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North Carolina Environmental Justice Network (NCEJN) is a grassroots, people of color-led coalition of community organizations and their supporters who work with low income communities and people of color on issues of climate, environmental, racial, and social injustice.
NCEJN does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in our program or activities.
NCEJN was born from the First Annual Community North Carolina Environmental Justice Summit in 1998. The working-class communities of color who founded the first Summit had fought for racial, social, economic, political, and environmental justice for decades. Confronting environmental racism, political disenfranchisement, and economic injustice, these communities held the first Summit to build solidarity and share resources. Conversations about solidarity-building led these communities to found NCEJN, which formalized decades-long partnerships among communities, researchers, lawyers, and justice-oriented organizations. NCEJN’s founders created the organization to assist communities organizing against injustice and to connect them to folks facing similar issues and to external resources and groups who could provide support. Crucial to that mission was the 1999 hiring of Naeema Muhammad, a seasoned grassroots leader of Black Workers for Justice, to lead community organizing.

Militarism & Surveillance Working Group

Nuclear & the Attack on Indigenous Lands

Palestine is Our Neighborhood

Say NO to methane gas on the Yadkin River for data centers

Living Under Heightened Immigration Enforcement: Report Findings and Implications

EcoTones: A Memory Project

Rally + Pack The Meeting

Support at Spidey Sens-r events

Spanish translation support

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Fertile Ground "State of Our Coop Report” - NCEJN

Touring Richmond County - NCEJN

Reflecting on E-I-E-I-O No! – a community-science initiative

Richmond County Amazon and Duke Energy Draft Air Quality Permits Public Hearing Report Back and Comments - NCEJN

Press Release: New Community Science Project to Track CAFO Footprint Across the State of North Carolina - NCEJN

From Exploited Workers. To Dehumanized Detainees. - NCEJN

NCEJN Joins 25 NC Groups In A National Effort to Pass a Nationwide AI Data Center Moratorium - NCEJN

Press Release: Under The Pretense of Protection, Senate Bill 730 Shifts Financial Risks to North Carolinians - NCEJN

On Community-Managed Historic Preservation of Environmental & Racial Justice - NCEJN

On Four Constitutional Amendments That Would Impact NC for Generations to Come - NCEJN

Dr. Chris Lamont Brown

Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson

Dr. Rania Masri

Naeema Muhammad

Dr. Dani Lin Hunter

Luma Kennedy

Beatrice Baxley

Jalileh Garcia Cornell

Corey Curtis

Emma Jo Donnelly

Ajamu Dillahunt-Holloway

Kamaria Kaalund

Sherrod Z. Knox

Mikki Sager

Afia Boaitey

Joanna Rutter

Katie Boatner

Kennedi Hicks

Priya Dames

Tia Hunt

Reflection. Slowness. Rest. Recovery. Big Tech does NOT want organizers to be healthy and well — because when we are rested and energized, our movement is more powerful. So let’s rebel and rest together! NC AI Data Center Accountability Network is introducing a peer support group for activists who seek to grow in their mental wellbeing and emotional resilience while organizing against the unique material, psychological, and existential threats of AI data centers and mass surveillance. This peer group will meet x4 Nov-Dec over Zoom at a time that works best for folks. It will be capped at 12 participants, first come first served. Topics and activities could include a guided lovingkindness meditation, peer discussion of anxiety coping techniques, or even simply stretching together. Joanna Rutter, NCEJN intern and UNC MSW student, will facilitate as a peer member, supervised by Jay Jahnes, LCSW. Interested to learn more? Sign up at the link in bio and Joanna will reach out shortly.

Last week, Chris and Jalileh represented NCEJN at the People's Hearing in New Orleans, Louisiana. They heard testimonies of the grave health impacts of petrochemical pollution, the fight against AI data centers, and the resistance of communities across the Gulf Coast states. Seven People's Hearings so far recorded testimonies from community members in NC, AZ, PA, FL, MI, MD, and LA. Across the United States, the stories share the same thread: corporate greed has made our communities the sacrifice zones for their profits. As a powerful testimony reminded us: communities have been and will continue to resist because corporations do not get to decide who should be sacrificed! ¡La lucha sigue! Time for some policy actions! #PeopleshearingNOLA #PEJAC #EvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice

Campaign financing can reveal whether candidates are willing to set boundaries around corporate influence. It is important to distinguish what candidates actually promised from what they may actually do. This carousel reveals the candidates who said they would not take funds from Duke Energy and/or AIPAC. #northcarolina

The NC AI Data Center Accountability Network sent a questionnaire, several times, to every NC candidate in the 2026 elections including US House and Senate, NC House and Senate, County Commissioners, and City Council Members. We received an 11% response rate! The low response rate reveals the reluctance from candidates to go on the record on this critical issue. As of this week, the dataset represents 112 candidates. Here is the breakdown #northcarolina For other political affiliations: All 4 Green submissions supported a moratorium, and water and energy caps, and 3 supported an outright ban. Among the 6 Unaffiliated/Independent submissions, all supported water and energy caps, while 5 supported a moratorium Of the 7 Libertarian candidates, 5 supported continued development and 6 supported rescinding tax incentives. for the full report : tinyurl.com/NCAIDC-POSITION

PLEASE TAG YOUR CANDIDATES! The NC AI Data Center Accountability Network has been conducting a statewide voter education effort to inform North Carolinians on their candidate’s policy positions related to AI and data centers. here are the results so far: tinyurl.com/NCAIDC-POSITION #northcarolina

We're excited to announce that NCEJN's inaugural NC Environmental & Public Health Convening will be held February 12th, 2027, at Fayetteville State University. Our academic institutions have been intentionally limited in how they can address environmental justice, and opportunities for EJ-based training and education are being stripped away. Research without a justice framework serves the interests of academic institutions over community needs. The solution: we want to create a space where students and academics can continue to learn, build, and connect around best practices for community driven research and using EJ lenses in their work. Community members who have interest and experience in collaborating with academic research in their communities are invited to collaborate and contribute to our community advisory board! We want your input to shape the structure of the convening and guide the direction of our panels, workshops, and theming. Stay tuned for more information, and email research@ncejn.org with any questions or interest in participating.

Our organizing and policy director Dr. Rania Masri speaking at the Environmental Grant Makers Association conference about the need for grantors to fund local organizing against AI and AI data centers! #funder #datacenters #noAI #nodatacenters

follow @ejohp_ to learn more about the EJ Oral History Project! Big thanks to the EJ Oral History Project in honoring the women whose labor birthed the EJ movement. I got to see and experience the exhibit in person at NYC Climate Week. Many of these women are not household names, but their words coupled with the artwork on display reflected their larger-than-life impact on environmental justice. This project includes with 25 narrators, with 5 from North Carolina. Thank you Mama Naeema Muhammad, Dollie Burwell, Angela Dunston, Donna Chavis, and @marquettadickens for sharing your wisdom.

PLEASE TAG YOUR CANDIDATES! The NC Data Center Network is conducting a statewide voter education effort to educate North Carolinians on their candidate’s policy positions related to AI and data centers.

NCEJN is airborne! Last Friday, our staff Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson and Corey Curtis joined Larry Baldwin from the NC Environmental Advocacy Corps and Rolf Wallin from SouthWings on a flyover across Central NC. Environmental survey flyovers in small passenger planes like this are a great tool to document environmental injustice and collect information to inform EJ organizing. It allowed us to travel rapidly across the state, destinations included a Fred Smith Asphalt plant, Taylortown NC, Enviva wood pellet mill, Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) & associated waste lagoons, and the Amazon data center in development in Richmond county. The sheer scale of these operations was shocking from our perspective ~1000ft in the air. Seeing industrial activity from this new angle painted a clear picture of just how close polluting facilities are clustered relative to each other and nearby homes. It also allowed us to get a peek into operations happening on otherwise private property, and observe construction progress of incoming polluting industries. Some of the pictures that we took during the flyover will be shared with nearby community members and used to inform their organizing strategy. We’d like to give a huge thank you to Larry, our Pilot Rolf, and @southwings; Thanks to them, we were in great hands and had a blast! Slide 1: Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson, Rolf Wallins, and Larry Baldwin (left to right) boarding our plane at the Moore County airport Slide 2: Corey Curtis in the cockpit and Larry Baldwin in the backseat, mid flight Slide 3: Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson in the cockpit and Larry Baldwin in the backseat, about to take off Slide 4: Aerial view of an Enviva wood pellet facility in Hamlet, NC Slide 5: Aerial view of Fred Smith Asphalt plant in Carthage, NC Slide 6: Aerial view of Taylortown, NC Slide 7: Aerial view of the Amazon data center project in Hamlet, NC Slide 8: Aerial view of a swine CAFO and waste lagoon somewhere in central NC

NC Regulators want to make changes to rules that protect North Carolina residents. These changes would open the door for data centers to run generators without air permits. There is a public hearing to discuss this rule. Thursday, August 27 at 6:00 PM The DEQ Green Square Office Building 1st Floor Training Room 1210 217 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27603 You can also join us online via Cisco Webex at tinyurl.com/mw5m5hyt Event Password: NCDAQ-PH You must register to speak! You can submit a public comment until August 31 Comments should be submitted to: Ms. Katherine Quinlan Division of Air Quality 1641 Mail Service Center Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1641 (919) 707-8702 daq.publiccomments@deq.nc.gov (Please type "Non-Emergency RICE" in the subject line)

We’re excited to announce that registration is now open for our 27th Summit! This year’s theme is: Rejecting The Myth Of Inevitability | Organizing For Self-Determination Register Today: Registration closes Thursday, October 1 tinyurl.com/NCEJN-summit2026 (and link in bio) Please register early to help our team ensure that everyone is well-fed and has a comfortable place to stay. Registration form includes: Award Nominations - Nominations close September 21 Sponsorship - If you would like your logo in the booklet please submit sponsorship by October 1 Summit Website will be up shortly, and we will include the agenda as soon as possible! Thank you! The NCEJN Team looks forward to being with you all at our home away from home, The Franklinton Center at Bricks in Whitakers, NC! #NCEJNsummit2026 #Environmentaljustice

AI Data Centers and Pfas? Unfortunately, yes. + ACTION ALERT! 📌 Fayetteville UDO changes Public Hearing on AUGUST 10 You can sign up to speak Only 5 residents will be able to speak against this, if they use their full 3 minutes. Email your Council members and tell them NOT to vote in favor of these changes. We need a 1 YEAR MORATORIUM to work through these changes and regulations! + Wanna Join The NC Data Center Network? fill out this form (in bio): tinyurl.com/NCDCN-JOIN @capefearriverwatch #fayettevilleNC #cumberlandcountync #cumberlandcounty #fayetteville #nodatacenters #NOai #datacenters

Press conference before the public hearing on air quality permits for an Amazon data center in a county that rates as second least healthy county in NC. The Richmond County community just discovered that there is a second data center coming! This community has dealt with so many polluting industries. No more! The Richmond County community says No to Amazon’s 800 acre, 20 building, and over 580 diesel generators!

From the Creative Brain of Our Very Own Dr. Dani Lin Hunter- We Bring you EI-EI-O No! Have you ever heard the term Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)? CAFOs, or factory farms, are massive facilities with hundreds of pigs or thousands of poultry living indoors with no access to sunlight or fresh air. In North Carolina, we don’t have access to how many poultry CAFOs are operating at any given time or where they are. The NC Department of Agriculture has locked up this data and won't share it with the public, NC Department of Environmental Quality, or Department of Health and Human Services. Even though new ones pop up every month, we can only get estimates every 5 years. Each CAFO produces a lot of animal waste. CAFOs add pollutants to our air, soil and water, and are harmful to human health. They are often placed in or near communities of color and low income rural communities. Not knowing where CAFOs are makes it really difficult for them to protect themselves and advocate against CAFOs. This information needs to be public information. In this project, classify satellite images containing aerial imagery of CAFOs Your work will help our team document where CAFOs are located and what animals are being reared in them. E-I-E-I-O No! Is a chance to help each other learn more about this barnyard crisis, and the tools are in your hands! To Read The Press Release tinyurl.com/EIEIONO-Press To Check Out The Project tinyurl.com/EIEIONO @the.zooniverse #CAFO #IndustrialAgriculture #NCEJN #environmentaljustice #participatoryscience #communityscience #poultryrights #humanhealth #animalrights

UPDATES In The Comments Below!! Please Spread The Word! We don't want data centers in our neighborhoods - guzzling our water, polluting our air, eating up our farmlands and raising our utility rates! @ocjusticeinitiative @action.nc @fayettevillefreedomforall @catawbariverkeeper @cleanwaternc @harvestinghumanity @nclcv @progressivereform @ncconservationnetwork @communitylandandpower #kingsmountainNC #surrycounty #orangecountyNC #hillsboroughNC #nodatacenters #NOai #datacenters

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