Hazel Johnson spent her life fighting for environmental justice in black communities in Chicago’s Southeast Side. When she first started organizing in the 1970s after death and illness in her family, she quickly found that her work would be cut out for her. Bobby Rush, a Chicago congressman, has introduced legislation that would also posthumously award Johnson, known in many quarters as the “mother of environmental justice,” the Congressional Medal of Honor and her own postage stamp. Read on to learn more about her work and the impact it has had.
Here’s why Congress is recognizing Hazel M. Johnson, the ‘mother of environmental justice’

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