Oral Histories

Interview of Vanessa Johnson

Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Professor of Legal Studies, University of Houston-Clear Lake in Texas. Lives with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Childhood lung cancer survivor. Mold exposure activist, focusing on workplaces.
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. Professor of Legal Studies, University of Houston-Clear Lake in Texas. Lives with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). Childhood lung cancer survivor. Mold exposure activist, focusing on workplaces.
Interviewer:
Kim, Kelsey
Interviewee:
Johnson, Vanessa
Persons Present:
Johnson and Kim
Place Conducted:
The interview was conducted using the Zoom video conferencing platform.
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 Kelsey Kim, graduate student interviewer, for the Center for the Study of Women; PhD student in Anthropology, UCLA. Kim’s dissertation focuses on gender and racial inequalities in the Silicon Valley high-tech industry.
Processing of Interview:
The interviewer prepared for the interview by reading Anthropology and Environment Society’s Engagement blog and a pre-interview questionnaire completed by the narrator.
Length:
1.25 hrs
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.
Hometown and family background--Early mold exposure and lung cancer--College majors and first jobs--High school sports and passing out during races--Environmental illness at work--New York back to Texas--Coworkers also exhibiting symptoms--Self-diagnosis and visits to different practitioners--Accommodations as a tenure-track professor--Blogs and workplace advocacy--Intends to write full legal journal article and pieces regarding environmental justice--Advises other mold patients--Expensive treatments--Understanding or lack thereof from family, friends, and relationships--COVID effects and concerns--Impact of race on treatment--Society will be forced to deal with environment and the damage to people--Lupus misdiagnoses among acquaintances