April Member Spotlight: Evy Mayo, Environmental Justice Champion
This month we are featuring a conversation with longtime member Evy Mayo, Chair of Downwinders at Risk and Amy King, Good Coworking Co-Founder.
AK: Tell me about Downwinders at Risk’s mission and what’s a current initiative that you’re working on? Also, what is your new role with Paul Quinn College?
EM: Our mission is to build a grassroots constituency to address environmental justice issues, to improve both the quality of our air and the quality of our democracy. I am working on creating neighborhood land use plans in Southern Dallas that separate people from polluters and promote a grassroots vision for the community. My new role at PQC is aligned with this work as the inaugural Urban Research Fellow focusing on bringing students into community problem solving through research.
AK: You recently celebrated a victory in South Dallas with the removal of Shingle Mountain. What is next for Marsha and her community?
EM: While the mountain is gone, the land is still industrially zoned and has not been remediated. Floral Farms created a grassroots neighborhood plan that identified the site as ideal for a park and community gathering place. We are pushing for the city to work with us on getting the neighborhood plan adopted, and to develop a park and green space on the land once it is fully remediated. THis is the only way to push for a full remediation and prevent future industrial bad actors from coming in.
AK: What do you wish people better understood about the perils of poor air quality in DFW and beyond?
EM: That we don't even know the full extent of the damage it does to our health. Our bodies, brains and emotions can be impacted by this stuff, so we should take it very seriously.
AK: Why did you choose the path of community organizer and what do you like to do when you’re not organizing?
EM: I didn't really wake up one day and decide I wanted to be an organizer. I became an organizer because the way things were done and the decisions being made, made me angry. I was organizing before I even knew it was a thing with a name that could be a job. As Kurt Vonnegut summed it up nicely: "I don't know about you, but I practice disorganized religion. I belong to an unholy disorder, we call ourselves 'Our Lady of Perpetual Astonishment." I feel perpetually astonished by the lack of accountability and just decision making, so am in the business of trying to change that.
When I am not organizing, I love to paint portraits of people close to me, walk around my neighborhood with my boyfriend, and drink beer with my friends.