Series:

Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness

Topic:

Social Movements

Environmental Illness

Biographical Note:

Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Experience Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS). Nigerian immigrant. Public health researcher at Duke Global Health Institute. Research highlights access issues of affordable fragrance-free products.

Interviewer:

Black, Blair

Interviewee:

Adewumi, Konyin

Persons Present:

Adewumi and Black

Place Conducted:

The interview was conducted by telephone.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library’s Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

This interview was conducted by Blair Black, a graduate student researcher, for the Center for the Study of Women and PhD student in Ethnomusicology, UCLA. Black’s dissertation focuses on identity and representational politics within electronic dance music.

Processing of Interview:

The interviewer prepared for the interview by reading a pre-interview questionnaire completed by the narrator.

Length:

1 hr

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness is a collection of interviews with over seventy individuals living in the U.S. and Canada whose family history, occupation, art practice, or activism have brought them into direct contact with illness experience and disability related to chronic, low-dose exposure to toxicant chemicals. The procurement of this collection (from March 2019 through September 2020) was sponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of Women under the directorship of Rachel C. Lee, with interviews conducted by six undergraduates, five graduate students, two career staff, and two faculty members at CSW.

Family history and background--Attending school and navigating distance with fragrances in locker rooms--Experiences of allergies--Decreased sensitivity towards fragrance during college--Learning about allergies from trial and error--Experiences of othering (race & gender)-- Research interests on black female bodies and impact of health depending on race and gender--Chemical sensitivity’s impact on interpersonal relationships--Growing up as an immigrant black woman in the United States and school experiences--Allergies impacting social relationships--Allergies as isolating but recognizing the privilege of her illness not being debilitating--No other family with allergic reactions and chemical sensitivity as an isolating illness