Charlene’s Plea

Right now in upstate New York, dangerous fracked oil is being transported right next to a affordable housing project. The 179, mostly African American, families that reside there live with nothing but a chain-link fence to protect them from the billion gallons of crude rumbling down the tracks in their backyard and from the nearby oil processing facility.

Filmmaker Messiah Rhodes visited the community and interviewed elected officials, residents, environmental regulators, train car mechanics and local journalists who share a common mission: to keep their communities from being blown off the map.