Climate Justice Happenings

The 11th Hour is coming!

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:55:49 GMT

Leonardo DiCaprio, along with a slew of environmental activists including PhD Micheal Gelobter and sustainable agriculture pioneer David Orr, has made a beautiful film about change. Titled the 11th Hour, it addresses the global need to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, increase the use of renewable energy and slow down consumption of natural resources - all those things climate justice is focusing on!

It opens in LA and NY August 17th and here's the catch: the more people that go to see it, the more cities and countries it will be distributed in. Even though going to the movies nowadays and eating a $10 bucket of popcorn can eat away at your wallet, making an exception and seeing this film will make a difference. Skip the popcorn and check it out!

A New World is Possible... Possibly: Notes on the USSF

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:55:06 GMT

By Kari H.N. Fulton

On July 27, 2007 I grabbed my registration badge and entered the confusing world of progressives. Across the Atlanta area workshops were held on every cause you could imagine. I just began working for the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative and was interested in finding out ways to build a successful campaign. What I found was that there were millions of people ready to bring positive change into the world but were too caught up in their own misery to find a way.

But who could blame them. Workshop after workshop dealt with the systematic injustices caused by the United States government. Survivors of Hurrican Katrina are dying because of the tozins and pollutants left in the aftermath of the storm. As they lie dying, their hometown is being sold off to the highest coporate bidder. I cringe as I think of standing in their pain, but then I think of the original inhabitants of the land and the pain they must have felt when the land was first stolen. My question is answered easily by the looks of discontent on the faces of their descendents. While listening to their stories I realized there are people even more pissed off than black folk.

The plethora of problems were all made clear at the USSF but the solutions seemed to slip everyone's mind. On the last day I stuffed the comment boxes with my thoughts on the forum's lack of real productivity. I left Altanta wondering, what was the purpose of this long sermon to the choir known as the USSF? But as I stepped off the plane I began to look at my DC world with fresh eyes. People I disregarded by rule of city mentality became vibrantly grey. They existed again and I realized what an experience I was blessed to have had. I needed that frustration so I could go back home and see again. I needed to quench my revolution with this truth because quite frankly, I was getting a little parched.

2007 EJCC/CJC Trainings in Altanta

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:54:17 GMT

The 2007 EJCC Trainings have happened. Starting the first official day of summer, youth from Arizona, DC, the Bay Area, Florida, Detroit and Colorado came to the ATL for four days of Climate Justice workshops. Shacking up in a hotel in midtown Atlanta, we spent our days talking about issues of identity, Environmental Justice, Climate Scinece, Domestic and International Policy, Arts and Activism and more because, really, there's always more. Ansje, Jihan, Nia, Oriana, Shadia and other longtime EJCC supporters stepped in to facilitate the different workshops.

While we talked about Coalition Building and Goal Setting methods, the rest of Atlanta was bursting with Gay Pride. With people from all over the South converging on the city to celebrate, restaurants flew the rainbow flag, drag queens set up shop at the local park. Three blocks down the street from our hotel all the festivities were taking place. On breaks between workshops, some of us, filtering down to check out what was happening in the Atlanta heat, got participate in some of the parades and lip-synching extravaganzas that come with Gay Pride. It was beautiful.

Once night came, ending workshops for the day, we were free to check out some of what Atlanta has to offer. Sunday night, Shadia and a contingent of trainees, met up with people from RAN (Rainforest Action Network) to talk about Arts and Activism. On Monday, EJCC and RAN hooked up again at a joint event fundraiser where people shared original poetry, slam and hip-hop performance. Good times, man, good times.

Come Tuesday, the time to leave had come, so we took some last pictures, packed up and said goodbye. Now it's a matter of taking what we learned and doing something with it, effecting that change, being that change we want to see.