|08 July 2024
Trash From All Over the Country Winds Up in Uniontown
News
|18 October 2022
In Uniontown, Alabama, a hamlet of Perry County, there are glamorous pastors’ lunches, with congregants dressed nattily in plumed hats and tailored suits. There are seven churches in this community of around 2,000. At sunset, young people gather on outdoor basketball courts to scrimmage and socialize. On game nights, the entire town shows up to cheer on the varsity basketball team at Robert C. Hatch High School, which has won 10 state high school championships. It’s the kind of community where neighbors regularly drop in to check on one another, especially older residents who need help and companionship.
The region where Uniontown is located is nicknamed the Black Belt, originally because of its fertile land and later in reference to its history of slavery and its large number of Black residents. During the civil rights movement, Perry County was one of the many hubs of grassroots organizing that emerged along the Black Belt.
Alex Jones, born and raised in Uniontown, remembers Sunday dinners and spirited conversations with his cousin Juanita; her husband, Ralph Abernathy; Coretta Scott King; and Martin Luther King Jr. when Jones was attending Alabama State in the 1960s. The Selma to Montgomery Marches began at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, just 30 miles east of Uniontown.
Over the past 15 years since Arrowhead Landfill opened in 2007, dozens of people who call Uniontown home describe disruption in their lives. They complain about a strong stench, health concerns and noise at all hours of the night coming from the site.
There have been months when the problems have worsened, like when the landfill started accepting coal ash after a spill of the waste in Kingston, Tennessee, in 2008. Exposure to the substance in the short term can cause irritation and shortness of breath, and in the long term, it can lead to liver damage and a variety of cancers, according to the CDC.
Related posts
PRISM / Lily Levine
News|22 February 2024
People of color face disproportionately higher risk of cancer from environmental toxins, new study finds
|01 February 2024
2024 Cancer Care Equity Summit: Speaker Presentations
The Flint Courier News / Tanya Terry
News|31 January 2024
Report shed lights on medically underserved cancer care as communities aim for improvement
POLITICO / Carmen Paun, Erin Schumaker, Daniel Payne and Ruth Reader
News|31 January 2024
We’ve forgotten pandemic prep
Healthcare Innovation / David Raths
News|31 January 2024
Cancer Initiative to Bring Resources to 10 Majority-Minority Communities
The Hill / Zack Budryk
News|31 January 2024
Judge bars EPA from enforcing Civil Rights Act provision in Louisiana’s ‘Cancer Alley’
mLIVE / Ron Fonger
News|31 January 2024
Flint congressman, mayor join in announcement on disparities in cancer care
MedPage Today / Joyce Frieden
News|31 January 2024
How Can Cancer Risk Be Cut in Communities Exposed to Toxins?
The Hill / Cheyanne M. Daniels
News|31 January 2024
Minority communities face higher environmental risks for cancer: Report
|18 January 2024
EPA to start testing for toxic chemicals in Fifth Ward this summer, as residents hold summit on ‘cancer cluster’
|18 January 2024
City of Houston approves $5 million to help residents voluntarily move out of 'cancer clusters'
|18 January 2024
EPA testing groundwater for possible link between contamination and cancer clusters
|18 January 2024
Houston’s Greater Fifth Ward is in a cancer cluster. Why don’t all the new residents know?
|27 November 2023
NMQF Connect: 2023 H-Town Health Fair
|15 November 2023
National Minority Quality Forum Is Hosting A Free Cancer Screening & Health Fair For Houston & Surrounding Areas
|15 November 2023
National Minority Quality Forum and the CEO Roundtable on Cancer Collaborate on Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative
|14 November 2023
The Charles McKinley Reynolds Jr. Pancreatic Cancer Pain Management Initiative
|18 October 2023
Recap: SurviveHer Pink Party on the Plaza in Harlem
|17 October 2023
CSSI on the Road: Empowering Communities with Multi-Cancer Detection Awareness
|17 October 2023
NMQF Connect: H-Town Health Fair
|05 October 2023
National Minority Quality Forum awarded $500,000 grant to conduct cancer research in Flint
|16 October 2023
Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Empowerment Through Knowledge
|28 July 2023
Cancer in the Asian Community: Cancer Disparities
|12 June 2023
Cancer in the Black Community: What are the Costs?
|12 June 2023
Cancer in the Black Community: Cancer Disparities
|17 April 2023
National Minority Quality Forum’s Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative Convenes ‘Cancer in Minority Communities’ White House Briefing
|18 May 2023
U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Issues New Breast Cancer Screening Recommendations
|17 May 2023
National Minority Quality Forum’s Adjoa Kyerematen Joins American Cancer Society National Breast Cancer Roundtable
|27 March 2023
United in Blue Rally Raises Awareness for Colorectal Cancer in Washington, D.C
|17 March 2023
US sues chemical company over cancer risk to minority area
|15 March 2023
Researchers, activists kick off effort to evaluate cancer incidence, link to Flint water crisis
|07 March 2023
Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative Announces Scientific Advisory Board Members
|28 February 2023
The White House Proclaims March 2023 National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
|17 January 2023
Why is colorectal cancer rising and what does it mean for Black, Brown communities?
|05 January 2023
National Minority Quality Forum and Exact Sciences’ Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative Leads Cancer Moonshot Initiative to Increase Cancer Screening in Flint
|25 October 2022
NMQF’s Kristen Hobbs Joins Mary J. Blige, Cancer Survivors, Advocates at American Cancer Society Roundtable on Breast Cancer
|01 November 2022
National Minority Quality Forum’s Cancer Stage Shifting Initiative Launches Website Exploring the Future of Multi-Cancer Early Detection & Equitable Cancer Care
|19 October 2022
National Minority Quality Forum Launches Alliance for Representative Clinical Trials to Reduce Healthcare Disparities in Underserved Populations
|18 October 2022
Texas: A Cancer-Plagued State
|17 October 2022
Could a spike in cancer cases in the Flint area be linked to the water crisis?
|05 October 2022
‘A much-needed step’: EPA creates a new environmental justice office
|05 October 2022
Welcome to 'cancer alley,' where toxic air is about to get worse
CONTACT US
National Minority Quality Forum is a research and educational organization dedicated to ensuring that high-risk racial and ethnic populations and communities receive optimal health care. This nonprofit, nonpartisan organization integrates data and expertise in support of initiatives to eliminate health disparities.
This site uses cookies to provide you with best experience possible. By using shiftcancer.org, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance to our Privacy Policy.
FOLLOW US ON: