Ep. 2 - Mass Movements with Patrisse Cullors

This is when people-powered movements matter most.

In this episode of A People’s Climate, host Shilpi Chhotray sits down with Patrisse Cullors, author, educator, artist, and abolitionist who you may also know as the co-founder of Black Lives Matter. They explore the deep connections between racial justice, environmental justice, and the fight for a more just and caring world.

From her childhood experiences in Los Angeles to organizing around police brutality, climate justice, and cultural work, Patrisse shares why her vision is rooted in care, creativity, and nonviolent action.

Together, they unpack what it means to build coalitions across movements, resist systemic violence, and imagine a future beyond just survival.

Key Topics

  • How racial justice and climate justice are deeply interconnected

  • The role of abolition in addressing systemic violence and environmental harm

  • Nonviolent direct action as both a strategy and philosophy for change

  • The science of organizing

  • Coalition-building across movements and communities

  • Cop City

  • Abolition Aesthetics and art as resistance

Resources to Explore

Credits

Presented by Counterstream Media and The Nation
Powered by Wildseeds Fund
Host: Shilpi Chhotray
Executive Producer: Mindy Ramaker
Engineer: Dennis Maxwell
Project Manager: Marianella Nuñez
Additional Research: Sarah Morgan


Patrisse Cullors

Patrisse Cullors is a New York Times bestselling author, educator, artist, and abolitionist from Los Angeles, CA. Her work has been featured at The Broad, The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Frieze LA, The Hammer Museum, The Fowler and a host of theaters, galleries, and museums across the globe. Patrisse has won numerous awards for her art and activism. In 2020 she launched a one of its kind online MFA program at Prescott college. She also launched the Crenshaw Dairy Mart with fellow artists Noé Olivas and Ali Reza Dorriz.

Her current work and practice is focusing on “Abolitionist Aesthetics,” a term she has advanced and popularized to help challenge artists and cultural workers to aestheticize abolition. She has recently founded The Center For Art and Abolition- a trailblazing nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering abolitionist artists and leveraging the transformative power of art to catalyze social change. Patrisse’s mission is to invite all of us to grow towards abolition through intergenerational healing work that centers love, collective care, and art.


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Ep. 3 - It’s Never A Strategy To Remain Quiet with Nick Tilsen

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Ep. 1 - An Unreasonable Woman with Diane Wilson