- hey, i'm valerie june. comin' up on "reel south." - [woman] it became this place at was a safe haven for black famies to bui a comnity - [verie] th histori african-erican town is engfed by iustr - [wom] yove got 1 dustrialacilities and tremendous potential for incidents and releases every day. - [verie] anone man refuses to leave his home and his ancestral community. - [stacey] my relatives are direct descendants of theeople wh unded movill freelave [valerie discer "mosslle" up nexon el south.

- [announcer] major funding for reel south was provided by etv endowment, the national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media and by south arts. additional funding for "mossville: when great trees fall" was provided by: [laid-back blues music] ["man done wrong" by valerie june] ♪ [sizzle sound] [dt thumpi] - do buri tes and adstones and weocated ilouisiana. pretty f me wathe ssville ea, you ow? i bu a lottaeople comeutta mosille mossvie's not g settlent, it's a alcommunity. but lotta pele do di [machine whirrin

[dark rebodingusic] [axe chopping] - an] oncehere was counity foded by fe slaves oignt piano sic] o lived ineace and happiness; a thriving community. we raised our own food. we looked out for one another. we insisted. [ax chopping] [poignt piano sic] inger huing]

yoknow, th's gone. it's a gone. shed oveand [saks fainy]. [eerie febodinmusic] [singer humming] [people chattering] [birds chirping] - we hustlin' bas right w to see w got theost balls. don'move until the ball move. javon,ustl don'move 'ti you t the ball. whever theall go, u goet it, y hear me? dot you st hustlin'.

fort. at clinking] , go geit, get it! goet i jan got it he's jt likey mother foeverythi in the rld. it like d never took herway. yeah, that's her. - [man] hule back. hule back,ay. [bat cliing] yo'bout toun. - you goa ru yogoa hust for it. y, we dot have no tper tantm. yowork forhat yowant [man] ma sure to gehim backere. - me - me. - he four? - ju turned ve. next yr, you gna be a terr. [chuces] - t that bl. - t it [batlinkg] theryou . i cod probab end up getn' him aee, so he cod practicehat. [carngine whring] fr you teln' me y'al had change e plugs

althe way ck in how 's reactin'. i do belve you he a blow ad gaskeon this ing. i ju can change thwater pump d say he take yo money. yeah, i preciate it. - you kn? - lots omechanics th just, "ah, okay. "we' gonna put ter pumpn it they do at and t car'still norunnin', so apprecie it can't doou like at. l i couldo is sh you i startedoin' is in mosslle aty das shop and they had cars baing . and first j i ever done w a hondaccor a he job on it. 12 yrs old not kwin' go' back a rth to t libry readinbooks, wteve - ye. - wh that fit little t of mon hit my hand 0-some bks. - oh, itas or. - [scoff school anmechanicork. th used toall me gasy in school 'cause ias so fullf engineil. [poignant piano music] i was nda g for my a, you know? but i walike a gtle giant,he bookworm, readg scnce book ploring ace. alwaysanted be a astronauwhere i ew u

my fher taug me and el that guides hand evertime iouch a wnch. e thingse taughte will lasa lifeti. and thway my d die layingn thgrou, nerves ttchin', it's vid in min [photogrher] one, two. ♪ go meemy sista ♪ we co together [man lauing] and you ink all me can sit in ts litt section? [fily chucing] [man] i ven't be t here. [chuckles] - last na is jackson. my mothewas a haman, t we areishe. we are w the strt is nad after,isher stet. [bir chirpin let's e.

thisere's my grt-great-andmothe anthat's ma allie. ntie's ne is aloaine, but call hepatsy. d th is my gndmother we call r toug-aay, t her me is lorraine. my gndmotheras the bkbone. myrandmother tght me a childreto belie in god anto not bk down froanything. [poignt piano si is is myreat-grafather. we cled him ppo. his al name frankisher and th picturend frame isver 100 ars old. ouland mea a lot tme cause myrandfath came here and built aome for grandmoer

at's ouroundatio [soft ponant mus] [singer humming] - [woman] after slavery was abolished, there was seven families that came here and we built a community. - [man] my grandfather migrated to a place that seemed to be more free. - [wom] oh, ll you gottundersta the's just brutal raal violence. aftethe civiwar througreconstrtion and in jim crow louisiana, it became this place that was a safe haven for black families to live and to build a community. - [erica] we had our schools, we had our church, we had our stores. we were safe here. mossville, you were free.

everyby knew erybody where erybody most was kin everybody. yoknow, yojust weren'afraid. [woman] were self-susining. at real nse of you know, were a comnity. [poignant chestralusic - an] l aroundhis area, ey have uit tree wild plu, muscade and pes. buwhen the pnts camen there, a them trs die. - oman] itas one pnt overnigh then thnext pla little b by litt bit and he we are rroundedy 'e - i remeer my fit time, my fst drivento the moville counit

actual, i cried. elicopteblades wrrin you've got 14 industri facilities where the's tonsf les, lots ofugitivemissions antremendo potential foincidents and relees everyay. thfaciliti operati as thought was noa communy, as tugh ther weret children, ashough the weret hos where ople slept. [fire ooshg] parts othe unit ates thaare tuck awa this is at industriization oks like [sofforebodi mus] - eporter]ossville ispeaking t tonight ying they lieve e fire at axiall's westlake chemical plant was worse than originally reported. a shelter in place was eventually issued for mossville in parts of sulphur and moss bluff. - [announcer] the public learned of a chemical spill om a pipine rangg from between to 47 mlion pounds ofthylene chlode. it was a sll considered on the larst in usistory. [soft iniguing mic]

- eporter] federal agency tesd the blood of8 areaesidents and fod high lels of dxins chical comunds tha ve been nked to ncer diabet and reprodtive proems. [sofintrigui music] - is is a mmunity at has come traformed. inger huing] finally,t was realed tha okay, sal wants is ld. - we'rhere todayo make an nounceme at sasolimited coulbe investing louisia'sargest econic develment project in ourtate's eire history. - sal standsor south afca synthic oil luid, s-a-o-l. and they begin purchasing land in mossville. [truck engine roarin

- we're beautif wntown msville. populaon: e. [truckngine roing] weere apprched by thproject nager. thfirst ofr they annoced to mwas $2,000. ttin' th fence u itends a msage to em that i'mot goingnywhe. my trailer ielf, it'not big, b it's coortable. it can sleep five. it's just been holdin' one, metimes o if my son me. he has tlive withis mom acss the rer

due to a the conructn. 's not se really fohim to bhere. you go wn the rd, every cuert you e was a use. ght hereas my grdparents my parts are bied two miles away from here. both of m died fm cancer. i st both andfathe at 52. justuried oubrother x weeks ago to liv dame. i st a unclet 56. he die30 days afr my momied. lost a uncle a 37, aunt at 44. l these mplicati alin' wi cancer. most othe peop moved tta thisrea. it just i ected totay behi beuse thers no other place r me [poignant piano musi

my relates are direct desceants ofhe peoplwho foundemossville: fr slaves o settle here in th1800 i'm justot gonna lethem runver me. [dll whirrg] [soft forebodingusic] - we're in the middle of the voluntary buyout area. buto me, ty're sayin', "you have no choice." "y either ay here ande miserable r you mo out wit at we ofr you." [bird cang]

well basally ey'rforcin' u ou they're in' on wh their cotrucon righthere in msville a 're stillivin' tre. - rely? you wa some mo pizza? - p. [chuckle where'sour plate? - [destie] here ster, come. - he, put th on [speakfaintly]. i n't knowhere hislates. where's ur platehandsome? whis that,ily? - aunt - aunt, ye. i mod outta ssville few years o when iot marri, but this istill me greatrandmoth used to live ere axia is and bere that,t was ppg. ey had tir homes, theicommunits and theyere boug out and th they moveto mossvle. and it's li history repeat' itself. mom lerally does no know wre she'sonna mov i cannotell my ppert but th're not nna op buildg the plant. i'm look' every day. but everday that loo it seem ke everying is gting higher

and high and higher. don't kn where i goi. to this day, i don't know where i'm goin'. [bird cawing] [soft foreboding music] - [stacey] ts tape holds the testony fromy parents. - llo, i'mandra ry and iss my husband alan ryan. wee all ve sic i' had cgested het failure, ereas myusband was und withance anhe's in age iv ocanc. noonly in e lungs,ut in the ler a the spleen. y is it e whole mmunity hathe samerobl? this picturef my family. my hband hasancer. i'vead cancer. th is my dghter dene. dene has eometriosis.

she cat have cldre my sons not in the piure here his me is stey alan an. has a b health oble he has a chemica sh arounhis neck, problems with hiurin he's hin' justs many problemsn his ma are asy daught's havin th endomrios. he'savin' the problems. doesn'take sens a familof fe and evybody in thhouse isick. - ey're huing realed. th took evything. everhing will thabe everying? everythingy whole tire lif evything iave no they're nna kille. we are human bngs too. the coloof mskin esn't ma me a dog. doesn'take a guea p. m humajust likyou. i eathe, ihink

ye i thinkust likeou. [static whshin - this tk place july. septemr 1st, hwas dead d then whin 10 yrs, mom's sge iv caer wiout her owin th rather t on topf us andump chemals on u d wait f us to d so they caget the nd dirt eap. you ow, thiss it. this iwhy i ght. [soft fobodi mus] th trailerere, this iall we he. tell mewould you ght to kp it? [st poigna mus]

[singer humming] - wanna asyou now out the vestment ca for sas's stock. this a me-changer? 14illion udolls. the vernor olouisian extrely excited abouthe foren direct iestmt. in ft, if he correct, it the bigst in histy of the us. let's about thfunding ney. is it sol and sol alone? - will coider other ternatives. but weor that ecific site, our prefencey far wod be to beholly sal-ned and toun that secunda louisiana. [dark rebodingusic]

- [mansasol's ant atecunda is the bgest soue of carbonioxide othe planet. - [manin secun, peopleave en forceoff theiland. you have aindustryhat n polluteveryone. - sasowas the ste-owned ergy comny establhed by t south afrin aparthd governnt. cotries li great britn were sin', "they' not gon ship oil you anyre." uth afrin governnt sd, "wwill fina way to ma our ownnerg" they eablishedasol for thpurpose being an enginfor raci apartheid. [dark rebodingusic

- we're rrently sasolbu. everythi is run sasol here. everhing ithe town iowned byhem. we have one huge petrochecal sect, th we haveifferent chical plants. therwas an aa where whitpeople we living. bubecause the wind decti, white peop were rettle so bla people re dumped izaela townip. [st poigna music] [man speaking in foreign language] [birds chirping] - when you we up in the mile of thnight, th's when u wi see wha happeni outsideasol

it's le they a saying, "let pollutehem ile theyre sleepg." our township is called zamdela and many people from rural area were bught to sol for jooprtunities. they'rall comi om theiromeld. th came he because they tught the liv e going improveccording tohe promis of sasol. ey will me here d they wilwork her they wilnot go bk ho. that'shy they ll it zaela. means fgetting abt the peon. ire crackling] [soft ignant mic] [peoe chatteng]

- we a on a day bas organing again oil angas mpanies, our chical indtrie must ma sure th our peoplere partipati in the dision-mang processes. in aica, lanis importanto lif thout la, you dot have hum dignity. indigeus basut peop lived here before these plants arrid here antheir la were tan aw. d you sethat ross theorld: afri, asia a rrently e us [sofpoignantusic - an] envinmental instice anracism e still very csely lied concepts. this ideof dispoble others. if peoplhave a differenskin col, yocan treathem as if there not han. they calive in e sme, ey can le in theollution. they c be th nce-li cmunities.

[wd whooshg] - stacey still tre. sal still nts his oper. coanies li sasol a ed to gein' theiway. cal publ officials sically ld staceryan that he'been livg the. "butow that ur property heavy iustrl, "we can't gi u any utities. "we cat give y y sewer,ater e can't t you permits for eltric." - i've had the pow nes tan down around mmobile he, bein' deed water. had my ser systedestroye

anything that n be don th'll try discoure me has bn do. all the ue barre e my wat barrels lorined,eady-to-go. is is a memade stic syst and it'lsteadilyrip chlone ino cut do on the or. when need toower uphe mobilhome or fire electriheater, turn othe truc plug 'ein, th gives mat let two ouets wheri could rn on electric bner or hter orower up laptop antv for t moment. ght now,y body became fl of inftion. had boilbreaking ouall over me. i have o i'm coving up that tryin' develop.

♪ tt's the und of t n workinon the tin ♪ l right. ft ht, war. that'lwork. oft foreding mus] - a tta peop like tose the "whyidn't th fight?" buyou coulstart wi avery. [uckles stly] welways foht. it's in r blood to fight. it's natal to fight. ♪ sicess, canr that you gave ♪ ♪ senng us burning graves ♪ sickns, cance at you ge ♪ ♪ senng us tourning gves - we s enoh isnoug enough ienough. - enou! - [dothy] th is about r human ghts

- [man] at'sight [protests cheering] ♪asol buyout isn't fair ♪asol givus our fr she ♪ sasoluyout ist fa ♪ sol give our fr she - s that mossvle's first otes - mossvie's firsprott. r and brklyn you sebrooklynn the back? i guess en the pole came at 'e we had go. yeah, a tta peop t arrest that day. - this prote was he. - ah, it wasp at theandfill that w comin' mossville. okay, th thefound out ey were mpin' al at stuffack there bere theeven gothe permit tdo the ldfill. you rember that? anthat's wt the plan do at nht: they lig up the skies. - ye indeed. - whether yowin or lose, yocan go qetly or yocan get anday at lst my voe was hear

[fuel trkling] [genator ruming] oft serene music] i'm addied tthe ligh it's le a furistic cityn front you. yourmaginati takes hd and you eam of t future. from aistance with theerie glo that's wt it loo like: a ci from thfutu.

oft sere mus] we're in strange strae landere. this pla is like noan's lan since i s littlelate at night en you l on thporch and yocould se ese flar go off. yocan acally feethe heat it was butiful, dangous too. t we didt know tt. [smoke woshing] [st forebong music

[sinr hummin e averagperson viting ourommunity theyould ask hat's thsmell?" t when y lived int all yo lif you n't smel e smel anymore. the plant worked at, they madbinochlode. that ia known rcinogen it attac the nerus system to whe your bo shuts down. it well-knn if youork there eathin' is stuffn. it'sorta lika tire with nail in it. it swly, swly goesown to the pnt wheret'd take you f the fa of thisarth.

oft foreding mus] [singer mming] [tor whooshi] th is my oy way to rlly cook d not bu too muc s or elericity. [raipatterin [thuer cracking] [tck enginrumbling

ain pattering] [thuer crackg] [soft soothing music] i was like 11 years old when i planted this thing. the thing gave way due to ground-wat saturation, poor drainage due to all the construction work going on. it just couldn't hold itself up anymore. [soft poignant music] axchopping

[siren wailing] [fire crackling] - there's a fire and then a secondary explosion d anothecloud of black sme, you kw? that's jt a typil day in msville. i gueslater onhey'll he a reportbout wt happened. we'll kn exactlyhat it w. thiss defitely notn'ew. [p sizzling] yeahi still rk in thplant. i'm a ion boarmake worked ifiveiffere ants arod here. off cityervice rd, they makplastics. t fu over he at sasol. they me a lottthin th really lps the wod go 'rod, you know? t i justhink theshould be away om residtial are.

this is out the th house weooked at th the aunt of mey that sas's gon give us we're nna ben debt aft we ve and 's discoagg. - [realt] you in' the yout frosasol? uld you open to a mobe ho? if you'ropen to looking me biggethree bedroo that maybe you could double people up or somethin', you know? let know abt that. - [erica] i'm willin' to do that too. - how do i keep you in that price range? lemme see what i can find. i'll send you an email with options when i get that done later on. - ay, thatl wo. - ke emailinme pleas

okay, well we'll keep lookin'. oft poignant music] - welle gonna sle on thi boy. c'mon. co off theain, son. the prince of learles. you stl a prince. you ow that? - ah. - m a prin too - s. - ur grand was a pnce. and pop p is a pnce. - mm-hmm. - dad,atch thi what youot? - lookt me ohh. - hilivin' wh his mom is sessful f me. he juscannot le in a traer with me becausof my lin' conditio now forced un me, yoknow is'll be the fir christmas he w't have ristmas inde the mile home. so it what it is. - ok. dad, looat this.chuckles i [spes faintly]. [truck eine roaring]

- it's sorta like someone droppin' tap water on your skull 24/7. and now they built dirt so high, they can just walk live down on your property. norivacy wtsoever,ou kw? nstantonstannois the fee is supsed to cut downn the noise. yeah, right. to them, i don't exist they tell people tha one liv here. i'm trtin'em like th don't exist. they don't wave, i don't wave back, you know? theyurn thei ad, i tu my ad anthat's h we're coexting outere. [tru enginesoaring]

- [secury guard]hat up? easy. cat block . oft foreding mus] - turnt of turn ioff. he has aight to ave. - not onhis stet. turn it off. - fr access my prer. - tu it off ough you're n on e free stet ride mor - why wee no - not onhis street. - itas to to my place has to free reigto my house. you nnot blo me from gn' to myouse in fac you bckin' me rht n. this ifree acces [soft triguingusic]

yes, mam. i ne a membeof a sheff departme or someone to come t to vcmlant road. it's fth avenu i'll nd access tohe sasolite. well i'mtill reside of mosslle ani'm havi probls geing off property. sol secuty is blocng the road. won'let me et ofmy property, yin' tt it inow a prive road which it's t. it hado be lefpublic f me. - [offer] okayhow long? - i'veeen fighng this for a ar and aalf. but more now theast month, they've beenore aggresve with is, deny' me accs to my me. theyaid that thewere nna log e report [soft ponant mus] [singer calizing

- me on, tus. mon. and tit would take little lk through e neighbhood 's our ltle routine. the ki would r from hi 'cause ty were sred. [titusanti] the was a tta peop in t neighboood. [truckoari] would s and vis with some of e people at thchurch or miss rnard wh usedo sit onhe pch and ve at mell the te. oh yesi miss tt. [tru roaring e schools gone. whe my auntiused to ay, they n have an ovpass goi up.

oft poignt music you dot see an aces of anywher toveryone se, all th see nows sasol. it doesn look likee were he. ey're asing everything. everytng. oft poignt music inger huing]

- me a my faer. me wn i was ttle. our andr i nsider melf like ald dinosr, thfossil w stayed hind yoknow? theyay thayou're n her 's likyou don'exis [soft ponant mus]

they'vbeen sloy slowly increang theiruyout amnt, trying tget me off the prerty [drillhirring]

[soft foreboding music] [truck enginroaring]

[tractor enge rumbli] [dt thumpi] [sofforebodi mus] mom, m, mom,ad? justive me aittle stngth. he your soout. giveim a lite strength. ne youbig n stairsdear ld. leme hold t long enough to s my babyaised. want to e my chi raised. then can go et my pants. [engine aring] tacey siing]

[soft rebodingusic] [enginroaring] [stacebreathinheavily] [eine sptering

[dark foboding mic] [enginroaring] onitor bping] for some reason i started bleeding from the ears. i got on the ground and laid on the ground for the longest of time. [monitor beeping] [stacey coughing]

i'm justed up. fed up just wi this placcompletely. - we're at destinee's house, my youngest daughter in maplewood. it's predominantly white, but i'm sure she deals with some of the samehings we dealt with in mossville. she's not quite aslose as i am toonoco ansasol, b e's justs close axil. - so we moved hereo maplewd annow axia's expanng. thereonna ba good enoh bufferone betweeus and them? you kn, from wre we are w, i don kno fr generatn to generion, we've en force out our homes. my greatrandmoth, my grandmher, my m, you know? and wh are the gonndo with us? i don'know - y, you wna see t tru?

you sethe truck? th's a bigruck, huh? beuse of t ttlemente got, i'veiven u okin' for a ho. [titusarki] so i'muyin' a pie of ppert and i'm ttin me trails ont and possly renti some trailerso some wkers so i he when wmove, weind a ple where 're not suounded bplan. and ouwater ist contamated withomethi that's pooning oubodi. and itoesn't iitate ouskin d we won have manyealth oblems. oft somb music]

- i ha a pho of mgrandfatr anmy fathelooks just likmy grandther and look jt likey faer and my s looks jt like me. you go wn the le and you e people dyg of cancer, ishis the te meantor m thdoctors ll me, y know, might noeven liv see h graduate as bad as my body's deteriorating. my wish is for him to be far away from this place tond this curse.

[st ponant mus] thislace rht here xas, looat the ction. theyl welcomme hand ov foot if do come "votedest placto raise ki in texas." defitely no ants or nothi involved and voa, a mapf the place. everythi is ju perfect th is my dam f him and myuture fomy grandchiren withim. - by my signature and stacey ryan signature below,

stacey ryan hereby accepts sasol's offer. here you go,ou wanna si right he. this'll haen fairl ickly, scey. [soft somb mus] - i ju can't kp up withousome outsideupport. at this point, i need to do whatever i can as a father d make se that he'sak care of beforey body deteorates a more. [soft foboding music]

- you can see all of the township from here and you can see the view of the refinery. we fd that black people are continuously being settled in betwe oil a emical riners. [soft ignant mic] our stggle is llectivetruggl 's auman strgle for hun surviv. - the re we ca e the coectivity tween wh's happeng in mosslle and o we are, i ink the re opportunies theris to make the nd of re seismic changehat's need. how many more mossvilles do we need

before we say enough is enough? [soft poignant music] [destinee and child chattering] - want my ds to lo back. i want them know abt myreat gramoth and hehome ander street, sher street. there's reets med afteour fami becae we liv her th's wherehis journestarted r us. every old piure, i've gta find it. i'gonna ke it and i'gonna hoe it i'm gonnshow thetheir people and i'm goa show themhe houses that werthere an m gonna ow tm noto let t same thinhappen ain. you fighfor youreople. neveforget wre you me fm. becae you co from a lile placealled moville. sohen you're out doinbig thin,

u never rget where u come from. oft poignt music] [child chattering] [sinr hummin [soft ponant mus] - ce thereas a comnity found by freslaves who ved in pce and happess.

i wa people knowe existe [tv atic] [sombemusic] ♪ ♪ ♪ [soft poignant music]

♪ ♪ ♪ [laid-back blues music] ["man done wrong" by valerie june] ♪ - [announcer] major funding for reel south was provided by etv endowment, the national endowment for the arts, center for asian-american media and by south arts. additional funding for "mossville: when great trees fall" was provided by: ♪♪ u're wating pbs.

♪♪

well we at bioneers have worked long and hard to cover many of the critically important issues of our time as possible, and to be as inclusive of as many of the groups working for justice, peace, and a healthy planet as we can. we ve always included presenters from a wide range of backgrounds, working in a broad spectrum of domains. indigenous voices have been central to bioneers since we started, and early on we saw the critical importance of the environmental justice movement and sought to highlight leaders whose message was that social justice,