environmental issues and tenant rights in the Far South Side, but it started in Altgeld Gardens. So there was no better place to organize, she said.

“Our organizer and founder wanted to make this community a great place to live,” Bass-Lawson said. “This is so important for everyone who has a future here. We want to make sure we give love back to the community and the earth by cleaning up.”

Jasmine Raye, another organizer, said People for Community Recovery is often focused on the big picture when it comes to environmental justice. The group is working on a program to bring solar energy to homes and another that will involve the community in plans for the Red Line extension in Chicago.

Still, she believes it is important to get started on days like Earth Day.

“You want to feel good about where you live now,” Raye said. “If you have a clean place to step outside, you are proud of where you are. Not to mention that if it’s dirty, if it’s polluted outside, it will affect your overall health. So why not make the small gesture of picking up these items?

The group partnered with nearby Aldridge Elementary School and recruited students to help clean the road. Involving students in environmental work is crucial, said Jamira Owokonira, another member of People for Community Recovery.

“They need to learn how to care for their community and then pass it on to the next generation,” Owokonira said. “We can’t rely on the city to clean up our neighborhoods, so we need to teach the future to get involved at an early age.”

Just a few miles away, students and teachers from Chicago Excel Academy of Roseland hosted students from partner schools in South Shore and Chicago Lawn to clean up their neighborhood.

The school plans to host the annual cleanup in honor of Joyce Chapman, commissioner of the Chicago Board of Education and member of the Far South Community Action Council of Chicago Public Schools.

Diana Banaras, teacher at Excel, agrees that it is important for students to participate in clean-up activities.

“It is important that future generations see this,” Banaras said. “One day they will have children, and we want to be the example. These are some of their communities. It’s important for them to understand and see, ‘Hey, I can clean that up.’

Excel senior Natalie Banks is involved in student government and helped organize the cleanup. She said they were looking for ways to help the community, and Earth Day seemed like the perfect opportunity.

“I want this to be a reminder to people that you can help your community,” Banks said. “I don’t see many cleanups in the neighborhood where I live, and I want people to know that we are just as important as any other neighborhood. Cleaner sidewalks lead to a healthier environment.”