The ‘Sacrifice Zone’ No More

Local Activism Takes on the Port of LA’s Impact on Harbor Communities. Happy 45th to the Rebel News

By Janet Schaaf-Gunter

My first engagement in social issues began in the 1960s in opposition to the Vietnam War. My roots associated with activism began there.
James Preston Allen and I are the same age, so, I’m thinking that for both of us, the mid-’60s was the beginning of our awareness about social justice and politics in general. Many of our friends were being drafted into the military and/or juggling to find ways to avert going to fight a war that none of us could understand.
So, I “get” the underlying drive of Random Lengths News. Instilled in the newspaper’s intent is the will to tell today’s stories in a way that delivers those details that might be lacking in everyday media. A sense of truth that others may not be telling.
San Pedro, Wilmington and the entire Los Angeles Harbor Area have long suffered from obfuscation of the truth and a willingness by a litany of politicians to treat it as “the sacrifice zone.” I first learned this term while visiting the California State Capitol in the late 1980s. It shocked me.
Being 26 miles away from the core of Los Angeles, these harbor communities have continued to serve the economy of LA from its massive port operations. The port’s massive expansion has caused numerous negative impacts to the surrounding communities. The positive impact of job creation has allowed the harmful health, safety, and aesthetic consequences to the area to be ignored. However, in the early 2000s that began to change, and RLn was there to tell the true story. The Port of LA policy of non-disclosure of negative impacts from their growth was caught by local homeowners and fought in court. The community won.
As a member of both the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United and the San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, these groups continue to fight the fight and to “mitigate” the environmental consequences and extraordinary hazards that the port industry brings with it. Jobs are certainly welcome, but so is the right to a clean and safe environment for those workers and all who live in the Harbor Area. We adamantly refuse to simply accept the label awarded to us, “the sacrifice zone.”
We look with confidence to Random Lengths News to cover the continuing fight and its dedication to telling the true story.
Congratulations to Random Lengths News and its devoted owner, editor, and reporters. All those who live in this region owe the publication a genuine debt of gratitude.
Thanks for your community service.