VOICES OF RESILIENCE
A Nashville Environmental Justice Initiative Story Archive
A collaboration of the Nashville Environmental Justice Initiative, Urban Green Lab and Tennessee State University are creating a unique archive of oral histories to foster active community listening and address the growing issues brought by a shifting climate.
The archive features the voices of some Nashville community members experiencing climate change first, worst, and longest. Each person shares their story, allowing us to document this moment in Nashville's history in their voice and perspective.
Click the button to view the interactive storymap.
Listen to the Archive
Listener Note: These interviews may contain references to drug use, suicide, domestic violence, and illegal activities.
Nashvillian in Community Gardening
"I have never experienced this…ever. It’s like there used to be a shield where the sun gets through, but now…you feel like your blood is boiling. We have to be realistic; it’s too hot. The same sun, the same time or year, it’s threatening. [Being outside] it used to be joyful, but now it's... uncomfortable. Most little children do not be outside…ever.”
Climate Connection
As cities continue to grow, so does the intensity of the heat trapped within them. Concrete buildings, asphalt roads, and limited green space contribute to what's known as the urban heat island effect, where urban areas experience higher temperatures than surrounding rural areas.
Urban heat doesn't just make Nashville summers uncomfortable—it can have serious, long-term consequences, particularly for vulnerable populations who are already facing multiple layers of inequality. Many of the city’s most vulnerable residents live in areas close to heavy industry, busy highways, and overdeveloped spaces—places where the heat is often felt more intensely. Without enough green spaces or cooling resources like cooling shelters, and with pollution levels higher in these areas, the health risks are much greater, too. Designing or revitalizing cities with greenspace like Brooklyn Heights Community is the most effective, long-term solution to combating the urban heat island effect.
This is a reality that Ms. Pearl knows all too well. The sweltering heat she describes is a growing struggle in her North Nashville neighborhood, and unfortunately, it’s not an isolated experience. As Nashville continues to expand, the effects of extreme heat on human health, well-being, and the environment are becoming even more urgent. For Nashville's marginalized communities, the rising temperatures aren't just an inconvenience—they're a real public health concern that demands our attention.
Additional Information
Hear from Vicky Batcher
Nashvillian Who has Experienced Homelessness
"I think it's just going to come to a time when we won’t be able to predict the weather anymore. It seems to be colder longer and hotter quicker. You don’t have that week to prepare. Being homeless, you had a week to prepare… We need to be able to prepare…but now…There is no slow progress into the seasons. We don’t have time to prepare. Pretty soon, we’re not going to have a spring or autumn."
Climate Connection
Unhoused Nashvillians like Vicky, who live among the elements, are more attuned than most to the shifting climate. This community experiences these changes first, worst, and longest. Often, we associate climate changes with warmer temperatures but the outcomes of shifting climate are more varied and far-reaching.
Vicky’s experiences indicate a significant departure from climate patterns as we know them in Middle Tennessee. As she correctly predicts, our seasons are evolving into something manifestly new. Our ability to read these dramatic seasonal shifts directly impacts those living outdoors. These rapid pivots in our climate also test our city’s capacity to prepare for more dire consequences.
For folks like Vicky, we have moved away from communities that work in concert with the outdoor world rather than in spite of it. A better Nashville will require a return to a whole environmental approach to our city’s design and development.
Additional Information
Hear from David Wooten & Terri Masterson
Nashvillians in Transitional Housing
"People don't look at [climate change] though. They think of weather, they think of rain and snow. You know, when you say weather, that's what you think of, rain and snow. No, it's really dangerous. I mean, hurricanes have gotten so much worse. Tornadoes have got to where now they don't come in one or two, they come in three or four at a time. No, there wasn't as much flooding back then either. Back then it was unheard of. It just didn't happen near as much as it seems to happen today."
[Audio Clip Coming]
Climate Connection
David and Terri's experiences living in tent encampments in Middle Tennessee highlight the severe challenges of surviving extreme weather, particularly harsher winters among vulnerable populations. With increasingly extreme cold snaps and longer summers, the homeless community faces tough conditions that test their survival skills. For David, who uses a wheelchair, the cold is even more difficult to manage, making it harder for both him and Terri to stay safe and warm. Despite these struggles, David and Terri along with others in the homeless community, demonstrate remarkable resilience, adapting to the harsh conditions with resourcefulness and adaptive strategies.
David and Terri's story shows how people can adapt to changes in the climate across the board, even in industries like construction. With decades of experience as a framer before his disability, David has seen how construction techniques have had to evolve to withstand stronger storms and more extreme weather, such as tornadoes and floods. In response, building codes and methods in Middle Tennessee will have to adapt quickly to meet the need. However, making these changes comes with higher costs for resilient construction materials, the need for a labor force skilled in adaptive building practices, and updates to Nashville codes and permits. All of which local businesses and decision-makers will have to contend with to forge a sustainable solution
Additional Information
Hear from Frederick Cawthon
Nashvillian in Sustainable Agribusiness
“This is not normal. And you can layer over and look at the data where greenhouse gas emissions, when they're increasing, and then layer over, okay, when do we start seeing all these tornadoes and everything is just expanded, where the seasons are expanding. And then even if you look at the degree days and how we keep rising, we're getting hotter and hotter. We're doing that.”
Climate Connection
Frederick’s business focuses on the agricultural, medicinal, and industrial applications of hemp. Frederick sees this crop as an intersecting opportunity for commerce and agriculture – the very words on the state seal. He envisions a new type of agribusiness, one that reimagines a system where agriculture and commerce aren’t in conflict, where the scales of earth’s resources, people, and prosperity find equilibrium, and where equity and access are expected. His mother’s cancer trials led Frederick to pose introspective questions about the tension we often feel between natural and human systems. It is a tension of our own making, one that Frederick believes can be relieved through indigenous wisdom, which suggests a return to a more equitable balance between people and planet.
Frederick’s story connects the dots between our impact on the planet, the negative health, environmental, and economic outcomes impacting loved ones, and the perceptible shift towards more sustainable solutions in business and beyond. He’s stumbled on the form of true resiliency, something those who seek true environmental justice strive towards.
Additional Information
Hear from Kate Fields
Native Nashvillian Feeding the Flocks
“Food Justice, it’s essentially when folks are able to have enough culturally appropriate foods, when they {do not} wonder about where their next meal is going to come from. They have access to fresh foods. That we all get to have those things that we need to nourish our bodies in healthy ways.”
[Audio File Coming Soon]
Climate Connection
Seasonal changes, extremes in temperature, and more frequent, severe weather events do not only affect day-in-day-out Nashvillian activities. These specific climate shifts directly impact food production. Climate shift consequences include growing predictability in the planting schedule, erratic dips or overflow in rainfall, soil degradation, lower, less nutritious crop yield, and an increase in pests and plant disease. These consequences can trigger secondary consequences that disrupt the local food system altogether. Disruptions to Nashville’s food system reduce local availability, drive higher prices for food with less nutritious value, and create a greater dependence on food produced and processed outside of the local system. Collectively, these effects have been exacerbating issues with food insecurity and healthy food access that plague our city. Food justice in Nashville is a growing concern as the city grapples with issues of food insecurity, inequitable access to healthy food, and the disproportionate impact on marginalized communities.
A recent study by Vanderbilt University Medical Center found a staggering 40% of Tennessee families are food insecure. According to a companion study, Metro Social Services departments, 1 out of 10 Nashvillians are food insecure. This is a blatant irony in a state with a long tradition of agriculture. The Tennessee state seal boasts agriculture and commerce!
The highest concentration of food insecurity is found in North Nashville zipcodes. Many of these neighborhoods, particularly lower-income area and low-access communities (LILAC) face challenges in accessing fresh, nutritious, affordable food. They are historically communities of color and immigrant communities. Food deserts and food swamps are prevalent, where residents may live far from grocery stores or farmers' markets, relying on corner stores or fast food that often lack healthy options. Efforts to address food justice in Nashville focus on returning food sovereignty to neighborhoods and low-income populations. These efforts include community gardens, local food cooperatives, and initiatives by nonprofits that work to provide fresh produce through mobile markets or urban farms. These initiatives aim to not only provide access to healthy food but also empower communities, encourage sustainable practices, and create local food systems that prioritize equity. The city’s movement toward food justice emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive solutions where all Nashvillians can enjoy the benefits of healthy, sustainable, and culturally appropriate food.
Additional Information
Hear from Elois Freeman
Native Nashvillian Who Came Home
"I'm observing this dynamic of what's happening in my community, even to the impact, how it impacts education, how it impacts safety, how it, it just impacts everything. Different people have different streams of support. And so again, we're always looking at how can we help those who are not in the streams of support to know that there is help."
Climate Connection
Climate shifts, including extreme weather, seasonal changes, and urban heat effects, are impacting both our built environment and natural resources. However, the repercussions of environmental injustices and racism equally and profoundly impact our social sphere. No aspect remains untouched, particularly those impacting health, business, housing, education, and family dynamics.
One response to these challenges is fostering resilient communities. These communities are designed to strengthen daily well-being and reduce the impacts of disasters by being proactive, adaptable, and able to recover quickly from disruptions. Resilient communities rely on strong, interconnected relationships where people can quickly mobilize to support each other. Through shared civic responsibility and a well-organized care structure, these communities can overcome environmental, economic, and social challenges, emerging stronger in times of crisis.
Throughout her interview, Elois shares her experience with Nashville’s historical pitfalls and emerging challenges. Yet she also observes all the makings of a successful, resilient community. One where food, homes, clean air and water, health, and, most importantly, people are top priorities. Ever hopeful, Elois points to the wealth of opportunity Nashville has to achieve true resiliency through relationships and connection.
Additional Information
Interactive Storymap
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Partner Spotlight
The Nashville Environmental Justice Initiative (NEJI) is a partnership between Urban Green Lab (UGL) and Tennessee State University (TSU). TSU and their Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory (GIS) has historically been a champion for climate and environmental justice.
Since the department's founding in 2000 by Dr. David A. Padgett, GIS has provided technical assistance to environmental justice and community-based organization (CBO) stakeholders in support of a number of community-based participatory research (CBPR) activities, including:
- Applications of EJ SCREEN and ArcGIS Online in support of CBO community air quality monitoring project in the Pleasantville Community in Houston, Texas.
- Stakeholder training in geoscience and cartography in support of strategies to mitigate the negative impacts of landfills upon human health in the Wedgewood Community in Pensacola, Florida.
- Real estate data collection and analysis in support of CBO efforts to develop heritage tourism and preserve critical historical resources in the Africatown Community in Mobile, Alabama.
- Community-based participatory asset mapping and hydrological data analysis in support of community legal actions versus a proposed inland port facility that threatens the quality of life in the historic Turkey Creek community in Gulfport, Mississippi.
- Geographic information systems (GIS) training in support of a community-based flood mitigation program in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward.
To learn more about the Oral History Archive, contact Stephanie Roach at stephanie@urbangreenlab.org.