Hazel Johnson saw cancer, brain damage, respiratory disease, and other problems in her community due to polluted air and water in Chicago. She saw these problems and organized everyday people in her neighborhood and community to work for environmental justice. A new documentary podcast, “Help This Garden Grow” tells her story, and how she founded People for Community Recovery to advocate for clean air and water on Chicago’s Southeast and Far South sides, especially in her home Altgeld Gardens. She was a Black woman, a mother, and inspired a generation of climate activism in Chicago. The MacArthur-supported podcast hopes to bring her story beyond the community she transformed.
