Tamica Davis
Dorchester, MA
Tamica organized a march to raise awareness about the impact of poor air quality on community health.
Tamica organized an Anti-Idling March in 1997, in memory of Walter Reid Kirnon, a young boy who died from an asthma attack. Since the death of this young man, asthma had been a big issue in Tamica’s community of Roxbury, a neighborhood of Boston, and primarily a neighborhood of color. Asthma rates there were six times the state average, and Tamica knew that one of the problems contributing to poor air quality was vehicles. “We knew we could not tell people to throw away their cars, buses, and trucks, so we decided to have a march to inform the diesel bus drivers of the impact of their exhaust,” Tamica said. The march and the campaign brought significant results. The transportation authority pledged to not buy diesel buses, started testing hybrid electric and compressed natural gas fuels, started enforcing idling limits, and a new coalition of adult organizations formed as a result of her hard work.