{"id":28216,"date":"2026-05-05T16:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/28216\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T16:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T16:36:21","slug":"this-is-not-acceptable-memphis-activists-block-xai-operations-to-protest-pollution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/28216\/","title":{"rendered":"‘This is not acceptable:’ Memphis activists block xAI operations to protest pollution"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Protestors laid across one of the entrances to the xAI Colossus 1 data center for two hours on Friday. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

The people lying on the pavement are singing.<\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t gonna let nobody turn me around,
I\u2019m gonna keep on walkin\u2019, keep on talkin\u2019,
Marchin\u2019 on to freedom land.<\/p>\n

The activists\u2019 seven voices are muffled by their matching gray respirator masks. One of them keeps the tempo by tapping the ground with his forearm, which has a bail support phone number scrawled on it in permanent marker. Overhead, the sky is a flat, eerie white. Just beyond the activists lies the entrance to xAI\u2019s Colossus 1 supercomputer<\/a> facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to make it known that this is not acceptable \u2014 having no regulation, polluting water, polluting air is not acceptable,\u201d activist Jessica Wainfor told MLK50: Justice Through Journalism from her position on the pavement. \u201cMemphis is not a ground for corporations to take over.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Traffic through the entrance was disrupted for part of the afternoon. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

The group blocked the main driveway into the xAI compound on Friday. They hoped to disrupt the facility\u2019s operations for up to two hours: one for each year it has operated in Memphis. This type of nonviolent protest is called a die-in<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their respirators had a dual purpose: to protect them from tear gas if a police encounter turned violent, and to filter the air pollutants produced by the facility\u2019s natural gas turbines<\/a>. A petition filed last summer by the Southern Environmental Law Center<\/a> found that Colossus 1 is \u201clikely the largest industrial emitter\u201d of nitrogen oxides<\/a> in Memphis. This family of toxic chemicals is harmful to the lungs<\/a> and is a key contributor to smog.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are speaking on behalf of all the others who are upset and angry about this, and want this plant to be shut down,\u201d said Gisela, an activist affiliated with the die-in. She, like several others, asked to be identified only by her first name. \u201cThe majority of the people in Memphis are not okay with this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Protestors spent their time on the pavement singing songs. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

The protestors represented a coalition of various environmental and social justice groups from around the metro area. They said their ultimate goal is for xAI and other major polluters to leave the city.<\/p>\n

Jasmine, another activist with the coalition, said that she can hear the turbines from her mother\u2019s house in Boxtown. She has developed respiratory allergies for the first time in the past year, she said, which have caused her to get sick repeatedly.<\/p>\n

Neon-vested safety marshals stood at the road, directing traffic away from the complex\u2019s wide driveway. Around ten minutes after the die-in began, a large white SUV swerved around them and barreled towards the protestors. The marshals ran after it, yelling for the driver to stop. He did, less than 10 feet from the people on the ground.<\/p>\n

\"\"Safety marshals, media and die-in participants react to a close call with a car trying to get into Colossus 1. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do not want to kill somebody today,\u201d a marshal said through the driver\u2019s closed window. \u201cDo you want to talk? I can talk to you, it\u2019s up to you.\u201d The driver, who identified himself as an xAI employee arriving to clock in for work, eventually turned his vehicle and left. MLK50 asked the protestors how they were feeling following the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommitted,\u201d one activist said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnergized,\u201d said another.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel loved!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I feel connected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The six people in the die-in wore matching handmade shirts and gas masks. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

Not long afterward, Memphis police arrived to disperse the protestors. Three officers approached the die-in and asked the participants to leave. One, whose uniform identified him as K. Miller, said he grew up in nearby Westwood.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m asking y\u2019all (to disperse) as someone who lives out here, who\u2019s maybe more directly affected by the pollution than you all are,\u201d he said. He referred to the protest as \u201ca righteous cause\u201d that he agreed with, but said it was pulling police away from responding to more serious crimes.<\/p>\n

\"\"A Memphis police officer talks to protestors as they continue their action. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

\u201cMy mom has bronchitis, my daughter has asthma, my other son has bronchitis and asthma,\u201d Miller added. \u201cBut what I\u2019m saying is, we can\u2019t (attribute) all the problems to xAI being open.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Jasmine (second from right) listens as a Memphis police officer tries to talk the group into cutting their protest short. Photo by Andrea Morales\/MLK50<\/p>\n

The die-in participants did not move. As the crowd of police slowly grew over the next hour, the activists continued to sing protest songs including \u201cThis Little Light of Mine,\u201d \u201cSolid As A Rock,\u201d and \u201cWhich Side Are You On.\u201d They adapted some verses to fit the circumstances:<\/p>\n

Ain\u2019t gonna let Elon Musk turn me around\u2026
Ain\u2019t gonna let no police turn me around\u2026
Ain\u2019t gonna let no Task Force turn me around\u2026<\/p>\n

Each die-in participant carried a small, white clover \u2014 tucked behind an ear, clipped into their hair or worn as a necklace. Orion, one of the activists, said he distributed the flowers on the way to the protest for good luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a very literal way, it\u2019s representative of our love for the land and for this place,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More officers arrived, including at least two federal task force members \u2014 one wore a Homeland Security Investigations vest. Eventually, there were over a dozen officers on the scene. But as rumors of imminent arrests began to circulate, the protest hit its two-hour goal. The activists debriefed, still sitting in the driveway, as police kept their distance.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re scared because they know we have the power \u2026 and that this power is contagious,\u201d a participant named Jeremiah said to the others. \u201cNext time, it\u2019s not just going to be us. Next time it\u2019s going to be more.\u201d<\/p>\n

They then rose as a group while officers looked on. The activists left the premises singing.<\/p>\n

\"\"Protestors take a moment after leaving xAI property to celebrate their work. Photo by Andrea Morales \/ MLK50<\/p>\n

Natalie Wallington is the housing reporter for MLK50: Justice Through Journalism. Email her at\u00a0natalie.wallington@mlk50.com.<\/p>\n

This story is brought to you byMLK50: Justice Through Journalism<\/a>, a nonprofit newsroom focused on poverty, power and policy in Memphis. Support independent journalism by making a tax-deductible donation<\/a> today. MLK50 is also supported by these generous donors<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Got a story idea, a tip or feedback? Send an email to info@mlk50.com.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou may also like<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Protestors laid across one of the entrances to the xAI Colossus 1 data center for two hours on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[18652,140,7431,100,597,1657,18653,8736,16966,2899],"class_list":{"0":"post-28216","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-xai","8":"tag-boxtown","9":"tag-elon-musk","10":"tag-environmental-justice","11":"tag-epa","12":"tag-government","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-mpd","15":"tag-pollution","16":"tag-protest","17":"tag-xai"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ai\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}