Imagery and Mapping: Concord Environmental and Community Injustice

 Picture 1: Port Chicago Disaster

            This picture shows the aftermath of the Port Chicago Explosion that took place on one of the ports of the Naval Weapons Station Concord in 1944. As mentioned previously in some of my research blogs, this event was one of the first moments causing the community of Concord and others around the country to fight against injustice done to those working in or living around the Weapons Station. In this case, the injustices being fought against were that of the poor treatment of African American sailors, giving them difficult and dangerous jobs relative to other sailors working the same field as them leading to over 200 African American sailors being killed in the explosion of the port. This explosion and the resulting protest of 50 other African American sailors would be a monumental event for the early civil rights movement in America. Time and time again in the history of the Concord Naval Weapons Station this event comes up and not including it as part of the struggle of the community would be a failure on my part to research and understand the history of the station.

Picture 2: Blood on the Tracks

            In 1987 the Naval Weapons Station Concord detachment would see another community protest. This time, it was against US involvement and intervention in Central America during the Central American Crisis. Beginning in the late 1970s, several Central American countries would explode into violent civil wars and revolutionary movements causing it to be one of the most unstable regions in the world. The crisis involved Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Most of whom were fighting wars against pro-communist forces. The Concord Naval Weapons Station became a core site in moving munitions and military aid to pro-American and American forces deployed in the region, including munitions such as white phosphorus which has wildly disastrous impacts on the environment and people it us used against. During this protest is often referred to Blood on the Tracks as Brian Wilson, a Vietnam war veteran turned extreme pacifist, lost both of his legs when a munitions train moving through the weapons station was given orders to not stop for protestors on the rail lines and intentionally struck Wilson. He wrote a memoir about his life experiences, with this image being the cover of some of the print copies. Once again, we see the Weapons Station subject to protests and movements to protest injustice and inequality. This time however, there was no direct harm to the community until the protest took place resulting in several injuries.

Picture 3: Gate to the former weapons station

            Many of the most significant events to occur at the Concord Weapons Station are relatively old in terms of current events, the most recent one I wrote about with much significance being over 30 years old. The land of the Weapons Station is set to be transferred to the city of Concord by 2023, with detailed plans on how to use the land being in the works. Even after struggling with the effects of the Weapons Station since WWII, the community of Concord isn’t out of the woods yet, as toxic waste cleanup efforts have expanded in the region. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of pages of Department of Defense reports detail that the land is not safe yet, and the toxins in the soil and in the air continue to harm animals living on the former base, and will harm people should development plans be allowed to continue as of the moment. Unfortunately, the Naval Weapons Station at Concord will be a dark mark on the community and the region for years to come. Progress is slow to change that is slow, but getting there.