Friend,

Growing up, I thought the air pollution in Southwest Detroit was normal.

But over time I learned how corporate CEOs often treat Black and brown communities like we’re expendable, just for the sake of profits. And how, through campaign contributions and high-priced lobbyists, they dictate our public policy so they can escape accountability.

Throughout my career in public service, I’ve stood alongside environmental justice activists to take on billionaire bullies and protect our right to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

This month, a dock collapsed at a former radioactive processing center, into the Detroit River. This collapse occurred right by an intake site for a drinking water system upon which millions of Michiganders depend. Outrageously, the public didn’t find out about this until a week later, when Canadian journalists reported on it and warned of a possible uranium spill.

As Justin Onwenu, a local environmental justice organizer with the Sierra Club, said: “How in the world is it possible that we are hearing from Canadian news networks, days late at that, before we are hearing from our own authorities in charge of protecting us?”

So, I worked with Justin and other community leaders to put together a public townhall about this incident, and sent a letter to the EPA and the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), requesting immediate testing, any needed cleanup, and accountability for Detroit Bulk Storage and Revere Dock LLC—which did not notify officials or the public about the incident, instead seemingly working to cover up the collapse.

The agencies informed me that they didn’t find any radiation, but I’m still asking for more in-depth testing and plan to keep national attention on this issue.

Because we deserve answers. Because holding corporations accountable takes all of us demanding it. Because I remember back when Michigan’s environmental agency told us that the toxic piles of petroleum coke along Detroit’s waterfront were safe.

Can you make an end-of-year contribution to my re-election campaign today, so we can hold corporate polluters accountable?

For too long, corporations have treated our community like a dumping ground. And understandably, people began to lose faith in our government, which is supposed to safeguard us from pollution.

Our community has been unheard for too long—which is why I’ve been bringing Congressmembers, presidential candidates, and state leaders to Michigan’s #13thDistrictStrong to listen to people on the ground, who are leading the way on the frontlines of social and environmental movements for justice.

Recently, Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren each came to speak with my district’s residents about environmental justice. And earlier this year, in the wake of a noxious gas leak at a nearby Marathon Oil refinery, we brought the House Oversight & Reform Subcommittee on Environment to Michigan's 13th District for a hearing about air and water quality, as well as environmental injustice and racism.

People in power need to come here to learn about what happens when we invest in polluting corporations and billionaires rather than communities and schools.

Here, our children are struggling to breathe because corporate polluters have poisoned our water and our air without accountability. Here, schools are closing or getting their water turned off because it’s unsafe to drink. And here, Marathon Oil violates its air permits while pocketing massive profits for its executives and shareholders.

The 8,000 people in the 48217 zip code live in the shadow of Michigan’s only oil refinery, auto and steel industry plants, and other major corporate polluters. In total, there are 52 heavy industrial sites within just 3 square miles, putting out dozens of toxic chemicals.

That means children have elevated blood lead levels, infant mortality is twice the rate of the rest of Michigan, and many residents suffer from health problems like asthma and cancer, which lead to lower life expectancy rates.

In the face of this crisis, I’m inspired every day by our community’s resilience. One important example of our community’s resilience is the Eden Park Community Project, which is advocating for residents and fighting for environmental justice—including demanding that the Marathon Oil refinery pay for air quality monitors for the area. Eden Park aims to create much-needed green space and gardens, which would not only bring beauty to the community, but also serve as a buffer to mitigate air pollution.

Every corner of our district is a reminder that people power prevails.

Detroit has birthed many interconnected movements for justice. We aren’t constrained by the corporate conventional wisdom of what’s possible.

We know that we are worth fighting for. And we know that the biggest threat to our democracy and our well-being isn’t just corporate greed—it’s the people in government who protect corporations rather than public health.

That’s why I first ran for public office as a State Representative and later for the U.S. Congress—to stand up to corporate and billionaire bullies, and to fight for justice for #13thDistrictStrong.

Will you make an end-of-year contribution to my re-election campaign today so we can keep fighting for environmental justice and a world where people come before profits?

Thank you for all that you do to demand environmental justice for all of our communities.

Always serving you,

Rashida