THE NEW FACE OF ACTIVISM
Why fighting in unconnected communities is exactly what industry and government institutions want us to do.. and how to change that.
My recap of the historic SAFE EPA Protest of September 20, 2022.
Monday September 19th, Paul and I joined fellow PFAS advocates in the office of Congressman Jim McGovern. Jim gave us an hour of his time and his Sr Legislative Aide John Swords gave us even more. We spoke about our issue. Jim heard the concerns and the work of our fellow activists in the PFAS genre. Jim was fabulously open and knowledgeable about PFAS as he is the co-chair of the PFAS Task Force. He is committed to working on this issue. There is no doubt about that (in 2018 when I was boxing for firefighters without the IAFF support, Jim found a way to form a task force and made sure I was involved).
Monday evening, we attended a beautiful event hosted by Susan Wind at the Regency Rooftop overlooking the Capitol and Washington Monument. It was stunning — A warm summer breeze against a beautiful skyline and Washington DC lit in all her glory. It’s there that I met the people in this movement.
I began speaking to SAFE organizer Susan Wind about this movement many months ago. I was so impressed by her passion and vision. She’s not a ‘slides and presentation’ activist which is why I get her. She’s a machine. Also why I get her. She’s not always polite or patient. She swears a lot like me. And she moves mountain ranges. She’s an encyclopedia of information about … everyone’s community. But don’t think she’s not professional. She is painfully professional. Factually professional. And I was so impressed.
Susan’s interview with AFSO 21’s Kevin Ferrara
After it dawned on me that she was absolutely right, that institutions have failed us, because we are all fighting our own poison fight — that in fact we will be stronger together, fighting as one entire poisoned community, I jumped in. I was a proud one-trick-pony. PFAS. I’d hear the stories of these fellow mom’s and dads over the course of the last year. Such a powerful group. Such a group of wounded and broken communities trying to get something done, to get money, medical monitoring, to make polluters pay… to tell their story… it’s overwhelming when I look past my own blinders of my poisoned community.
Still, we were there to do work. The protest on Tuesday was astounding. it was filmed by many. I know of at least two documentarians that there — Elijah Yeet and Erik E. Crown. We set up the stage with our props and photos, and Susan had ordered 7' tall letters that spell out EPA DO YOUR JOB! on rolling carts.
The weather was bright sun and 80’s. We had tall lush green trees behind Freedom Plaza where many would stand in the shade. I stood to film every speaker I could on my phone (live).
Being there to witness hundreds of activists from a wide spectrum of poisoned communities- to hearing the speeches of environmental lawyer Chris Nidel :
and moms like Lesley Pacey, who’s daughter was diagnosed with cancer at age 4, who then discovered a cancer cluster in her own community. She is an attorney, activist, and associate producer of ‘The Cost of Silence’ who now focuses on the Corexit disaster of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill:
Lesley Pacey:
Mom and DoD Major Mandy Feindt from Hawaii and the Red Hill jet fuel — her husband is suing the government and they’ve had to move .. her beautiful little girl is sick.
Of course, our fire community was so well represented. IAFF General President Edward Kelly and his entire crew from the IAFF, IAFF District 4 VP Andrew Pantelis from Ny, Stephanie White from Virginia, Cat Renar and her husband from Chicago, Jason Burns , Kevin Ferrara , and standing out in the crowd was 9/11 survivor Rob Serra , and his ride or die guy Joseph Mckay . We carried the photos cancer stricken firefighters with us and placed them on the stage along with the photos of family members from other communities.
To witness the speech of IAFF General President Ed Kelly is to witness passion, leadership, power, and personal truth. Nothing is sugar coated. Just as you’d expect a union leader to be. Ed Kelly is the leader the International Association of Firefighters Union has so long needed. He shared his very personal story of knowing how it feels to be a parent and hear ‘those words’ and the crowd was so moved to know at 13 his son is now a healthy boy ~
President Kelly also gave the long-awaited recognition I have been seeking from the IAFF. For that I am so very grateful. It removed a hole in my heart that I’ve been carrying so very long. It was an emotional moment I did not know was coming and didn’t realize how badly I needed it until President Kelly said those words.
Bearing witness to the passionate speech of firefighter Jason Burns who buried two 35 year old firefighters in 2 years -that he attributed to something changing in the fire service. Jason has been by my side since 2017. Each time he shares his truth I feel his emotions of love for these men and their families.
Brenda Hampton The Angel of Alabama, who can’t stop fighting and has done study after study of her community and the environmental poisoning that shows up in throngs of adults, but reptiles, and animals, and worse, the children. Terrible.
The moms talk to each other like firefighters talk to other firefighters with cancer.. they ask questions like where is the cancer, where is the tumor… did you ask this? did you see this ? It’s the same world we live in .. but worse,, it’s their children…
Erik Crown is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, focusing on eco and animal rights-based projects. Diagnosed in 2005 with a hybrid environmental cancer, he still fights his cancer after 13 surgeries, radiation, and various rounds of experimental chemo drugs. After working on a variety of independent and Hollywood projects including NBC’s “Scrubs”, and “TMZ”, he learned the cancer was incurable, and decided to turn his lens on the environment that had made him sick to try and find answers. His first documentary about phosphate mining in Florida, and the cancer rates that are rising as a result (Phosfatemovie.com) taking a first hand look at the toxic radioactive places where residents, workers, and people down the river are all experiencing higher than normal cancer rates.
to learning: ‘there is NO SUCH THING AS A NUCLEAR CLEANUP…
To Steven Donzinger who was surrounded by Hawaiian Red Hill group (the feds took his passport and he can’t leave the country!!) Steven fought Chevron in an epic legal battle which led to his house arrest of almost two years!!
and of course Major Amanda Feindt —
Major Amanda Feindt is a joint-qualified officer in the United States Army. A former commander in the 82nd Airborne Division, Feindt has served on active duty for the past 16 years, with overseas tours, including to Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In addition to her primary duties in the Army, Major Feindt is a nationally certified Master Resiliency Trainer and Sexual Assault Victim Advocate. With her two young children, ages 1 and 3, recently poisoned by jet fuel in their on-base home and daycare facility, Feindt now adds “Clean Water Advocate” to her list of credentials.
Known as the Red Hill Water Crisis, Major Feindt is one of approximately 90,000 military members and their dependents who have been affected since roughly 19,000 gallons of fuel from Red Hill Underground Fuel Storage Facility leaked into the military’s drinking water system on Oahu, Hawaii, in November 2021. Chemicals of concern in these fuels include total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes, naphthalene, and methylnaphthalenes.
She has met with congressional and environmental leaders, including the Administrator of the EPA Michael Regan, and members of EPA Region 9, to ask the question on every parent’s mind: “how many children must die in order to meet EPA’s criteria to federally regulate these harmful toxins in our drinking water?”
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali
Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali is a Thought-Leader, Strategist, Policymaker and Activist committed to the fight for environmental justice and economic equity. Mustafa Santiago Ali is internationally renowned as a Keynote Speaker, Trainer, Leader, Community Liaison and Facilitator specializing in Social Justice issues focused on revitalizing our most vulnerable communities.
Throughout his 26-year career, Mustafa Santiago Ali has conducted over 1,000 presentations worldwide, including speeches, guest lecturers and trainings. Throughout his career, Mustafa has worked to elevate environmental justice issues to strengthen environmental justice policies, programs and initiatives.
Mustafa Santiago Ali worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for 24-years. At the EPA, Mustafa S. Ali served as the Assistant Associate Administrator for Environmental Justice and Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization.
and from ‘liberal Chapel Hill’…
Kari Reinhardt.. who carries her daughter with her everywhere she goes.. A nurse, who knew what she was about to deal with but when the news came was shattered into a million pieces. Now turning her pain into her fight for Emma.
Charlie, who fought alongside her son Trevor for Trevor’s Law and what has now happened in the years since it became law:
Stel Bailey of Florida who is passionate and brilliant and beautiful like Ariel the mermaid and her hysterical tok toks, who brings light to our depressing and infuriating world. She has had to find laughter in the cracks of cancer in so many family members from her PFAS contaminated community in Florida.
To of course Susan Wind .. her speech opened up the event with her story of being the whistleblower and how her pleas fell on deaf ears, to her own reason for her fight, her daughter Taylor who has cancer, , to seeing a neighborhood of parents and children with the same ear to ear scar across their necks., to Michael Reagan not meeting with them..
Dr. Edward Marshall of Duke University (ret) spoke in great detail about coal ash.. and what coal ash has inside it!! Arsenic, mercury, radiation…. Lord!!! and I believe he spoke about the dispersant Corexit that didn’t clean anything from the oil spill but only gathered the oil sinking it to the bottom of the water!!
In front of the EPA, Susan then led us in another passionate speech directed to the members of the EPA peeking out behind the tall curtains!! She ordered hundreds? Of gold flowers ( gold as September is childhood cancer month) and we laid flowers at the entrance of the EPA.. for every child lost to cancer in the USA.
She then offered the microphone to those who wanted to speak to the EPA. FDNY firefighter Rob Serra arose from his scooter (that he made two signs for front/back ‘EPA LIED AND MY FRIENDS DIED 9/11) .. and gave a passionate speech along with water keepers from OAHO who chanted and so many others…. I’m still trying to process it all — it’s just so remarkable.
The immediate effects are the new networks and allegiances formed.
The take always are that ACTIVISIM IS CHANGING. We must work as one. We have been pitted against each other for too long — fighting for the same dollars from broken institutions in this circle dance!!
Activism is not for the faint of heart. During the months and weeks leading up to the protest I would ask for meetings with allies to discuss this protest. I’d send introduction letters that would go un-responded to. I’d hear that protesting is not the style of activism some are comfortable with. Still, we have crossed the bridge, and now that I am on the other side I’m waiting for others to join us.. we will hold the door open for you.. I’ll never go back to being a one trick pony, or for that matter for accepting breadcrumbs from EPA, CDC, and Capitol Hill.
Michael Regan announced his 200 million Environmental Justice project. He’s gotten many attaboy’s on social media. He had an opportunity to meet with the EJ members of SAFE. He refused. He ran and hid. He had a opportunity to meet with the broken men of 9/11 who called to him from the colonnade entrance of the EPA. Not one member of EPA spoke to us. Maybe they are desensitized to our broken lives.
EPA has done nothing but assist in the killing of firefighters. One of my articles titled, ‘EPA and the Pinky Swear’ explains how.
At any event. Here’s to the new face of activism.
Thank you Susan Wind for changing the course for us.
Susan Wind has a background in the criminal justice field (over 25 years). She started the first part of her career in law enforcement as a Criminal Intelligence Analyst. For the past seventeen years, she has been doing consulting work with financial institutions all over the US, providing training on cybercrimes and security topics (i.e., money laundering, identity theft, atm/debit card thefts, fraud, bank robbery, active shooters, social media, etc.). She spent the last six years offering social media programs to schools across the country to help parents, school staff and students be knowledgeable about social media awareness issues.
By accident, she became an environmental advocate after her daughter, Taylor was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2017. Through her investigative skill set, she exposed a thyroid cancer cluster in her town along with a dirty secret — builders, contractors and landscapers used Duke Energy’s coal ash (instead of soil) as structural fill in communities throughout Lake Norman, NC. This coal ash came from its neighboring coal burning plant (the Marshall Steam Station). While the health department, the state, and the politicians tried to dismiss the issues, she continued to build alliances and connections with advocates from all over the country to address the broken system that fails people’s health. She is one of the organizers of the SAFE Movement in Washington DC.