SPRING FOR CHANGE
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY
GIVE TO APRIL’S SHARE THE PLATE PARTNER
HELP US REDRAW THE MAP!
The Southern Dallas Neighborhood-Self Defense Project is an effort to use the official citywide Forward Dallas process to reverse decades of racist zoning in Southern Dallas putting People of Color dangerously close to polluters. They provide assistance to neighborhood organizations to create and adopt grassroots plans that expresses the desires of residents for their own communities. Goals include:
Implementing an equitable process for the rapid approval of neighborhood plans by the City of Dallas. Residents must have their voices heard.
Establishing a citywide residential right-to-know that can warn neighborhoods of new pollution threats. Don’t keep us in the dark.
Southern Dallas land currently zoned for industry but not used for industry will be rezoned for non-industrial uses. We need to redraw the map of where polluters can locate in Dallas.
Prohibiting new polluters from locating in the Trinity River floodplain and a timetable for removal of polluters still doing business there. Flooding and toxins shouldn’t mix.
A checklist for permit and zoning regulation compliance as part of every code compliance visit to a property to aid enforcement.
UNDO RACIST ZONING
The project is rolling back racist zoning block by block in the Southern Sector. Historically Black and Brown neighborhoods in Dallas (and across the U.S.) have been zoned for dangerous industrial uses close to residential areas.
Research conducted by Paul Quinn College indicates the connection between legal sources of air pollution and densely populated Black and Brown neighborhoods in Dallas. Check out the full report here: https://pqc-edu.squarespace.com/uri . Similarly, Daniel & Beshara P.C., Dallas’ prominent civil rights litigators are working with Marsha Jackson on her federal environmental lawsuit, which includes the City of Dallas. They have created and published maps that connect the racial composition of neighborhoods with their proximity to industrial zoning and land use. Check out all the maps here: https://www.danielbesharalawfirm.com/dallas-industrial-zoning .
The Southern Dallas Neighborhood Self Defense Project is a joint effort of Downwinders at Risk, Southern Sector Rising, and the Inclusive Communities Project. Your contributions to Horizon’s Share the Plate in April will be sent to Downwinders at Risk (a 501c3) and directed to be used for the Southern Dallas Neighborhood Self Defense Project.
How to Give
You may GIVE HERE to the Southern Dallas Neighborhood Self Defense Project by putting SDNSDP in the additional information box any time during the month of April. You may also mail checks to the church made out to Horizon UU Church with SDNSDP on the memo line any time during the month of April.
Learn more by visiting:
https://southerndallasneighborhooddefense.wordpress.com/