USF students and the “Jazzy Seniors” group of East Tampa. (Photo courtesy of Evan Stout)
Students and faculty from the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Anthropology and the College of Engineering’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering gathered in a large ballroom at Ragan Park in East Tampa in late April to host a student film festival event featuring student films on oral histories the students collected from seniors and others in the community over the spring semester.
The seniors, who call themselves the “Jazzy Seniors,” are a group of about 50 Black, mainly East Tampa residents who have lived in the area for generations. The group gathers regularly at Ragan Park to socialize, exercise, and organize themselves to take on important issues in the community.
The film festival was part of a long-term engagement project with the community, focusing on the past, present, and future of stormwater retention ponds, which were established over the years to manage flooding. However, according to residents, many of the ponds remain health hazards and impediments to redevelopment.
One resident, Fred Hearns, recounted in his interview the extent of such hazards near the stormwater pond now called Robert Cole Community Lake.
“There was a drainage ditch and sewage used to flow into that ditch. I’m sure there were people who got sick as a result of living by that ditch,” Hearns said.
It’s a concern that an interdisciplinary team from USF has taken notice of and is working to address.
Organized through the anthropology department’s environmental justice seminar and led by anthropology professor Christian Wells and American Society of Engineering Education postdoctoral fellow Michelle Henderson, whose efforts are supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the team of students is undertaking a project that has already been years in the making.
Professor Maya Trotz, from civil and environmental engineering and principal investigator of the grant, has been leading a team for years to collaborate with the city and East Tampa residents to support the communities’ stormwater beautification efforts.
The new environmental justice seminar effort tasked students with collecting oral history interviews with the “Jazzy Seniors,” conducting research into the past, present, and future of the ponds, and then creating narrative films to share on social media and the internet.
Students from the environmental justice seminar introduce their film and engage in discussion with the “Jazzy Seniors” group. (Photo courtesy of Evan Stout)
The goal, said Wells, is to have more people hear the stories from these communities and the impact these environmental hazards have had on generations of families living there.
“Our research seeks to build capacity in community-based groups and organizations to advocate for environmental justice,” he said. “In the case of East Tampa, we’re working with stakeholders to clean up and redevelop stormwater ponds, turning them into community assets, such as parks and gardens.”
According to Trotz, East Tampa has 31 stormwater ponds in an approximately seven-square-mile area, which creates serious environmental justice challenges, but also exciting opportunities, because the ponds have become important landmarks that have nurtured a sense of community.
“East Tampa residents have always been vocal about their concerns and desires for their neighborhoods, and I see synergies for our students to learn with them to co-develop solutions,” Trotz said.
So far, three ponds have been redeveloped into community parks with recreational opportunities, but there have been drawbacks, many of which were highlighted in the film interviews.
East Tampa resident Hearns shared that even the ponds that have been redeveloped have not been properly maintained.
“If you’re not going to maintain them, if you’re not going to take care of them, or if you’re not going to make sure that they are an asset to the community and not an eyesore, then you haven’t really done what you should have done with these retention ponds,” Hearns lamented.
Wells, who has led the class annually for the past seven years, thinks this seminar creates an exceptional opportunity for students to learn about the long-term effects of segregation and discrimination, and how they can work with communities to address neighborhood challenges that threaten human and environmental health.
“Environmental justice challenges are often incredibly complex. It’s not just a matter of cleaning up some pollution or contamination and then everything is fine,” Wells explained. “It’s about addressing root causes, which are often structural in nature, so political, economic, social, environmental, and so on. That means we have to approach these problems from a holistic and interdisciplinary perspective, bringing together lots of different views and methods. Importantly, this approach must also bring to the foreground the voices and experiences of community residents, who have just as much to contribute to addressing these challenges as scientists and policy folks.”
Wells and the team are hopeful, however, that progress can continue to be made.
“New support from the NSF grant will help us connect residents with many more students and provide critical training opportunities in engineering interventions that amplify the voices of community members like the ‘Jazzy Seniors,’” Wells said.
“If there is one thing we have learned through our research, it is that for solutions to be sustainable, they must be equitable. Without equitable partnerships with community residents, redevelopment is impossible,” he continued.
He also maintains that the city is still an active participant in finding solutions for and resolving the environmental issues in these communities.
Professor Christian Wells delivers remarks at the environmental justice film festival. (Photo courtesy of Evan Stout)
“The City of Tampa has made great strides with this over the past couple of years, but there is more to do. It’s exciting to be part of this research project because USF faculty and students are really helping facilitate these efforts.”
“I’m hopeful that over the next five years, we will see some amazing transformations in East Tampa. At the same time, for this to happen, it’s going to take not only resources but also commitment from city leadership and legitimate opportunities for community engagement and involvement,” Wells said.
“I think USF is an important stakeholder in all of this because you can’t have a strong community without a strong university, and you can’t have a strong university without a strong community. Our fates are tied together.”
Learn more about this research and Wells' interdisciplinary team at WeRISE.