Atlanta Coalition Back from
Los Angeles Transportation Racism Fact-Finding Tour

 

 

ATLANTA, GA, February 14, 2000 - This past week a delegation from the newly-formed Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Equity Coalition or MATEC went on a transportation racism fact-finding visit to Los Angeles. The coalition was formed in the Fall of 1999 and has been holding meetings, briefings, reviewing Atlanta regional transportation documents, and assessing transportation equity issues in the Atlanta region. MATEC members include representatives from diverse sectors, including transit riders, civil rights groups, environmental justice networks, religious groups, neighborhood associations, academic institutions, and labor.

The primary mission of the four-day trip to Los Angeles was to observe and gather information on the ground-breaking organizing, technical, and legal transportation equity work of the Labor Community Strategy Center and Bus Riders Union. The LA groups sued the Los Angeles MTA over transit racism and won. Their victory included:

  • $1.5 billion dollars for new clean-fuel buses, service improvements, and lower fares
  • a landmark Civil Rights Consent Decree that can unlock billions more in the next years
  • an environmental justice organizing campaign to clean up the oil refineries in the harbor area
  • a vibrant multiracial grassroots organization of over 2000 dues-paying members
  • a No Seat No Fare! Campaign in which 30,000 bus riders participated in the summer of 1998.

Coalition representatives attended the Strategy Center-hosted workshops, participated in a class of the National School for Strategic Organizing, viewed the new Bus Riders Union documentary film by Academy Award cinematographer Haskell Wexler, and rode the MTA buses and trains to observe firsthand the problems and concerns (such as overcrowding and users getting passed up by buses) of LA transit users.

The coalition will discuss some of the lessons learned from Los Angeles and the possible implications for transportation decision making on low-income, African Americans, and other people of color in Metro Atlanta. The briefing will be held from 11:00am-12:30pm, February 15, 2000, in the Board Room (Room # 1036), Science Research Center Building on the campus of Clark Atlanta University (223 James P. Brawley Drive).

 

Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Equity Coalition
Delegation that went Los Angeles Trip
February 10-13, 2000

Academic/Research Institution

Dr. Robert D. Bullard is the Ware Professor of Sociology and Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. Dr. Bullard is the principal investigator on the Atlanta Transportation Equity Project (ATEP). His most recent books include Just Transportation: Dismantling Race and Class Barriers to Mobility (New Society Publishers, 1997) and Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta (Island Press, 2000).

Angel O. Torres is an urban planner and Geographic Information Systems Specialist in the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. He is the co-editor (with Glenn S. Johnson and Robert. D. Bullard) of a new book entitled Sprawl City: Race, Politics, and Planning in Atlanta (Island Press, 2000).

Community Base Organization

Jewell Johnson is Co-Chairperson of the Metropolitan Atlanta Transportation Equity Coalition or MATEC. A nurse and a longtime grassroots community activist, she is involved in many community-based initiatives, including the Association of West Cascade Communities, LocLomond Homeowners Association, and the Georgia State Employee’s Association.

Environmental Justice Network

Sherrill Marcus is a longtime civil rights and environmental justice organizer. He currently is on staff with the Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice (a partner in the ATEP), a South-wide network of African American grassroots environmental justice groups.

Religious Community

Rev. O.C. White, Jr. is a longtime religious and civil rights leader. He is the CEO of the Second Chance Community Services, Inc., a community based organization located in South DeKalb County.

Civil Rights Community

Rev. Fred D. Taylor is the Coordinator of Direct Action and Convenor Crisis Intervention Committee for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in Atlanta. A longtime civil rights leader, Rev. Taylor has received many awards for his work, including the Rosa Parks Award for Outstanding Leadership in Nonviolent Direct Action.

Organized Labor

Benita West is vice president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 732. She was elected to the Executive Board in 1997 and became the first female elected full-time officer in 1998. She is also a member of the ATU International Women’s Caucus.

Joel Edwards is a 24-year bus operator at MARTA. He was elected to the Executive Board of ATU Local 732 in 1999. He is a member of the Transportation Committee and Legislative Liaison.

Paul McClennan has been a mechanic and shop steward at MARTA for 12 years. He is a member of the Newsletter/Education Committee. He is also a delegate to the Atlanta Labor Council and member of Jobs with Justice.

Manual E. Garces has been a mechanic at MARTA for 16 years. He is a member of the Newsletter/Education Committee. He is also an officer of the newly-formed chapter of the Labor Council for Latin American Labor Advancement.

For more information please contact:

Dr. Robert D. Bullard
Environmental Justice Resource Center
(404) 880-6911

Sherrill Marcus
Southern Organizing Committee
(404) 755-2855