Time Bomb: Two Hundred Years of Toxic Disavowal in Late Industrial South Baltimore

In December 2021, South Baltimoreans watched as a devastating blast at the CSX coal terminal broke windows and sent a thick layer of carcinogenic coal dust into the air, which coated every surface in a 12-block radius. Deliberations at the city, state, and corporate level since have concerned how to prevent the next catastrophe. Palatable interventions range from promoting better coordination between industry and first responders in the event of trouble, to improving neighborhood alerts, to facilitating mass displacement. Decidedly off the table have been meaningful responses to the everyday disasters that have cut lives short on this industrial peninsula for the past two centuries. 

South Baltimore has seen such a drama unfold before—most spectacularly during the late Cold War, when industrial accidents were on the rise and residents made sick over years of toxic exposure were moved to organize for recompense. Rather than politicize their health to do so, they learned to dramatize their imminent demise in the event of the next emergency. In the sense that they eventually secured a buyout of their homes, this argument was a success. But it hinged on an agreement to limit charges to the hypothetical. It proceeded as if the gravest obstacles to life lay then, in the devastating future, and not now, ambient and tedious. Examining how residents came to strike this painful bargain, the bleak conditions that made it seem like their best choice, and the painful resonance of both in the wake of the CSX explosion, I consider what it means to privilege an analysis that works over an analysis that speaks to life as lived—especially when the former holds that a hypothetical death carries more political value than a real one.

https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/hcst/events/127313

Best,

Chloe <3

• Read for an hour each day. It doesn't have to be related to your major. Just the act of focusing on something intently for an hour (put that phone on silent!) will help you ease back into school in the fall
• Use Khan Academy or YouTube to brush up on foundational skills for your upcoming courses
• Volunteer - whether it's a hospital, food pantry, or somewhere else, this will help you find some purpose and practice talking to new people (which is great for your networking skills). Get in touch with the Shriver Center if you're not sure where to start!
• Go on some nerdy deep dives -- is there a cool podcast about something that interests you? Find ways to really enjoy learning