A Symposium Celebrating Social & Ecological Justice Intersections
Featuring the Earth Guardians & Sarah Thompson
Hosted by the Joanna Macy Center @Naropa
Join local and national leaders for climate justice to celebrate Earth Week in Boulder. Convene with a growing network of everyday activists, learn from the challenges and successes of national leaders in social and ecological justice, and gain resilience building skills and tools in a community of practice and solidarity.
The symposium will be comprised of a Friday night panel and poetry reading/performance as well as an all-day workshop on Saturday:
Friday April 22, 7pm – Celebrate Earth Day & Justice for All
Poetry with Molina Speaks & Performance from the Earth Guardians
Panel – Intergenerational Engagement in Ecological & Social Justice
Featuring:
- Sarah Thompson, Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh, Kathleen Sullivan & Molina Speaks
Saturday April 23, 9am – 5pm – Social Change & the Future of Resilience
Structured to follow the spiral of the Work That Reconnects, we will explore the impacts of our connections & severance from ancestral land & kin by grounding in gratitude, honoring our pain for the world, seeing with new eyes, tapping into deep time, and going forth with renewed commitment and community to bring the future that wants to emerge.
Featuring:
- Lead Facilitation & Keynote with Sarah Thompson, Executive Director of Christian Peacemaker Teams
- Youth Leadership and Engagement for all ages with the Earth Guardians
- Breakout sessions on unpacking our connections & severance from ancestral land & kin
- Opportunities to network with everyday activists and learn resilience-building skills
About the Presenters
Sarah Thompson is the Executive Director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, a multifaith international organization committed to building partnerships to transform violence and oppression. She is a border-walking scholar-activist at heart; a multiracial member of the African diaspora who goes and comes from the Great Lakes Watershed. She was a Fulbright Scholar in Argentina after graduating from Spelman College (majors in Comparative Women’s Studies and International Studies, minor in Spanish).
Xuihtezcatl Tonatiuh is a 15-year-old indigenous change agent, environmental activist, public speaker, eco hip-hop artist, and the Youth Director of Earth Guardians. He is a powerful voice on the front lines of the youth-led climate movement. In 2013, Xiuhtezcatl received the 2013 United States Community Service Award from President Obama, and was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the President’s youth council.
Molina Speaks balances humble roots and urban grit, street smarts and cultural knowledge, lyrical skills and philosophy. Speaks is a Writer, Poet, Playwright, Emcee, Performance Artist and Recording Artist. He is a Chicano/Latino/Indigenous/Mestizo Futurist, a live poetic scribe, a professor of cultural and media studies, a publisher, producer, community educator, and all around human bridge. Molina Speaks advocates for the voices, stories, and power of youth and communities of color.
About the Joanna Macy Center at Naropa
The Joanna Macy Center at Naropa (JMC@N) seeks to advance the vision and legacy of Dr. Joanna Macy’s work in order to empower present and future generations in building a more resilient world that works for all. Building a more resilient world through Dr. Macy’s work, we focus on three specific areas: her root teachings known as The Work That Reconnects (WTR), Liberation Buddhist scholarship, and Nuclear Guardianship. The Center is a platform for further advancement of and training in WTR within Naropa University, the local community and the world at large.
Naropa welcomes participants with disabilities. Please contact JMC@N program manager Karta Elise Hassler at kehassler@naropa.edu to inquire about accessibility and disability accommodations needed to participate fully in these events.
