ABSTRACT
The Ironbound community, located on the eastern edge of the City of Newark, New Jersey, is known for its industrial history and legacy of grassroots activism. The Ironbound also has a rich oral history tradition of resident-led tours that highlight their toxic struggles and environmental justice organizing. Communities like the Ironbound also exist around the globe, where marginalized, low-wealth, Indigenous, Black, Brown, and other communities of Color are impacted by the exploitative forces of globalization, ecological destruction, colonialism and dispossession, industrial pollution, and racism. Guided by a principle within the environmental justice movement of “We Speak for Ourselves,” environmental justice tours center frontline voices to reclaim the spaces and stories associated with EJ communities, transforming the stigma of sacrifice zones into powerful windows into local resistance. The narratives of impacted residents can shape action and support systemic change, framing a call to action for people both within and outside the community. This chapter explores how environmental justice tours address legacies of disenfranchisement, misrecognition, and stigmatization of environmental justice communities. Tours also amplify the authentic voices of those most directly impacted by environmental racism and transform toxic sites into spaces of solidarity and activism.
