News from the Third Coast Activist

 

“A GREEN NEW DEAL, AND BEYOND: FACING ECOLOGICAL CRISES”

Date: October 8, 2019

Time: 6:00 pm  to  8:00 pm

We face multiple, cascading ecological crises that require dramatic changes in public policy and everyday life. Robert Jensen will offer a framework for understanding today’s debates over environmental issues. The Green New Deal proposals have been criticized for being too radical, but what if they are not radical enough?

Jensen, recently retired from teaching in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas, is the author of The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men and Plain Radical: Living, Loving, and Learning to Leave the Planet Gracefully.

The event is sponsored by the Austin School, which is on Facebook and YouTube.

Location: ACC Eastview Campus Auditorium (Room 8500), 3401 Webberville Road, Austin, 78702

 

BORDER SOLIDARITY DELEGATION

Date: October 11, 2019

Time: 8:00 am  to  6:00 pm

Austin Tan Cerca de la Frontera raises awareness about conditions of social and economic injustice by hosting solidarity delegations to the border to visit with its partners, el Comité Fronterizo de Obreras (Border Committee of Working Women) and their member communities within the free trade zone of Mexico.

The next delegation will be visiting Piedras Negras and Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, Mexico. More information and sign up online.

 

BUILDING GREEN JUSTICE FORUM: “POTENTIAL THROUGH PLACE”

Date: October 15, 2019

Time: 8:00 am  to  4:00 pm

Huston-Tillotson University will host the sixth annual Building Green Justice Forum, this year focusing on “Potential through Place.”

The modern environmental justice movement understands that our fates are linked to the places we live and work, and that for people of color those places often are ignored, under-resourced, and overly burdened with polluted air, water, and soil. Yet these places also are home to the environmental justice community’s pride, strength, and motivation.

Place holds multiple meanings. In the sciences, an organism’s place in an ecosystem is described by its habitat (physical location) and its niche (role in the community). From those two dimensions, complex interactions emerge that define sources of both resilience and vulnerability. Our human ecosystem is no different. The Building Green Justice Forum will examine these ideas’ potential to transform the entire environmental movement to center equity.

Registration and coffee begins at 8 am, with speakers, panels, and workshops throughout the day. The speakers and schedule will be announced soon. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided. The forum is free but please register online. More information on the Facebook event page.

The event is sponsored by the HT Center for Sustainability and Environmental JusticeGreen is the New BlackThe Dumpster Project, City of Austin Office of Sustainability, and the Third Coast Activist Resource Center.

For more information on sponsorship, contact Karen Magid, kmagid@htu.edu, or Amanda Masino, htmasino@gmail.com.

Location: Dickey-Lawless Science Building, Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St., Austin, 78702, with free parking in the Chalmers Avenue lot and free street parking around campus.

 

CLIMATE IN CRISIS: LOCAL ACTION STARTING IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD

Date: October 20, 2019

Time: 2:00 pm  to  3:30 pm

St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church will sponsor a forum on how to take action on the climate crisis, featuring Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea, who has worked on water

issues in Austin for 30 years, and Brandi Clark Burton, founder of EcoNews and former adviser on environmental action to Austin Mayor Steve Adler.

Location: St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 14311 Wells Port Drive (exit off I-35, west on Wells Branch Parkway)

 

JASON DE LEÓN ON HUMAN SMUGGLING

Date: October 23, 2019

Time: 7:00 pm  to  8:30 pm

Jason De León, Professor of Anthropology and Chicana/o Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and Director of the Undocumented Migration Project, will speak on “Soldiers and Kings: A Photoethnography of Human Smuggling Across Mexico” as part of the University of Texas Humanities Institute’s Distinguished Visiting Lecture Series.

More information online. RSVPs are appreciated but not required.

Location: Avaya Auditorium, POB 2.302, 201 E. 24th Street (SE corner of 24th and Speedway), UT Campus

 

 

Global Ministries EarthKeepers

 United Methodist Environmental Justice Training Coming to Austin Sept 26-29, 2019

The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church is hosting an EarthKeepers training at First United Methodist Church in Austin, TX September 26-29, 2019.  Global Ministries EarthKeepers equips United Methodists to develop environmental initiatives in their churches and communities, and connects them with a broader community of United Methodists who are actively engaged in creation care.  Training topics will include eco-theology, anti-racism, strategies for social change, and United Methodist resources.  We’ll also explore the intersection of climate change and migration with leaders from San Antonio Justice for Our Neighbors and Texas Impact.

During the training, participants will develop a plan to implement a project in their churches and/or communities.  After the training, participants will have the opportunity to apply for a grant of up to $10,000 to support their projects.

Training, food and lodging expenses during the event are paid for by Global Ministries.  Participants are responsible for their own travel, parking and incidental expenses.  Local participants may sleep at home.

Global Ministries EarthKeepers come from annual conferences around the United States and range in age from 13-99.  Participants ages 13-18 may attend with a participating parent or guardian.

More information and application are at: www.umcmission.org/EarthKeepers

News from the Third Coast Activist

ROBIN LAKOFF ON “NARRATIVE CONTROL AND THE HUMAN PROJECT”

Date: September 11, 2019

Time: 7:00 pm  to  8:30 pm

Robin Lakoff, Professor Emerita of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, will speak on “Narrative Control and the Human Project” as part of the University of Texas Humanities Institute’sDistinguished Visiting Lecture Series focused on “Narrative and Social Justice.” Analysis of the 2020 presidential campaign has often focused on “narrative control”–which candidate will control the central story that ultimately defines the campaign? What does this fight for narrative control tell us about how early 21st century Americans are constructing our roles as actors in the human project?

Lakoff is an expert on language and gender, the politics of language, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics. She is the author of several books, including the groundbreaking 1975 book Language and Woman’s Place.

More information online. RSVPs are appreciated but not required.

Location: Avaya Auditorium, POB 2.302, 201 E. 24th Street (SE corner of 24th and Speedway), UT Campus

 

BUILDING GREEN JUSTICE FORUM: “POTENTIAL THROUGH PLACE”

Date: October 15, 2019

Time: 8:00 am  to  4:00 pm

Huston-Tillotson University will host the sixth annual Building Green Justice Forum, this year focusing on “Potential through Place.”

The modern environmental justice movement understands that our fates are linked to the places we live and work, and that for people of color those places often are ignored, under-resourced, and overly burdened with polluted air, water, and soil. Yet these places also are home to the environmental justice community’s pride, strength, and motivation.

Registration and coffee begins at 8 am, with speakers, panels, and workshops throughout the day. The speakers and schedule will be announced soon. Light breakfast and lunch will be provided. The forum is free but please register online. More information on the Facebook event page.

The event is sponsored by the HT Center for Sustainability and Environmental JusticeGreen is the New BlackThe Dumpster Project, City of Austin Office of Sustainability, and the Third Coast Activist Resource Center.

For more information on sponsorship, contact Karen Magid, kmagid@htu.edu, or Amanda Masino, htmasino@gmail.com.

Location: Dickey-Lawless Science Building, Huston-Tillotson University, 900 Chicon St., Austin, 78702, with free parking in the Chalmers Avenue lot and free street parking around campus