"Fighting to Breathe is a vital narrative that challenges not only the systems and people that hold power but also the organizers and activists who are building power. Readers will be convinced that we each have an obligation to dismantle Baltimore's toxic environmental ecologies."--Lawrence T. Brown, author of The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America "What a concrete examination of a fight for environmental justice! Nicole Fabricant delivers an excellent analysis of the development of a struggle around economic justice in Baltimore. She provides the historical foundation for a scholarly yet passionate look at a conflict in a city in transition, with a focus on the actual work of young activists."--Bill Fletcher Jr., author of "They're Bankrupting Us!" and 20 Other Myths about Unions "Fabricant centers the gripping stories of youth fighting for the right to breathe in Baltimore while providing a nuanced exploration of the role of an activist-scholar in the trenches. A thread of urgency weaves throughout the book, from environmental injustice and police violence to the global pandemic. This is a book of our moment."--Nicole King, coeditor of Baltimore Revisited: Stories of Inequality and Resistance in a US City