Environmental Justice Champion Pamela Bingham on How Childhood Experiences with Environmental Racism in the American South Shaped her Career and Work with Girl Scouts Of Color

This is an extended conversation with Pamela BIngham whose entire life and the life of her family has been shaped by water and environmental injustice. Pamela grew up in Mississippi where she learned that all of the plantations are along the river so that they could ship their products.

She talks about the many ways in which children's lives are impacted by water, whether it's Black children who drowned because they never learned how to swim, or lack of water infrastructure or flood control for black populations as she saw in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and her work in Jackson Mississippi today.

Pamela talks about her experience with desegregation in the public school system, and reflects on her family's history and the importance of the Mississippi River in the geography and economy of many cities in the region, where plantations lined the river for shipping purposes, with families like hers, descended from slaves, continuing to live in several cities along the river. She mentions the devastating effects of the Flood of 1927 - where Black neighborhoods were least protected and most impacted - and its role in the Great Migration.

Pamela also talks about the traumatizing experience of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath on her and her family, who have PTSD from the experience. She expresses her frustration that the government did not do more to prepare for the disaster, despite simulations and warnings. She believes that the vulnerability of the area was well-known, and that those in power failed to take the necessary precautions.

She talks about her career journey and how that led to her current work in Environmental Justice. In addition to her work at the Center for Environmental Justice at the University of Maryland and similar organizations, she volunteers extensively with girl scouts, especially those troops from communities of color, preparing them for careers like hers as "Social Impact Engineers".  

We talk about challenges of being a solo consultant, which may Women and People of Color do when they find their careers with larger water organizations interrupted. They also talk about the demands on Women and especially Women Of Color to care for family members, as Pamela did with her mother. They discuss the healthcare system and caregiving, highlighting the difficulties of obtaining a diagnosis and accessing appropriate care, resulting in Women Water Professionals responsible for caregiving and the financial burden it can have on women, particularly as they age. They talk about the benefits of introducing Virtual Healthcare options during COVID, although that access to these programs can be limited by issues such as internet connectivity and profitability.

In closing, the speakers talked about the challenges and opportunities facing women in the water industry. They discussed the importance of educating and training the next generation of women to address issues related to water scarcity and contamination. The speakers also highlighted the need for collaboration and solutions to address the problem of women and people of color leaving the water industry and to continue to work with organizations like the Girl Scouts - particularly in Communities of Color - to develop future champions of Water and Environmental Justice.