Poisoned by Zip Code
Poisoned by Zip Code is a site-specific installation that explores the effects of environmental racism in Dallas, TX through the story of Marsha Jackson, the extraordinary Black woman who, alongside her community, fought and won the battle against the City of Dallas to remove Shingle Mountain.
The infamous illegally dumped pile of industrial debris stood nearly six stories tall in a Black and brown neighborhood called Floral Farms, causing residents like Jackson to have a myriad of respiratory issues caused by the tiny fragments of fiberglass and other pollutants it left in the air. The mountain of debris tormented the community for three years and was recently removed in February of 2021.
Poisoned by Zip Code is a part of Rooted, an installation in Dallas Museum of Art’s Center for Creative Connection (C3) that looks at the complex relationship between people and the natural world. Rooted is currently down due to renovations, and will be re-installed in 2024.
Ari Brielle, Poisoned by Zip Code, 2021-23, Installation view, Dallas Museum of Art
Ari Brielle, Poisoned by Zip Code, 2021-23, Installation view, Dallas Museum of Art
Ari Brielle, Poisoned by Zip Code, 2021-23, Installation view, Dallas Museum of Art
Ari Brielle, Marsha Jackson, 2021, Gouache and acrylic on panel, 48h x 44w in
Marsha Jackson moved to Floral Farms in the 1990s. She was drawn to the rural nature of the neighborhood, and was excited to have space for her daughters’ horses, who are active in the Texas rodeo scene.
In 2018, Blue Star Recycling (a recycling company out of McKinney, TX, an affluent suburb of Dallas) began dumping crushed roofing shingles in Floral Farms just feet away from Jackson’s backyard. She immediately called the city to alert them of the dumping in hopes they’d stop Blue Star in their tracks. Jackson called and called, yet no one helped. The shingles continued to pile up, eventually reaching six-stories high.
Microparticles of the shingles’ contents—fiberglass and other toxic materials—filled the air and seeped into the soil. Shingle Mountain stood in Floral Farms for three years, poisoning the people and land.
Marsha Jackson formed Southern Sector Rising, a non-profit aimed at protecting marginalized communities and fighting the racist zoning laws that cause environmental injustice. SSR partnered with other local organizations like Downwinders at Risk and Neighborhood Self-Defense project to take on the city of Dallas.
After various direct actions by SSR and community members, nearly 18 articles in the Dallas Morning News and two Washington Post write-ups, the city finally removed Shingle Mountain on February 26, 2021. As of January 2022 Marsha Jackson and her community are still waiting for city officials to organize a deep clean of the area.
Ari Brielle, Untitled, 2021, Two-channel video
Over the course of eight months, I interviewed Marsha Jackson, members of Southern Sector Rising, and other community leaders to understand the story of Shingle Mountain and the lives it affected, as well as the historical context of environmental racism in the city.
While researching, I learned about the lead smelter of the 1980s in West Dallas. The video component of the installation juxtaposes news clips from the 80s (courtesy of the UNT Archive Library) with contemporary clips of Marsha Jackson and SSR, illustrating two different injustices under the same umbrella, yet three decades apart.
Ari Brielle, Singing Hills, 2021