Tag: community organizing

Podcast, Post

New Podcast Episodes!

Laura

Welcome to Season 7 of the Keeping Things Alive Podcast! Listen to episodes wherever you listen to podcasts (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, PocketCast, etc.). It is also streaming on SoundCloud.

This season, Homes Guarantee Organizer, Political Educator, and Afro-futurist John Washington is co-creating many of the podcast episodes with me. John has been on the podcast many times in the past, including the annual ballot reviews like this episode, which we have been publishing during election season since 2018. John has a deep knowledge and understanding of Buffalo, economics, history, systemic racism, housing, environmental justice, comics, music, and more.

Here is a link to the Welcome Episode. Learn about our intentions for the season and more information about my book, Silent Seasons: Chasing Sustainability through the Law, which is now available as an ebook on Amazon and Kobo! This season will be a little different because instead of conducting new interviews, we will be re-releasing many episodes from past seasons and tying them to current issues and events.

I posted the first “regular” episode of Season 7 this week, too! Here is a link to Episode 87, which is my September 2021 interview with Margaret Wooster, a watershed planner and author of Meander: Making Room for Rivers. Margaret’s work aligns with the sustainability lessons of Silent Seasons, especially the lesson that “working with the Earth fosters sustainability, while working against her makes things more difficult and unsustainable.”

 

It feels good to have another season of the Keeping Things Podcast open again! I’m glad that you’re here.

 

 

Interview, Podcast, Politics

Episode 83: 2021 Election

Laura

Hi, it’s the week of October 25, 2021 and everything is wild! The elections that are happening locally for the City of Buffalo, Erie County, Western New York, and therefore New York State are shaping up to be intense. It’s exhausting and exciting at the same time. And here is a new podcast episode about it all!

I am proud to say that the Keeping Things Alive Podcast has turned into one of the longest things/projects that I have ever stuck with in my life (that and avoiding sugar since 2014 — omg sugar impacts my brain and body so much!). It’s gotten to the point where I have an annual voting episode, and here it is again! Time flies.

Just in time for the start of early voting which started this past Saturday October 23rd and runs until this Sunday October 31st, this episode is another “ballot review” episode that I put together with John Washington for this year’s election in Buffalo, NY. This is the third year in a row that we have done a review of what government positions will be on the Buffalo, NY ballot. John is a community organizer and political educator out of Buffalo, NY. He’s been on the podcast many times before and I promise that I will re-publish those episodes in the coming months – I am in the process of a re-boot for this website and the podcast, too (stay tuned for new things happening to this site and podcast in 2022!).

The purpose of this ballot review episode is help listeners become aware of what government positions are on the ballot (in the City of Buffalo, which also includes some Erie County seats and voter propositions that apply beyond City of Buffalo residents), and how they may affect an average person’s life. We change it up this year and discuss particular candidates and how we feel about them.

I know that many people fear change, but considering the devastating physical changes that are happening to our planet and all people living on it (mostly due to thoughtless industrialization and greed), the type of change and leadership that India Walton brings to the table is needed in the City of Buffalo and everywhere, like yesterday. I also support Kimberly Beaty to be the Erie County Sheriff. This podcast has covered the human rights violations that continue to take place within the Erie County Holding Center and jail system for years – again, time for actual, accountable leadership and change.

Here is a link to John Washington’s 2021 Ballot Review, streaming on SoundCloud (you can also get it on your favorite podcast player app, Spotify, Google Play, and more). Enjoy!

Here is the website of the Erie County Board of Elections.

Here is the website of the New York Working Family’s Party.

Interview, Podcast, Politics, Post

Episode 76: Season 5 Wrap

Laura

Season 5 has come to a close! Episode 76: Season 5 Wrap, starts with Laura going through the season episode-by-episode and reflecting on what happened (recorded on Jan. 6, 2021). After that, at the 27:10 mark, Laura shares a conversation with John Washington (recorded over Zoom on Dec. 30, 2020) where they reflect on 2020 U.S. Election results, Biden’s Cabinet picks so far, & the Covid-19 pandemic.

Note: this episode contains a conversation about the Covid-19 Pandemic and is NOT medical advice. If you want/need medical advice, look elsewhere (maybe start with your doctor and/or www.cdc.gov).

Here are links to the shownotes with more information on what was discussed during Episode 76: Season 5 Wrap:

Climate Change, Interview, Podcast, Politics, Sustainability

Episode 58: Climate Jobs & Justice

Laura

I am so tired of having to do workshops around environmental racism and classism and environmental justice and seeing how cancer has devastated each and every person who comes to these workshops, whether it’s directly in their family or someone that they know.

Episode 58 of the Keeping Things Alive Podcast features Laura’s conversation about the Climate Community & Protection Act with Geovaira Hernández. Geo is the Climate Justice Organizer for PUSH Buffalo, and spent the first half of 2019 working directly for NYRenews to pass the CCPA during the 2019 New York Legislative Session (note: a different version of the CCPA did pass, and now it is called the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, which you can hear more about in Episode 59).

In this episode, Laura and Geo talk about environmental justice, environmental racism, and why passing climate justice legislation is so important for people and the planet.

Here are the shownotes, with links to more information on what is discussed during Laura’s conversation with Geo:

Interview, Podcast

Episode 57: Andrew Marcum

Laura

Episode 57 of the Keeping Things Alive Podcast features Laura’s conversation with Andrew Marcum. Andrew has a PhD in American Studies with a specialization in disability studies and the history of disability in the U.S. He teaches Disability Studies for the City University of New York as an adjunct professor, does consulting work around accessibility and disability rights, and works at the Center for Self Advocacy in Buffalo.

In this episode, Laura and Andrew talk about the history of disability rights in the U.S., the importance of public transit, accessibility, & more.

Here are the shownotes, with links to more information on what is discussed during Laura’s conversation with Andrew:

Climate Change, Politics, Post

Climate Justice Activism on the World Stage

Laura

Greta Thunberg, spoke to the leaders of 190 countries attending the United Nations COP24 conference on climate change in Poland last week. Here is the text of her speech:

My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 15 years old.

I am from Sweden.

I speak on behalf of Climate Justice Now.

Many people say that Sweden is just a small country and it doesn’t matter what we do.

But I’ve learned you are never too small to make a difference.

And if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we really wanted to. But to do that, we have to speak clearly, no matter how uncomfortable that may be.

You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake.

You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don’t care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet.

Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money.

Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.

The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn’t do anything while there still was time to act.

You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.

Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We cannot solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis.

We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself.

We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again.

We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time.

We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people.

Thank you.

CNN reported that Thurnberg “all but shamed the 190 countries represented at the United Nations COP24 conference in Poland last week.”

Here is a link to the video of her speech from Democracy Now!.