The Substance that Both Creates and Maintains Life
So how do the everyday people living near these Petcoke facilities feel about the product?
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Everyday PeopleResidents who live in the South-East side of Chicago are struggle everyday because of low income, low-wage jobs, and now, black dust. Petroleum Coke, or Petcoke, is a byproduct of refined oil. Petcoke comes from tar sands, like those in Alberta, Canada, and is refined into heavy crude oil (bottom of the barrel oil that is hazardous to people). For more information, visit https://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdph/supp_info/env ironmental_permitsandregulation/what-is-petroleum-coke-.html Kate Koval, longtime resident and Founding Member, Chicago Southeast Side Coalition to Ban PetcokeOlga Bautista, is a resident who lives near the Chicago Petcoke facilities; she is a mother and an activist for the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke (SSCBP) Local resident of the South-East Side of Chicago Martin Morales is a resident of the South-East Side of Chicago Brenda Garcia,is a resident of the South-East Side of Chicago Local resident of the South-East Side of Chicago
On October 9th, 2016, I visited the Museum of Contemporary Photography in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The museum was showing the Petcoke: Tracing Dirty Energy exhibition. I visted the museum on the last day of the Petcoke exhibit. I had never before been to this specific museum, and my first opinion was that it was small in size. The museum's address was on 600 Michigan Avenue. It is easy to miss if not paying close attention. When I walked in, I first noticed the numerous photographs and artwork. Som of the artwork was different, to say the least. However, it was still interesting. There were a number of glass tear-like drops made of glass, and inside, in each one, there was something odd. Sometimes it would be fur, dirt, garbage, and various things found dead or thrown away due to the effect of petcoke. There were a total of three floors. The first was all the pictures and art. The second floor included the many activists who participated in the protest on the Koch Brothers facilities on the South Side of Chicago; in addition, it also involved their stories, what they have accomplished, and more. Two of the rooms on the first floor had three benches and three screens playing three different projectors. One of the movie clips showed the affect of Petcoke when touched by a human hand, how the by-product is maintained at the facility, and the environmental effects of the black dust. This even might be more successful if it was closer to the South Side of Chicago. An exhibit should be open there because the problem is occuring there. Yes, people want to raise awareness so others could contribue, but many people on the South Side of Chicago do not even know about the facility or what it does. My website is intended to promote the cause in the fight for safer ways of storing and shipping Petcoke. A more ambitious cause is closing down this facility that has created a wasteland in the South Side of Chicago. The product not only harms humans, but also our land and water. I will promote the website through social media. I am only one voice among thousands of voices, many of them the residents in the nearby area of the storage facility. My website will spread the word. As an English major, with a double concentration in professional writing and media, rhetoric, and cultural studies, I will write a blog as a continuing contribution to the video, along with the interviews I will conduct in the community. I will get information from the people who are affected, and not the politicians and lobbyists who are at the heart of this environmental disaster. |
About the AuthorHristo K. Bojilov attended the University of Illinois at Chicago where he was an English major with a double concentration in Professional Writing and Media, Rhetorical and Cultural Studies. ArchivesCategories |