Series:

Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness

Topic:

Environmental Illness

Social Movements

Biographical Note:

Interviewed for the UCLA Center for the Study of Women’s Chemical Entanglements: Oral Histories of Environmental Illness series. Experienced lead poisoning as the result of environmental racism. Environmental activist with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice.

Interviewer:

Kim, Kelsey

Interviewee:

Prieto, Stephanie

Persons Present:

Prieto 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 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.

Growing up in East LA--Father worked in liquor store but now a mechanic, mother was a babysitter but now a cashier--Lives in childhood house that has since been remodeled--Lead contamination in yard--Results due to sister’s Liberty Hill internship which conducted soil testing--Grandmother and family on both sides live nearby--Growing up near freeways and refineries--Air pollution--Lead in water at schools--Childhood health history and difficulties in school--Anti-policing activism and youth organizing in high school--Higher education history--Liberty Hill testing baby teeth for lead--Exide cleaning lead contamination in ten year process--Newly developed allergies and respiratory issues--Father in denial about problems--COVID and air quality--Race and gender in environmental activism--hopes for the future--Next steps in oral history process.