Episodes
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After a season that journeys through the history of environmental and climate justice, how to identify good and bad solutions to climate change, the importance of storytelling and creativity in the movement, we conclude with a focus on the most foundational element of the work: each of us, our capacity for self-transformation and leadership, and our relationships in the ecosystems that are our families, neighborhoods, and communities.
The Jemez Principles of Democratic Organizing includes a “commitment to self-transformation,” recognizing that “We must be the values that we say we’re struggling for and we must be justice, be peace, be community.”
Organizations like the Kheprw Institute focus on just that – community empowerment through self-mastery. In this episode, guests Aghilah Nadaraj and Asli Mwaafrika from Kheprw share what it means to build “community wealth” and how leadership is within each of us.
You’ll also hear from Najari Smith, founder of Rich City Rides, on his journey from Brooklyn, New York, to Richmond, California, and how he channeled the voices of his community into the visionary bike cooperative and ecosystem that it is today.
Lastly, you’ll meet Climate Justice Alliance’s co-executive director Marion Gee, who talks about personal loss, grief, and her calling to leadership.
We hope you’ve enjoyed Stories from Home, Season 2. Please let us know your thoughts at [email protected]
Resources:
The Kheprw Institute: https://kheprw.org/
The KHEPRW Story video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rV6cooMdIPE
Rich City Rides: https://www.richcityrides.org/
Cooperation Richmond: https://www.cooperationrichmond.org/ -
To be human is to tell stories and make meaning–through art, music, words, and creation. Just as some stories help to maintain the status quo, stories can also be the currency of change. When they compel us to question dominant narratives. When they bring us together in communion. When they heal us. When they make a Just Transition future feel attainable.
In this episode, you’ll hear from two of Climate Justice Alliance’s three co-executive directors, Bineshi Albert and Monica Atkins, who share the ways their art and storytelling intersect with their leadership and organizing.
Environmental justice and climate justice are inherently creative– against all odds, communities are building ways to tackle climate change and social injustices at the same time. You’ll also hear from Lenina Nadal and Cris Laguna from Center for Story-based Strategy on how to use narrative strategy for cultural organizing and building collective power.
Resource Links:
Center for Story-based Strategy: https://www.storybasedstrategy.org/
Creative Wildfire Art Project and Manifesto: https://creativewildfire.org/
Love.Black.Warrior by Surreal: https://soundcloud.com/user-361229213/loveblackwarrior
Climate Justice Alliance Story Snapshots Project: https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/ -
Missing episodes?
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What are real-life examples of climate solutions that are just, equitable, community-driven, and lead to a “brighter, better world?” They are community-driven solutions that stop harm, undo harm, and heal not only the Earth, but how we are in relationship with one another.
In this episode we zoom in on “energy democracy,” a term describing a wide range of solutions that move away from a fossil fuel economy into renewable energies that also ensures energy is community-owned.
We look at the work of the following Climate Justice Alliance members: Kentuckians for the Commonwealth as they devise community energy plans, UPROSE’s solar park and clean energy development in Brooklyn, New York, and the Oregon Just Transition Alliance’s Clean Energy campaign that flips extractive economics on its head. Bonus readings in description.
Thanks to our guests, Basav Sen (Climate Change Policy Director at the Institute for Policy Studies), Cassia Heron (Immediate past chair of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth, and a co-founder of the Louisville Association for Community Economics and the Louisville Community Grocery), and Elizabeth Yeampierre (Executive Director of UPROSE).
Learn more about the grassroots communities and issues featured in this episode:
UPROSE: https://www.uprose.org/
Oregon Just Transition Alliance: https://www.ojta.org/
Kentuckians For The Commonwealth: https://kftc.org/
The environmental disaster in Popal, India, that Basav talks about: https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/07/the-worlds-worst-industrial-disaster-is-still-unfolding/560726/
UPROSE’s proposed clean energy industrial “GRID”: https://www.uprose.org/the-grid
Oregon Clean Energy Opportunity Campaign: https://cleanenergyoregon.org/
Portland Clean Energy Fund
https://portlandcleanenergyfund.org/about
Empower Kentucky, people’s energy plan: https://www.empowerkentucky.org/ -
In this episode, we talk to Bineshi Albert, co-executive director of CJA, about her experience at last year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland – and how “net zero” and “carbon capture” are FALSE solutions to climate change that distract us from what we really need to do.
If those are false solutions, how do we cut through the noise to REAL solutions that actually tackle the problems causing climate change– and not at the expense of people and all living creatures of the planet?
We answer these questions with our trusted guides Basav Sen (Climate Change Policy Director at the Institute of Policy Studies), Doria Robinson (Executive Director of Urban Tilth), and Chris Rodriguez (Community Organizer at Ironbound Community Corporation). Doria shows us how a “cultural revolution” to local food systems and reconnecting to our geographies is key to Just Transition. Chris fights greenwashing and new polluters in Newark, New Jersey, both through community action and policy change, and Basav gets into the weeds on how to decipher real climate solutions from those that might sound good but don’t really solve the problem.
News clip from Democracy Now on Chevron fire in Richmond, California: https://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/6/chevron_to_pay_2_million_for
Music by Monica Atkins, co-executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance. The track is titled “Love, Black, Warrior,” by Surreal. Find more of her work on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-361229213
Learn more about the three CJA member organizations featured in this episode:
Institute for Policy Studies: https://ips-dc.org/
Urban Tilth: https://urbantilth.org/
Ironbound Community Corporation: https://ironboundcc.org/
Learn more about:
Climate Justice Alliance Statement on the Intergovernmental Climate Change Panel’s Report: https://climatejusticealliance.org/un-ipcc-climate-report/
The Glasgow Climate Pact / COP26: https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-glasgow-climate-pact-key-outcomes-from-cop26
Climate Justice Alliance Statement on COP26: https://climatejusticealliance.org/cop26-statement/
COP26 and “Net Zero”: https://climatejusticealliance.org/cop26/
False Climate Solutions:
https://climatefalsesolutions.org/welcome/ -
We’re THRILLED to return with a new season of STORIES FROM HOME: Moving the Just Transition, that grounds us in the history of environmental justice, climate justice organizing and present day Just Transitions. Each episode deep dives into different dimensions of the movement – from the importance of community-led solutions to the climate crisis, to what is a false “solution”, to how we relate to one another in just relationship– with our host Keenan Rhodes, and the climate justice leaders who serve as our guides and teachers.
In this episode, we travel from Indianapolis, to Puerto Rico, North Carolina to Mississippi, California and beyond, walking through the formation of climate justice - from slavery to environmental racism and environmental justice, to economic freedom and energy democracy - with our guides Elizabeth Yeampierre, Kali Akuno, and Inkza Angeles who show us the ways in which they live and embody a relationship with land and with community that sets an example for the rest of us.
Music by Monica Atkins, co-executive director of the Climate Justice Alliance. The track is titled “Love, Black, Warrior,” by Surreal. Find more of her work on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-361229213
Clips from the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit Video were provided by the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice 1992 and used with permission. Learn more about UCC and watch the full video here: https://www.ucc.org/30th-anniversary-the-first-national-people-of-color-environmental-leadership-summit/
Learn more about the three CJA member organizations featured in this episode:
Cooperation Jackson: https://cooperationjackson.org/
PODER: https://www.podersf.org/
UPROSE: https://www.uprose.org/ -
Soil Generation’s Shania Morris and filmmaker Joshua Mallory describe the heart of Soil Generation, a collective of Black and brown urban farmers in Philadelphia and the unique richness and challenge of creating their story snapshot, a 12-minute meditation on land, food, community, and relationship, amidst a global pandemic. Shania talks about how Just Transition is really a “just return” to our deep, fundamental, and intuitive relationship with land and community.
For over seven years Soil Generation has been a strong political advocate for urban agriculture, while also valuing Black and Brown leadership and building relationships with each other. Follow along as they grow food and dig deeper with one another (literally!)
Check out their story snapshot, a sensory-rich short film that invites viewers to show up with SG and feel what it’s like to work alongside the community on the ground. Learn first-hand how important growing food is to people in Philadelphia. https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/ -
In this special, end-of-an-era episode, we get an inside peek into the thoughts and reflections of Angela Mahecha as she prepares to step down from a four-year tenure as Executive Director of Climate Justice Alliance. Keenan Rhodes chats with Angela at this seminal moment for her and for CJA as she prepares to move into other roles in the climate justice movement. Angela looks back on the past decade and her work as ED, the history of environmental justice and climate justice, plus she and Keenan reflect on what’s in store for the future, the power of youth within the Alliance, and the intergenerational community that is CJA. Don’t miss this rare chance to hear Angela’s perspective as she begins to close one chapter and start a new one! *Recorded January 2021.
Learn more about Angela Mahecha and the work of CJA members by watching her TED Talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_mahecha_adrar_the_people_who_caused_the_climate_crisis_aren_t_the_ones_who_will_fix_it
Listen to this series’ inaugural episode, “What is Just Transition?” https://soundcloud.com/user-341730469/stories-from-home-living-the-just-transition-podcast-episode-1-what-is-just-transition
Support the Climate Justice Alliance: https://climatejusticealliance.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1 -
This episode turns the tables on Stories from Home’s usual podcast host Keenan Rhodes! Join our guest host, Micronesia Climate Change Alliance’s Moñeka de Oro, in a conversation with Keenan on Kheprw Institute’s philosophy and approach to art, future vision and community empowerment. As a life-long member of the Kheprw community, Keenan digs into Kheprw’s history and his own development as a filmmaker and storyteller. Plus, he reveals the significance of the scarab beetle featured in Kheprw’s logo! Check out Kheprw’s film on CJA’s Story Snapshots website for an artful glimpse of Just Transition in Indianapolis.
Check out the snapshot here: https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
Learn more about/support the Kheprw Institute here: https://kheprw.org/
Support the Climate Justice Alliance: climatejusticealliance.ourpowerbase.net/civic…&id=1 -
“If we change how the money flows, away from corporations who harm us, and towards what sustains us -- wow, that’s a game changer.” - Charlie Sciammas of PODER
In this episode, Yuki Kidokoro, the Reinvest Project Director at Climate Justice Alliance, chats with organizers Charlie Sciammas and Reina Tello of People Organizing to Demand Environmental and Economic Rights (PODER) about public banking. What is public banking anyway? How does it build a better future for our communities? Join us for a fun and factual breakdown of this important idea, and learn how the public banking movement is spreading across California.
“I saw public banking as a ray of hope -- Our money shouldn’t go towards terrorizing families and preventing them from having a home” - Reina Tello
Links:
Here’s a broad definition of the solidarity economy from the New Economy Coalition: https://neweconomy.net/solidarity-economy/
Learn about the Urban Action Learning Academy here: https://www.podersf.org/campaigns/working-together-economy-in-peoples-hands/urban-action-learning-academy/
Learn more about PODER here: https://www.podersf.org/about/
Learn more about PODER’s public banking effort as a Regenerative Economy Model Policy here: https://climatejusticealliance.org/modelpolicies/
Learn more about the California public banking efforts:
Read about California’s Public Banking Act of 2019, California Assembly Bill 857, that empowers cities and regions to create their own banks:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB857
Read a San Francisco Resolution urging Congress to Include Public Bank capitalization strategies in future Relief Bills (April, 2020): https://sfgov.legistar.com/View.ashx?M=F&ID=8267623&GUID=92B7B99C-748D-46E3-B32D-B67DEEFD0304
Learn about public banking efforts across the U.S.
https://www.publicbankinginstitute.org/legislation-local-groups-by-state/#CA
Poder sf instagram and twitter:
@PODERSF
poder.sf -
In this episode, Keenan Rhodes chats with filmmaker John Acosta, editor Rob Nakai and Rodrigo Rodriguez, the Food Justice Field Organizer at SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP). Calling in from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where SWOP is based, they talk about their own backgrounds in film and social justice, and the documentary they collaborated on for SWOP and the Climate Justice Alliance’s Story Snapshots project. The film, which can be seen on CJA’s Story Snapshots website, digs into the history of SWOP, the Black Berets, food justice in New Mexico and today’s Project Feed the Hood, which mentors young people to grow food as a revolutionary act.
Check out the full story snapshot here: https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
Learn more about/support the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP) here: https://www.swop.net/
Learn more about Project Feed the Hood here: https://www.swop.net/food-justice
Follow this link to learn how CJA defines food sovereignty: https://climatejusticealliance.org/workgroup/food-sovereignty/
Support the Climate Justice Alliance: climatejusticealliance.ourpowerbase.net/civic…&id=1 -
“¿Por qué en el 2020 seguimos construyendo infraestructura de alto riesgo en una comunidad de justicia ambiental?
En este capítulo nuestro presentador Keenan Rhodes habla con les organizadores Gabriela Cartagena y Noemy Rodríguez sobre el Story Snapshot de GreenRoots: Esperanza: The Heart of Eastie (El Corazón de Eastie), un cortometraje que documenta la lucha de una comunidad por ser incluida en la toma de decisiones en sus vecindarios y tres retratos de familias de la comunidad de East Boston (“Eastie”).
Hablamos sobre la importancia de la justicia lingüística, la educación popular y la importancia de documentar el activismo comunitario.
Este capítulo está disponible en inglés y español.
Agradecimientos especiales a Jazmín Rumbaut, nuestra intérprete, y Lupe Romero, Administradorx de proyectos de transición justa de la CJA, por su apoyo en elaborar la versión en español de este capítulo.
Todos los retratos del proyecto Story Snapshot están aquí: storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
GreenRoots (http://www.greenrootschelsea.org/) es una organización comunitaria y multilingüe en East Boston que aboga por la justicia ambiental y se centra en la participación y el empoderamiento de la comunidad, en el liderazgo de les jóvenes y en proyectos y campañas innovadoras para lograr una Transición Justa en su comunidad.
Infórmate más sobre Pueblo Unido de East Boston para Liberar y Organizar (PUEBLO) y la lucha contra Suffolk Downs, un complejo residencial de lujo en un vecindario latino y de clase trabajadora: https://www.liberationnews.org/east-boston-residents-demand-affordable-housing/
Infórmate más sobre el plan de la compañía eléctrica Eversource para construir una subestación eléctrica cerca de Chelsea Creek: https://www.clf.org/blog/language-justice-east-boston-eversource/
Para leer más sobre la justicia lingüística, échale un vistazo a este panfleto de Antena sobre cómo construir la justicia del lenguaje: http://antenaantena.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/langjust.pdf (más recursos y versiones aquí: http://antenaantena.org/justicia-de-lenguaje/)
#JusticiaClimatica #CambioClimatico #JusticiaSocial #TransicionJusta -
“Why are we still building high risk infrastructure in 2020 in an environmental justice community?”
In this episode, host Keenan Rhodes chats with organizers Gabriela Cartagena and Noemy Rodriguez about GreenRoots’ story snapshot: a short film, Esperanza: The Heart of Eastie, documenting the community’s fight for inclusion in neighborhood decision-making and three portraits of families from the community of East Boston (“Eastie”).
We talk about the importance of language justice, popular education, and the importance of documenting community activism.
This episode is available in English and in Spanish language.
Special thanks to Jazmín Rumbaut, our interpreter, and Lupe Romero, the CJA Just Transition Project Steward, for support on the Spanish language version of this episode.
View all the Story Snapshots at: storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
GreenRoots (http://www.greenrootschelsea.org/) is a community-based, multi-lingual organization in East Boston that advocates for environmental justice and focuses on community engagement and empowerment, youth leadership, and innovative projects and campaigns as a way to bring about Just Transition in their community.
Learn more about Pueblo Unido de East Boston para Liberar y Organizar (PUEBLO) and the fight against Suffolk Downs, a luxury housing development in a Latino and working class neighborhood here: https://www.liberationnews.org/east-boston-residents-demand-affordable-housing/
Learn about energy company Eversource’s plan to build an electrical substation by the Chelsea Creek here: https://www.clf.org/blog/language-justice-east-boston-eversource/
For more on language justice, check out this pamphlet from Antena on how to build language justice: http://antenaantena.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/langjust.pdf (more resources and versions available here: http://antenaantena.org/language-justice/) -
In this episode, recorded in February, Keenan Rhodes talks with CHamoru activist Moñeka De Oro of the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance about their snapshot project and sustainable vegan cookbook, composed of recipes shared by women of Guam.
Check out the snapshot, releasing May 19, here: https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
Learn more about/support the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance: https://micronesiaclimatechangealliance.com/
Buy the book here: https://micronesiaclimatechangealliance.com/shop/ols/products/xn-fanggaiaseconscious-living-and-compassionate-eating-3z1a7222rda
Learn about the tenants of Food Sovereignty here: https://climatejusticealliance.org/workgroup/food-sovereignty/
Support the Climate Justice Alliance: https://climatejusticealliance.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=1 -
Earlier this year, the COVID-19 pandemic swept the world and pressed pause on society as it was before, forcing even the powers that be to confront how extractive behaviors have left a gaping hole where social safety nets should be.
We are witnessing and demonstrating community resiliency, people power and the strength of Just Transitions as we reconnect with more intuitive ways of being, and as our neighbors and loved ones uplift one another and support each other through this struggle.
In late March, Keenan Rhodes and Jessica Xiao speak with leaders from five member organizations of the Climate Justice Alliance over Zoom (you may notice some variations in audio quality and Internet connection), who shared with us how they are responding to and existing in the current moment.
Our guests:
Joshua Dedmond, National Outreach Coordinator at Co-Op Jackson and the Youth and Young Worker Organizer for Labor Network for Sustainability
https://cooperationjackson.org/
https://www.labor4sustainability.org/
Doria Robinson, the Executive Director of Urban Tilth
https://www.urbantilth.org/
Darryl Jordan, the senior organizer at East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC)
Piper Carter, the events coordinator and organizer with EMEAC
Aqelah Amani Amatullah Miyzaan, youth organizer with EMEAC
http://www.emeac.org/
Alvina Wong, the Campaign and Organizing Director with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)
https://apen4ej.org/
Tom BK Goldtooth, the Executive Director of the Indigenous Environmental Network
https://www.ienearth.org/
Explore the Climate Justice Alliance resources page here: https://climatejusticealliance.org/coronavirus/
Grassroots Power and Vision in the Time of COVID-19 Webinar: https://climatejusticealliance.org/funders/#Grassroots-Power-and-Vision-in-the-Time-of-COVID-19 -
Host Keenan Rhodes with Jennifer Falcon from the Indigenous Environmental Network for a behind-the-scenes look at the creation and impetus behind their story snapshot, six graphic recordings by artist Arlo Iron Cloud representing the visions of six Indigenous folks from communities across Turtle Island (North America).
View all the Story Snapshots at: https://storysnapshots.climatejusticealliance.org/
Learn more about the Indigenous Environmental Network: https://www.ienearth.org/
Read about Indigenous Principles of Just Transition: https://www.ienearth.org/justtransition/
Delve deeper into why carbon pricing (and Article 6) is a false solution for climate change in this joint project by IEN and the Climate Justice Alliance: https://co2colonialism.org/
Read about Climate Justice Alliance members and their experience at the UN Climate Conference (COP 25) in 2019: https://medium.com/@CJAOurPower/field-notes-from-u-s-climate-justice-activists-at-the-u-n-climate-conference-cop25-9e1d1994f363
Learn how to support the Wet’suwet’en in their fight for Aboriginal and tribal rights against the Coastal GasLink pipeline in Canada with this supporter's toolkit: https://www.ienearth.org/wetsuweten-supporter-toolkit-2020/ -
Stories from Home: Living a Just Transition Episode 1 - What is Just Transition?
What is a Just Transition? What do climate change solutions look like when they come from frontline communities at the intersections of art, culture, and social justice?
The Climate Justice Alliance is thrilled to launch Stories from Home: Living the Just Transition, a behind-the-scenes podcast where host Keenan Rhodes deep dives into how creators and communities collaborate for climate justice storytelling in the Story Snapshots project.
