Articles

Climates of Inequalities has gained the attention of dozens of news outlets.

Example: https://today.uic.edu/climates-of-inequality-exhibition-opens-at-chicago-justice-gallery

Summary: The Chicago Climates of Inequality exhibition, presented at the UIC Chicago Justice Gallery, was organized by the UIC Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center and the Social Justice Initiative, in collaboration with Alianza Americas and the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. Part of the larger Humanities Action Lab’s Climates of Inequality project, the exhibition represents a four-year international collaboration among more than 500 students, educators, and environmental justice leaders from over 20 cities across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Mexico. The UIC installation features seven of the project’s 22 stories, including one focused on Little Village, a Chicago neighborhood long affected by industrial pollution and environmental neglect.

Executive director Rosa Cabrera highlighted that the exhibit situates climate change as a social justice issue, emphasizing the ongoing struggles and resilience of communities in Chicago’s “sacrifice zones”—areas in industrial corridors where predominantly Black and Latinx low-income residents face disproportionate health risks from pollution. Students in Cabrera’s environmental and social justice class contributed by collecting local stories and creating panels that document these systemic injustices and grassroots solutions. During the grand opening, Cabrera also honored Hazel M. Johnson, the “mother of the environmental justice movement,” whose daughter Cheryl Johnson attended the event.