Decades of systemic racism and infrastructural neglect came to a head last year in Jackson, Mississippi, when flooding damaged a water treatment plant and knocked out the city’s water supply. It was the latest emergency for a water system with a longstanding history of problems and mismanagement and a community where more than 80% of residents are black — and prompted the NAACP to file a civil rights complaint.
It’s one step in the organization’s expansion into environmental advocacy and climate justice as part of its civil rights work. As the accelerating climate crisis affects communities around the world — especially those that are home to lower-income