Across the South, our communities are being treated as sacrifice zones for the data center boom. Corporations and politicians promise jobs and economic growth, but the reality is poisoned water, strained power grids and neighborhoods left behind.
It is Black women who are carrying the fight against this new wave of exploitation—leading with courage, clarity, and an unshakable commitment to our communities. From organizing town halls and knocking on doors to testifying before decision-makers, we are shaping the conversation and demanding accountability.
This fight is about more than data centers—it is about whether our future will be dictated by corporate greed or by the people who call these places home. What’s at stake is nothing less than clean water, safe homes, healthy children and the dignity of our communities.
True Costs of Data-Center Boom
Georgia has become one of the fastest-growing data center hubs in the U.S., and the boom is drawing scrutiny for its true costs. In Mansfield, residents report well-water issues and sediment contamination. Across the state, electricity demand and costly grid upgrades continue to rise with expansion. Jobs are minimal—often fewer than 100 permanent positions—while these facilities consume resources on the scale of small cities. What they’re really selling is “growth” in places they’ve already starved, where hospitals are still absent, maternity care is lacking, and basic infrastructure needs are ignored. Just as we saw in Flint and Mississippi, families in rural Georgia now face water they cannot safely drink.
In Memphis, the predominantly Black neighborhood of Boxtown is bearing the pollution burden of Elon Musk’s xAI project. The company deployed dozens of methane gas turbines, many operating without full permits or emissions controls, that have released significant nitrogen oxides into the air. Independent analysis from University of Tennessee researchers found that peak nitrogen dioxide levels near the facility rose by as much as 79% compared to pre-xAI levels, with notable increases in surrounding neighborhoods.
Impact on Boxtown
These pollutants hit hardest in vulnerable communities like Boxtown, where children, elders, and residents with respiratory conditions already face disproportionate health risks. Meanwhile, the promised economic growth has yet to materialize in meaningful jobs or community investment.
From Tennessee to Georgia, the pattern is the same: corporations chasing profit, local governments fast-tracking deals, and vulnerable communities paying the price. These facilities may fuel the future of artificial intelligence, but they cannot be built on the backs of people whose health, land, and water are sacrificed. This is recolonization in the name of America’s modern gods: the market, greed, and power.
Our Demands
We call on leaders in Georgia and Tennessee to:
Impose a moratorium on new data center permits until independent health and environmental studies are completed.
- Require transparency: public reporting of water use, energy consumption, emissions, and community health impacts.
- Protect ratepayers: end automatic tax breaks and subsidies. Any incentive must be tied to enforceable commitments like 100% clean energy, water-efficient technology, and local jobs.
- Mandate community benefits agreements (CBAs) guaranteeing living-wage jobs, investments in healthcare and schools, and protections for vulnerable populations.
- Prioritize environmental justice reviews before projects are approved.
- Enforce limits on water use and emissions, with penalties reinvested in affected neighborhoods.
Our communities are not sacrifice zones — they are sacred ground.
In Georgia, Georgia Conservation Voters are taking this fight directly to decision-makers, from zoning boards to the state Capitol, pushing back against rate hikes and secretive approvals. In Memphis, Memphis Artists for Change is organizing meetings, canvassing neighborhoods, and using arts and culture to amplify community voices on environmental justice.
We call on residents, faith leaders, and allies to join us: demand moratoriums, push elected officials to require CBAs, and hold corporations accountable in public hearings and at the ballot box. This fight isn’t just about halting reckless development—it’s about building a just future where Southern communities thrive, not suffer, in the shadow of “progress.”