Ep. 9 - Reframing Resistance (Live from NYC Climate Week)
Bringing the human stories of the climate crisis into focus.
For this special season finale, recorded live during NYC Climate Week, host Shilpi Chhotray convenes a powerful storytelling event with three frontline media makers: Chantel Comardelle, Alexandra Norris, and B. Preston Lyles.
This is more than a conversation about films or campaigns — it’s an intimate window into the lived realities of climate and environmental injustice. From Indigenous land loss in Louisiana, to the ongoing fight against the petrochemical buildout in Cancer Alley, to exposing the violence of toxic prisons, this discussion centers the human stories too often sidelined in mainstream climate narratives.
Our guests speak candidly about their experiences, what sustains them in the face of systemic harm, why frontline voices must lead solutions, and how storytelling itself becomes a vital tool of resistance, survival, and collective power.
This live storytelling event was made possible in partnership with Dr. Margot Brown, Senior Vice President of Justice and Equity at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Frontline Resource Institute. Special thanks to Chess Jakobs, Counterstream Media’s Impact Producer, who produced this event.
Key Topics
Frontline climate and environmental justice: Stories from communities directly impacted by the climate crisis and extractive industries.
Indigenous displacement: The Isle de Jean Charles Choctaw Nation and climate-driven migration.
Sharon Lavigne’s fight against petrochemical expansion in Cancer Alley
Toxic prisons: The intersection of mass incarceration, environmental harm, and systemic injustice.
How spiritual grounding and faith sustains organizing. Using film and media to reclaim narratives and highlight underrepresented stories.
Narrative power: How media shapes perception, policy, and the climate movement’s priorities.
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 Núñez
Chantel Dolphin Lady Comardelle
Chantel has a deep passion for her community. As Tribal Secretary of the Isle de Jean Charles Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Tribe, she serves as the backbone of Tribal operations. Chantel has served in this role since 2000, acting as a Tribal Representative while simultaneously juggling Tribal communications, archival and historical research, and grant writing responsibilities. Her current areas of focus include Federal Recognition, Tribal Resettlement, and the Preserving Our Place Movement. As a lifelong bayou resident and photographer, Chantel seeks to positively impact her community for future environmental, economic, and cultural sustainability.
Alexandra Norris
Alexandra is a multichannel media creator and producer whose work currently focuses on climate action, social justice, and politics. She is the Producer of Alive Inside, which won the 2014 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for U.S. Documentary, sold to Netflix, and was released in theaters nationwide. Since Alive Inside, Alex has produced two additional non-fiction feature films – State of Eugenics, which was acquired by and aired on PBS and In Our Mothers’ Gardens, which was acquired by Ava Duvernay’s distribution collective ARRAY and is streaming on Netflix. Alex has produced numerous Telly and Webby award-winning projects for Fortune 50 brands, and episodic documentary work for MTV and VICE Media.
B. Preston Lyles
BP is Lead Organizer for the Toxic Prisons Campaign of the Human Rights Coalition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. TPC and Lyle’s work centers around SCIFayette, which was built atop coal ash waste. The intention of their work is to shut down the prison.
Frontline Resources Institute (FRI)
Founded in 2021 as a project of EDF, the Frontline Resource Institute (FRI) equips advocates and organizations with the tools, training, and funding needed to address environmental injustices. FRI believes that the people, and leaders closest to the problems, are the closest to the solutions- so we invest in them. A Conceptual Committee of eleven environmental justice leaders guide FRI to ensure we support organizations where they need us most. As a trusted partner to over 450 community-based organizations (CBOs), FRI has helped raise $363 million through grant training, issued multiple rounds of direct grants, and conducted research to identify and meet the priority needs of communities.
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A People’s Climate – Ep 9 – Reframing Resistance (Live from NYC Climate Week)
Shilpi Chhotray [00:00:04] This is a people's climate powered by Wildseeds Fund from Counterstream Media and The Nation. I'm your host, Shilp Chhotray.
FILM CLIP [00:00:13] Well, back in the nineteen eighties, a part of South Louisiana gained a nickname that was as frightening as it was controversial. The seven parishes along the Mississippi River between New Orleans and Baton Rouge became known as Cancer Alley.
FILM CLIP [00:00:27] I don't think a lot of people know that, but when someone dies in prison their dead body is still shackled until it gets to the morgue.
FILM CLIP [00:00:39] All prisons are toxic, but there's some of them that are more toxic than others.
FILM CLIP [00:00:46] Our whole tribe and communities displaced. And it makes it hard to continue your culture from one generation to the next. Whereas normally grandparents pass on their culture to their kids and then to their grandkids. We don't have that anymore 'cause nobody's together anymore.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:01:09] Welcome to the season finale of a people's climate. Thank you so much for tuning in to our inaugural season. Today's episode was recorded live in New York City back in September during climate week. And for most people in the climate movement, Climate Week is known to be a blur of panels and pledges, running from one event to the next with these polished talking points, you know, about carbon and net zero goals. But our event was all about centering stories from the front lines. I was honored to host this evening with my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Margot Brown. She's the senior vice president of justice and equity at the Environmental Defense Fund. We brought together three incredible frontline media makers to share their stories. You'll hear from Chantel Comardelle, a member of the Isle de Jean Charles Choctaw Nation, the first federally recognized community of climate refugees in the United States. Let's listen to a little of her film, Preserving Our Place.
FILM CLIP [00:02:06] Our community is on the southern coasts of Louisiana, basically in the Gulf of Mexico. My kids will never see the things on the island that I saw. They'll never get to go fish in the front bayou for crabs because the front bayou is now cut off by a levee and there's no water passing through and it's just overgrown. And it's heartbreaking to see that we have two generations now that have no idea of what it is to have life on the island and have that culture. I want to capture as many of those memories before they're
Shilpi Chhotray [00:02:39] There's also B. Preston Lyles, lead organizer for the Toxic Prisons campaign, whose work exposes the intersection of mass incarceration and environmental harm, what he calls toxic prisons.
FILM CLIP [00:02:51] This was a spot where all the coal mines in the area used to dump their waste. And then when a new company took over, what they did was they started dumping coal ash on top of that waste.
FILM CLIP [00:03:05] When inmates would wash their clothes.
FILM CLIP [00:03:07] It came back with this awful smell that was similar to that of urine.
FILM CLIP [00:03:15] The dogs were being given bottled water and the guards are being given bottled water. But the men in prison were still drinking that polluted water. People were breaking out in rashes, coughs, and and it was just horrible.
FILM CLIP [00:03:28] This is what's been going on all over the country that you have contaminated land after it's been depleted of all its resources and everything good. It's being sold to corrections in different states. We're seeing the same story throughout the country.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:03:43] And last but not least, Alexandra Norris. She's the filmmaker behind Let No One Lose Heart. Her documentary follows legendary Louisiana activist Miss Sharon Lavigne and her fight against big plastic in Cancer Alley.
FILM CLIP [00:03:58] Why are we letting this industry come in here? Our public officials, they're allowing it to come in here. And they said, Oh, there's nothing you could do about it. It's a done deal. I spoke to God. I asked him what to do. And he said, fight.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:04:16] All right, here's our conversation live from Climate Week.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:04:21] So I'd like to begin with introductions very briefly from all three of you. And as you are answering that part of the question, I also want you to reflect on this quote by Malcolm X in nineteen sixty-three in his message to the grassroots, and that was all revolution begins on land.
Chantel Comardelle [00:04:43] Hi, I'm Chantel Carmadell. I'm from Homa, Louisiana, originally from the Isle Jean Charles. Yeah, Boots on the ground. That's where we start.
Alex Norris [00:04:55] I'm Alex Norris. I am a filmmaker. I think that revolution starts to happen and bubble up when people are too tightly squeezed and the land is squeezed and extraction is happening and happening and happening until the people can't take it anymore. I am not quite sure that there is yet a revolution happening in Cancer Alley, but I am sure that we need one.
B. Preston Lyes [00:05:21] I am B Preston Lyles. W when I think about the the quote, just in case y you don't know this, I happen to be a black man. And and having been a black man for nearly fifty years. I'm abundantly clear. The severity of injustice. I'm abundantly clear about the assumptions of our ignorance. I'm abundantly clear about the devaluing of our lives. I am abundantly clear about the overlooking of our humanity, about the reduction of our dignity, about the theft of our culture, about the usurping of our names. I'm abundantly clear about the injustice of the carcieral system in the United States of America, which was the export of enslavement. And I'm abundantly clear that American prison is the trash can of this country. If a revolution is to begin, it must begin on the ground. Because while out while while ideals may be lofty, movement happens in low places.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:06:47] I want to ask a question to you, Chantal, just to to kick us off here on this theme of of land and displacement. Your story is particularly urgent. When we think about climate migration, we're thinking about Tuvalu, we're thinking about Pakistan. We're not thinking about our own country here in Louisiana. What BP was talking about about this history that we have to come to terms with as an environmental movement. We can't glace over genocide of slavery of land theft. How does that show up in your work, especially in documenting? And I know we've had conversations about how important this is as a mother of three.
Chantel Comardelle [00:07:31] Ended up in the land that we're at right now because of that genocide. That India Removal Act. Basically the United States kicked all the Native Americans out of the country because that was not the United States yet. So this has been going on for generations and it's gonna take more than just a little bit to stop. Even as much as last week we are still fighting a fight against politicians in the state, the beautiful community center that's supposed to be for the tribe to use and have functions and of last week the state turned it over to another nonprofit in our city. So we have nothing to do with any of that land, any of that that we helped write everything to get the grant to try to move our people to safety and try to have a place that our people can call their own. So it's just it's continued disheartening over and over and over. So not only do did they lose the land, we're losing parts of culture. We're losing even the ability to convene and have a place to come together. I was displaced off the island when I was three. I developed asthma from the mold from the repeat floodings. So we had to either move or my or I was gonna continue I developed asthma and I would be put in a hospital every few months. So my dad made that hard decision to move and now the whole tribe has had to make that hard decision to move.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:09:11] Thank you for sharing. I wanna be really clear that Louisiana is a petro state. It's heavy fossil fuel production. Every single sort of refinery is there. It's where plastic comes from. And that lands me to Ms. Sharon Levine's story and Alex's work with her very powerful film. Ms. Sharon is leading with incredible courage. And at the heart of her activism is her spirituality. And when I came into the work, I had never experienced this side of the environmental work before, what faith means to so many advocates, especially in the Gulf South. And Alex, I wanna know for you as a filmmaker, you know, how has that journey in being behind the lens and capturing Ms. Sharon and her story influenced you and how you show up in your work?
Alex Norris [00:10:03] I came to this story probably really arrogant. I have been a filmmaker for fifteen years and I was raised in the black church, good Sunday school going, been confirmed, was married in the church girl, but I have really struggled with my faith through my adolescence and as an adult and really on my besties was sort of agnostic about my beliefs. And when I came to this story I said to myself, I never said to Sharon, thank God, but I said to myself that this was not going to be a religious film. And as soon as I met Sharon it became really clear to me that to do that would be a lie because that is who Sharon is. She has restored my faith. So we are coming up on five years. And it has been a really difficult journey that most days did not feel smart to pursue. Many days wanted to just say, Hey, this is not gonna work. It's time to throw in the towel but making the story, this is the part where I cry, about Sharon and watching her walk in her faith. Never giving up against odds that compared to mine were really, really insurmountable. It was like, how can I turn away from this if she's not turning away from The other thing about Sharon's faith that's been really amazing to watch is that like we think a lot in the secular world. And that thinking stymies the work. And Sharon just does because she doesn't have to think about the why, the ifs, the should she, is there approval? She already has her approval. And so she is just able to like plow through and do. And that is one of the things that I think makes her so effective that she's not stopping to contemplate a whole lot because she's already been given her answer and that is amazing to watch the power of that cut through the fat in this work and in the movement.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:12:24] B P, I would be amiss if we didn't talk about the role of faith in all you do. Take it away.
B. Preston Lyes [00:12:31] So let me make an unashamed announcement. I am boldfaced, unbiased, unashamed. I am a Christian. What I know that is born out of the scripture is that the revolutionary love of God means that we stand with each other in the arm of love, that we wish to restore the dignity of all humanity. That we wish to see people live well, we wish to see people achieve their dreams, we wish to see people stand when the world has torn them down. Those who have been incarcerated, those who are incarcerated now, I mentioned that America has a trash can. And it's been marketed for generations, for generations, that anybody who has been in prison deserves it. And that they don't deserve to live after it. It has been severely tragically overlooked the level of injustice, the level of lies, the level of deception, the fact that human life is often bought and sold in courtrooms. The fact that human lives are often bought and sold over Many people who are incarcerated, especially in Pennsylvania all over the country, but in Pennsylvania there are nearly forty thousand men and women behind walls. That's currently. It is costing Pennsylvania taxpayers over three billion with a B billion dollars a year to finance incarceration. And that is just the prisons, their staff and the land. That is not the court system and the lawyers and the county jails. Faith means that I move forward, not failing or giving up. It means that I do not tell anybody that they are not worth the life that God gave them. Faith means that I fight and that I stand on behalf of my brothers and my sisters. Because that's what Jesus did. For me. I do not throw people away. In fact, I go get them.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:15:19] When the three of you were speaking, I kept thinking about extractive narratives, which is so harmful for anyone that reads media, that absorbs media, it's how we shape policy, it's how we shape culture. Narrative is it's everything. It's the the c fundamental core of how we're gonna move the needle on issues. So when we talk about the carceral system, when we talk about Cancer Alley, when we talk about indigenous sovereignty. Right now the the narrative is painted in a very extreme right wing light. And what Marg and I were excited about with the three of you in particular is you are actively shifting that narrative. And it's it's d it's a difficult thing to do. So I wanna ask you as media makers We are up against a lot when it comes to winning that narrative. And how are you Coping with that pressure right now.
Alex Norris [00:16:20] Yeah, so I think that extraction is coming from from both sides as it relates to climate issues and environmental justice issues. I work in climate politics and I came to this story in twenty twenty when environmental justice was like the hot ticket. My family is from the Gulf South on my father's side and I opened a ProPublica article and read about Sharon for the first time. I'd never heard of Cancer Alley and like my brain just broke. I had spent so much time in New Orleans and never heard of this thing. And Sharon really resonated with me just as a person she felt familiar. But all that I saw of her in the media was really two dimensional. She was clearly like had been picked at that time as the poster woman for the movement. And when I started to like get to to know her and were shooting with her, like she would come to New York or she would come to DC but not have a ride from the airport. I work in climate politics and I see the resources that are sloshing around, organizations lighting money on fire for tactics that are not effective, that do not break through. But this 70-year-old grandmother is landing in a place foreign from her home with no proteum and no car service. And my husband would like pick her up from the train station sometimes. Like, I don't it just broke my brain. And so my intention from the very beginning of this story was to show not only Sharon, but the folks in her orbit, Shamira, her family, the rest of the community in full dimension. These are not two-dimensional people. They are three-dimensional, multi-dimensional human beings with wins and also with losses, with deep, deep losses that are a result of the work that they are putting themselves out. There is cost to this work on their personal lives and well-being. And that is overlooked. It's just like victory, victory, rah, rah, rah, until whatever group is done and moved on to the next. And that is what I've seen is like the cycle has turned and environmental justice is now on the back burner and it's not a thing that the green groups are interested in. And so it's just not on the table anymore. And again, the the real thing that I hope comes through in this film is that these people are s sacrificing themselves. To advance these issues and then we come to Climate Week and have wine and cheese and shake their hands and go home, but they are going home to continue the work. And I I just don't want that to be overlooked or forgotten or minimized.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:19:08] So well said. So well said. Chantel, can we go to you?
Chantel Comardelle [00:19:14] Yeah, I totally agree. Because I I live it, like Miss Sharon and them, I live it. And I think we need to collectively look beyond just Saint James because You can't go anywheres around South Louisiana from all the multiple petrochemical companies and without seeing somebody with cancer. I lost both my mom and my grandmother to cancer. So I I think we all have that shared South Louisiana water and trash and it's easy for a news report to come down and say, Hey, we saw you we want to see how the resettlement's going. Do you really want to see? They're already having major issues with homes. They had one minor little hurricane come through and siding was pulled off. Air conditioners on brand new homes are not working. Do you really want to see that? Or do you want to just post, oh look, the pretty pictures of the houses are built and that's it. We helped another one and we're going. You know, do you or you do you want to stay and fight? I encourage you to dig dig deeper on what's not being in the mainstream.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:20:33] That's right. And I think what's so powerful about your story is that you are the documenter. That is massive. B P
B. Preston Lyes [00:20:43] When it comes to struggle, struggle has to happen. In the hands of those dealing with it. We don't have the privilege to stand off and behave and act as if we are aloof and untouched. I introduced myself by telling you in case you didn't know, I'm a black man. They intend to start me from the back. People intend to see me as less than human. If this work is going to happen Then the narrative has to change. People have to see people as just that. We cannot see people as other. This is why abuses occur, because humans decide that other humans are somehow objects. I have to be a reductionist in order to stand by and watch your life fall apart and do nothing while my life is going just fine. That was probably more than your question.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:21:56] I want you to just keep going. Just keep it on, repeat. No, it's it is extremely powerful. And I'm so sad we only have a few minutes left. But I want to ask this this question to you. In your own work, how do you resist the pressure to assimilate into broken systems?
B. Preston Lyes [00:22:15] I hear the words of the apostle say that You will know them that labor among you by the fruit that they bear. And though I'm not a farmer, my my second sonny is here, they are a farmer. And so tell me if I'm right about this. If if one is to bear fruit Then that fruit needs to reflect the tree that it comes from? And if somehow the tree or the vine or the plant is producing fruit not of itself, then something is wrong. And it should be cut off. This work, these words of not being integrated into these false ideas. Means that I always care. Which means that fundamentally I will always fight for others, which means that at my core I seek to see the humanity and those around me. And we just can't give up. And if you start from the back. There's a moment where they have there has to be an acceleration to catch up. I hope you heard me.
Alex Norris [00:23:32] I had the great privilege and honor of being mentored by Haile Garima, who is a lion of independent black film. If you have not seen Senkofa, go find it somewhere and watch it. And he would always point in my face and say, You tell your own stories. We are five years in. We are free. We have no masters. We have not taken any money from any kind of equity source that would have like controls or strings on our story. And so we're able to say what we want. And I don't know. I was talking to a girl today at the climate film festival, a young Howard University law student, and she was like, You're making a 90-minute film? Why? She was like, I I try to pay attention to feature films, but I can't anymore. And I was like, Are we are we done with this? Like, we we can't we you have to push back and resist and keep on making this kind of media because the algorithm is broken already, right? And it's gonna be up to like the repairers to fix it and to push it to its next place, to return to a place where social justice stories can be told and consumed and desired. And so that's kind of just what I'm gonna keep on doing, I hope.
Chantel Comardelle [00:24:59] Yeah, for me it's kind of the same. I'm a certified minister. And at the end of the day, at the end of the day, I still have to answer to Jesus about what I do. And I have to look into my kids' face and all of our tribal members and say, I did what I could do to the end. I did everything I can do. And I told the state planners and all of this when they were working, I said, At the moment that I cannot fully feel like you are doing something right, I will leave. I said, I will I will not help you hurt my people. I can't look Rosie, she's one of our eld tribal elders, in the face and say, I'm sorry, I didn't do enough to try to save your home. They're fighting to try to keep what they have now, what they lost on the island, and I can't look in their face and say, I did everything I could do if I didn't. So at the end of the day, that's why I fight. That's why I go back and tell their stories. That's why I think we're all here listening is because we want to make sure that those stories are true and that those are the stories that we tell. And we make sure that the true stories and the true history is written and acknowledged and pushed out.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:26:30] Thanks all for for your truth. And I wanna leave folks with this. So less than two percent of climate philanthropy dollars are going to environmental justice and just transition issues. There are some key people in the room. I need you to hear this. Sixty million went to fall solutions, tech solutions, carbon capture, et cetera. This is the week where we need you all to carry this message forward. It's literally life or death for many of these communities. You know, it's an honor to be in this space with you, but that comes with a responsibility as well. I'm gonna invite our dear colleague Margot Brown to say a few words.
Margo Brown [00:27:16] I want to share a quote with all of you by Maya Angelo. And it says, I've learned that people will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But people will never forget how you made them feel. Thank you for making us feel your plight this evening.
Shilpi Chhotray [00:27:55] Most climate stories pass through institutions with little to no connection to the communities that are most affected, reducing complex realities to mere headlines and distancing us from those on the front lines. And it's no surprise that so many of us end up feeling exhausted or hopeless. That's exactly how the systems maintaining the status quo want us to feel. But the people you just heard, and all of my guests throughout the season cut through that noise. And despite the political and personal risks, they continue to organize and make their power known. Their clarity is a reminder of what this moment demands from all of us to pay attention, stay accountable, and to align our actions with the people most impacted. None of this happens alone. It requires courage, hard decisions, and a willingness to stay engaged, especially when it's uncomfortable. So I'll leave you with this where can you align your resources, your energy, your voice? If these stories moved you, help us keep a people's climate alive. Donate today at counterstream.org and stay connected. Sign up for our newsletter for more stories on climate and environmental justice. A huge shout out to the Environmental Defense Fund and the Frontline Resources Institute for sponsoring this timely conversation. Thank you to Wildseeds Fun for making this podcast possible. This episode of A People's Climate is executive produced by Mindy Ramaker, with engineering and sound design by Dennis Maxwell, The Music by Khafre Jay, recorded at Studio 132 in Oakland, California. From Counterstream Media and The Nation, I'm your host, Shilpi Chhotray. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back soon.