In Africatown, a historic Black community in Mobile, Alabama, residents live surrounded by water but cut off from its benefits – trapped between polluting industries, highways, railyards, and crude oil storage tanks. For over a decade, the Mobile Environmental Justice Action Coalition (MEJAC), founded in 2013, has fought to protect the community’s health and legacy. MEJAC defends the right to clean air, water, and land by directly challenging polluters and regulators when those rights are violated. Their work includes community science efforts like air and water monitoring and fighting hazardous permits, such as their 2022 EPA petition that demanded stronger oversight of Alabama Power’s Plant Barry. MEJAC’s mission is urgent: protect Mobile’s most overburdened communities – especially Africatown’s elders and families – by stopping new harms and restoring what’s been taken. Their goal is not just survival, but self-determined, sustainable futures.
Detail of Cudjoe Lewis marker, Africatown, AL, Creative Commons
MEJAC’s president, Ramsey Sprague, began organizing in Africatown, a national historic district founded by the survivors of the Clotilda – the last known slave ship brought to the US. After WWII, industrialists flooded the area with manufacturing, chemical refineries, multi-lane highways, and crude storage – leaving behind a wake of toxic stew. MEJAC works at this frontline, combining legal action with public education to hold industrial and regulatory actors accountable. They’ve partnered with groups like GASP and Sierra Club to challenge faulty air permits and call attention to fugitive dust and toxic emissions. In 2023, MEJAC organized resistance to the proposed Africatown rail yard expansion and supported community members attending regional EJ summits. Through initiatives like their air monitoring network and direct community outreach, MEJAC strengthens the fight against environmental racism. As longtime resident Ms. Lillie Johnson put it, “We’re not asking for a miracle – just clean air, clean water, and the right to stay on the land our ancestors built.”
Industry near Africatown, Photo: John Sharp