Trees, over thousands of years of existence, have provided fruit and shade for human beings. And at some point, nature’s gift became a place for unnatural use. In the South, and other parts of the U.S., white people used trees as tools to lynch Black people. Recognizing this, Billie Holiday –  borrowing a poem from Abel Meeropol, who was Jewish and a teacher – testified about this unjust way of using creation. 

On June 22, a coalition of residents, from various communities (representing various organizations: Progressive Maryland and the South County Environmental Justice Coalition, PG County Change Makers, and Prince George’s County NAACP) met in South County to discuss community needs and solutions. The groups discussed implementing solar panels at schools, community representation of the Prince George’s County Board of Education, and ways to move forward. The collective settled on adding more solar panels to schools in South County. The goal is to cut the schools’ utility costs and to use that money to increase teachers’ salaries, use the funds for school resources, or perhaps aid with building new neighborhood schools. Their approach to this is not an anomaly.

In the blistering cold, local political reformers (activists), William Green’s family members, and friends stood before journalists and community members holding lights, TV cameras, microphones, and smartphones. Yanet Amanuel, public policy director at Maryland ACLU, stood before the crowd, and gave the reason why we were summoned to Upper Marlboro, the seat of political power, and injustice in Prince George’s County. In the 1800s Michael Green was pulled from the Upper Marlboro jail and lynched.

The anti-violence, after-school community-based program, “Rolling Away From Violence” was organized by Tiera Bratton, social entrepreneur and CEO of Opportunities For Deserving Children, a non-profit organization that creates extracurricular and mentoring programs for children living in communities that are politically marginalized. This particular community-based after-school program gives children a safe space to play and engage with peers and mentors. Bratton’s organization kicked off its first event in May – when carjackings and murders were steadily on the rise.

Food waste is harmful to the environment because it produces large amounts of methane. Methane absorbs infrared radiation, increasing the heat within the atmosphere. This causes climate change and global warming.

He told me that before Covid-19 hit was in the process of purchasing a house. On top of all this other kinds of success, Marshall, a Virginia resident, is a vegan, he worked out like so many other Black people, and had no pre-existing conditions. Yet, Covid-19 invaded his body and disabled it. 

When Antonika Johnson, daughter, and Victoria Johnson, mother, both retell the tragic events of 2020 as if they happened yesterday. Victoria’s husband – Anthony, a son, nephew, brother and father – life and sudden death are still tethered to their memories. “ We were married for 38 years,” said Victoria of her husband. Both mother, daughter and other family members bear the wound of Anthony’s death. Antonika’s emotions are not only lacerated by the death of her father, but her body bears the wounds of long-covid, and scars of surgery.

Covid-19 disrupted The Arc's mission to serve parents and guardians with disabled children, causing its staff to rethink how it was going to serve them in the middle of a pandemic. Additionally, the coronavirus would help to exacerbate existing barriers among the disabled community in Prince George’s County.

Dr. Stephen Thomas didn’t only talk about the new boosters. He talked about how the lack of federal funding has negatively impacted his work to get Prince George’s County residents in working-class communities vaccinated, and educated about the virus.

Currently, Prince George’s County, under the new metric, has a low community spread. It’s for this reason that local health officials don’t seem to be alarmed about rising infection cases. However, under the old metric, the current infection rate would be considered substantial which would require local officials to reinstate a mask mandate, and continue to encourage vaccination and booster shots.

Townsend Diggs has had to, along with her staff, become something she never expected — a digital content creator.