I remember that there were certain parts of the playground that oozed.

It was black gooey.

If it was hotter, it was gooier.

Gosh, like when a pimple oozes, I mean, that's the best I can describe it.

So I would sit there and play with it because it was something different, weird, or you're

just curious, not knowing what it really was.

In a lot of ways, a community is like a body.

Over time, it accumulates scars of past traumas and past victories.

These scars can be found in the land and in the people.

Any time we went outside out in the playground, I always felt nauseated and I always had

a severe, runny nose.

As a kid, I didn't connect the tar with feeling sick.

I didn't connect that.

I'm Allison Berenger.

From KCRW, this is bodies, with the story of a community defining itself through action

and resistance.

And it heads up, this story includes discussion of miscarriage.

We started noticing that the kids were kind of intrigued by these bubbles that they were

kind of pushing against and playing with on the asphalt.

This is Bertha Martinez.

In the late 80s, she was a young teacher's assistant at Park Avenue Elementary School.

It smelled bad.

...