News

Watch "WE CAN DO BETTER"

Education, Environmental, Sound Rivers, Tar-Pamlico Watershed, Water Quality

Posted on February 22nd, 2024

(Left to right, facing audience) Melvin Ray Hart, Ruby B. Horne and David Batts, all part of Citizens for Responsible Zoning, the grassroots effort that stopped an IBP slaughterhouse.

If you missed last week’s screening of ‘WE CAN DO BETTER,” you can watch it online here!

“WE CAN DO BETTER” is a 34-minute documentary film about a win over environmental racism in Kingsboro, North Carolina. In 1995, the plan to locate a giant hog slaughterhouse in the predominantly Black community of Kingsboro was uncovered. Concerned residents organized a mass effort to stop the proposed IBP slaughterhouse.

Here’s what Sound Rivers Executive Director had to say about the film and the efforts of those involved: “The Tar River would look much different today and be much less healthy than it is if IBP wasn’t stopped by the Kingsboro community. This is a wonderful testament to the power of community activism. And it shines a bright light on the very real need for a community-centered approach to local zoning. That is something we are still fighting for today. To have healthy, vibrant communities, we must move away from the business-first and, at times, business-only approach, to a transparent, community centered process.”

Related News

Durham’s planning process comes to a screeching halt February 26th 2026
Riverkeeper taps into emerging issues February 26th 2026
Riverkeeper: rezoning for more housing in floodplain a bad idea February 26th 2026
Windy, cold field day for sample-collecting specialist February 26th 2026
Sound Rivers responds to EPA killing landmark climate change finding February 19th 2026
Riverkeeper talks data centers with Edgecombe County commissioners February 19th 2026