July 7, 2020

Op-Ed: Black lives should matter in the medicine cabinet, too

Written by M. Isabelle Chaudry, human rights advocate and senior policy manager for the National Women's Health Network, a member of Coming Clean. 

For decades, the company has marketed a product in Black communities thought to cause cancer: Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder. The company continues to do so today. For many Black women, including myself, the use of talcum powder — especially Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder — has long been a daily part of their self-care routine. Understanding these cultural norms, Johnson & Johnson engaged in aggressive, targeted marketing tactics among Black women for years, without disclosing the potential risks associated with use. Read More

June 25, 2020

Blog: Black Lives Matter and the Environment

Black lives matter. As we contemplate the scope of structural racism, we find that “Black Lives Matter” needs to be said over and over again. We say it as we push for policing that protects rather than threatens. And we can keep saying it. Like when we talk about having available, affordable health care. Having access to technology and broadband, a quiet space, and time when the classroom becomes off limits due to a pandemic or climate-driven extreme weather. Finding an affordable place to live and landlords who don’t discriminate. Finding meaningful work and getting a promotion. Finding fresh food. Getting respect. Read More

June 21, 2020

News: Louisville’s 'Black Lives Matter' Demonstrations Continue a Long Quest for Environmental Justice

A month before thousands began marching here, day after day, to protest the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and a woman here named Breonna Taylor, a professor at the University of Louisville was a co-author on a study that identified another killer targeting Black lives: toxic pollutants. Read More

June 16, 2020

News: Environmental justice in the spotlight

Unrest over police brutality, combined with the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on African Americans, Latinos and other minorities, has swiftly turned into a broader national reckoning over structural racism. That has elevated the perspectives of the environmental justice movement, a network of grassroots activists who push for climate change and sustainability policies that prioritize communities of color, which are exposed to greater levels of pollution and therefore are at greater risk of dying from the pandemic. Read More

June 11, 2020

Release: Dollar Tree Must Do More To Eliminate Hazardous Chemicals From Its Stores, Environmental Justice Advocates Say

The Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS), which is dedicated to getting toxic products out of dollar stores and helping them stock local, sustainably-produced healthy foods, is deeply concerned Dollar Tree did not express during its annual meeting of shareholders Thursday a commitment to going beyond its previously-stated goal of removing 17 highly-hazardous chemicals from the products it sells by 2020. Read More

June 9, 2020

Why the Larger Climate Movement Is Finally Embracing the Fight Against Environmental Racism

For decades, environmental-justice advocates in the U.S. have worked to bring attention to the heightened environmental risks faced by communities of color: higher levels of lead exposure, higher risks of facing catastrophic flooding, and poorer air quality, to name just a few. But progress has been slow on the national stage as the most powerful groups fighting for environmental rules, not to mention government leaders, have largely ignored them. Today, that conversation is changing. Read More

June 3, 2020

Coming Clean Stands in Solidarity with the Black Lives Matter Movement, Denounces Police Brutality and White Supremacy

Coming Clean stands in solidarity with those protesting the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Ahmaud Arbery and the culture of white supremacy and systemic racism that has caused the senseless loss of lives of countless other Black men, women and even children in our country at the hands of people and institutions that regularly escape being held accountable for their actions.

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