Ms. Belinda Joyner, Concerned Citizens of Northampton County
Right after Hurricane Katrina, there were two men that moved to Durham from New Orleans. One of the men had nowhere to go and every day he would go out and steal different things like baby-things and elderly-people things like diapers. The young man that was with him said his girlfriend used to constantly talk, and he used to tell her, “you know I wish you would be quiet”. After Katrina, he said all she did was cry.
We had a minister that was from Chapel Hill, originally from Enfield. I can’t think of her name because it’s been some years. She did a sermon called “Stretching out on the rock”, and that was when her two sons got killed and she had nowhere to bury them. So she covered the bodies with fabric to try and stop the buzzards from eating them, and she had time to bury them.
We need to stretch out on the rock for our brothers and sisters that are going through rough times, and I believe if we stretch out on the rock and make way for those who are coming behind us it would be a better place for us to be in.
After Katrina, our church dropped off donations to the Franklinton Center, and Ms. Judy was living in the brick house on the property, and she told me about the NCEJN summit. In 25 years of the NCEJN summit, I have only missed two summits– one for a wedding and the one that was held in durham. It’s been a great learning experience, I have met so many wonderful people through the summit from all walks of life and from all over the world. It enabled me to make my community’s voice heard, and I went back to my community stronger.
The NCEJN Summit after Katrina was a very emotional time, people shared stories, and everyone was crying. people were sharing stories, and some said that they would never go back to live in New Orleans again. All of a sudden, Gary Grant just started singing this song “Hush Somebody’s Calling My Name” and everyone joined in singing, and it was just so awesome to hear this song from Black History. I was talking to a friend of mine, Bobby Jones, not too long ago about young people. I was saying that if you don’t have a leader, you don’t know who to follow.
I am in Northampton County, across the bridge from Roanoke Rapids. In 1997-1998, we started the Concerned Citizens of Northampton County. My cousin, Charlie Garner, who was at a truck stop right down the highway from where I live right off I95. He was a smart man, and he happened to be there and overheard these people talking about building a ThermoChem plant right here in Northampton County. The next day, he went to the community and we got together, decided to write petitions, and fought this chemical plant off. Unfortunately, later on, ThermoChem was built somewhere near Murfreesboro, in Hertford County. That’s how I really got involved in environmental justice.
We also fought off a liquid fertilizer plant right here in my backyard, not too long after the Oklahoma Bombing. That bomb in Oklahoma was made of fertilizer, and so we used that as an example of the high risk of explosions to the community. My neighbor’s son was a chemist and he helped write reports. That’s one of the stories I have told at the NCEJN summit in 2000, during a workshop with Saladin Muhammad. After the workshop Hope Taylor who at the time served as executive director of Clean Water for NC, happened to be in that meeting. She walked up to me and offered me a job. I have been working for Clean Water for NC ever since.
There is an Enviva about 3 miles from my house. They cut down our trees to make pellets and ship them as fuel across the ocean. We are losing trees and losing the benefits of trees, like oxygen production. The community that lives closest to Enviva, complains about noise. Machinery and Trucks shifting gears 24-7. People can’t sleep at night from the noise and it’s impacting their mental and physical health. We had several meetings with Michael Regan and DEQ but nothing came out of it. The community shared that dust from the plant was forcing them to wash their cars every 2-3 days. Someone shared that he had to power wash his house every 3 months, but the DEQ person said he doesn’t see any dust!
The reason they put Enviva there is for easy access to Interstate 95, which their trucks would take to get to highway 58 until they reach the port at Chesapeake VA, where they ship it off to other countries.
Activists from Germany, Japan, and the Netherlands visited Northampton County to talk with us about the impacts of Wood Pellet Plants on the community.
Last year on April 6, we hosted a health day. Community members and organizations met in the Enviva community, then we moved to the high-school where organizations had tables and information, and we ate there, before we moved to James Jones Rd. right near the Smithfield Carroll Hog Farm.
Three Years ago, Ms. Belinda Joyner was interviewed by the Dogwood Alliance about protecting forests right now in the struggle for climate justice. Take a listen!
