Story Salons
Our in-person gatherings feature dialogue, strategic collaborations, and build movement in culturally-relevant spaces.
AI, Attention Activism, and Environmental Justice
We're not living through an environmental crisis. We're living through two environmental crises: one of our external environment (the climate and planetary system) and one of our internal environment (human attention). These inner and outer worlds are the basis for human flourishing. And they are profoundly imperiled.
The reckless deployment of AI technologies that pollute our atmosphere and frack our minds has made this relationship painfully clear. But the convergence of these two crises presents an opportunity for new (and old) forms of social practice designed to reconstitute the worlds of matter and meaning that make human life worth living.
This was an evening of discussion and practice at the nexus of attention activism and environmental justice, featuring a panel of thinkers, writers, and leaders.
Hosted by the Strother School of Radical Attention
In collaboration with Counterstream
Celebrating the Earth Day release of the Peace & Riot The AI Issue: Read HERE!
Capri LaRocca, Henry Kramer, Julia Luz Betancourt, Amirio Freeman, and Peter Schmidt.
About Peace & Riot - The AI Issue
As the AI race accelerates across the country, this issue of Peace & Riot shares stories from the frontlines: people fighting for their communities over corporate control, for clean air over polluted skies, for public good over private profit. This is a fight for our shared humanity.
Featuring:
Julia Luz Betancourt, Assistant Editor (Counterstream):
Investigative reporter, editor and multimedia creator documenting abuses of power by government, corporations and higher education institutions. For this issue of Peace & Riot, Betancourt reports on the intersections of state surveillance and ICE.
Amirio Freeman, Contributor (Counterstream):
Essayist, interviewer, and editor who writes about Blackness, queerness, and plants. For this issue of Peace & Riot, they talk with Jai Dulani of MediaJustice on the myths, marketing, and manufactured inevitability of AI.
Capri LaRocca, Lab Coordinator (SoRA):
Educator, designer, and eco-futurist working to co-create a more regenerative world.
Henry Kramer, Academic Dean (SoRA):
Hudson Valley-based writer and educator whose work weaves imagination, deep attention, and experimental pedagogy
Photos by Shanaz Deen
Public Power and The Grid
In Public Power and the Grid: Community, Culture, and Energy Justice, three powerful members of the DC Community reflect on the interwoven legacies of community, culture, and environmental justice, specifically as it pertains to our current energy crisis.
Reframing Resistance: Three films that explore land, legacy, and justice.
Frontline media makers share stories of Indigenous knowledge, toxic prisons, & the quest for justice in Cancer Alley.
Rooted & Rising: Faith and Resilience in the Face of Climate Disaster
We invite you to join us for a day of powerful storytelling and collective action as we assemble 5,000 disaster relief kits to better prepare communities for climate resilience. There will be food, music and much more!
Story Salon: Season of Dissent at NYC Climate Week
Join us for an unforgettable afternoon as we gather to honor and elevate the power of expression, unity, and civil disobedience in the Environmental Justice movement.
In Season of Dissent, we spotlight voices at the forefront of the fight for environmental justice and democracy, centering the essential freedoms of expression and assembly.
Honoring Black Women in Environmental Justice
In a special storytelling event, we passed its mic to Black women environmental justice leaders in the oil and gas sanctuary state of Louisiana to discuss these themes.
Food Sovereignty as a Pathway to Climate Justice
“What is the agricultural system? Well, when you take culture out of it, it is just agribusiness.” -Sara Moncada
Fall Story Salon at BusBoys and Poets
In its third successful storytelling salon, we convened a packed room full of activists, artists, residents and supporters for a revealing conversation at D.C.’s iconic BusBoys and Poets bookstore. The event was moderated by artist and innovator Michelle Antoinette Nelson, a seasoned entertainer and the founder of Brown and Healthy - a global initiative focused on community engagement and wellness curation led by people of color.
6th Annual Environmental Justice Summit w/Hip Hop For Change
We were honored to bring environmental justice storytelling to the main stage with powerful stories by Elder Casey Camp-Horinek, Jan Victor Andasan, Dr. Ahimsa Porter Sumchai, and poetry by Samuel Getachew.
PoP TALKS at Shack15
We kicked off our powerful story salon series with the Shack15 team in San Francisco. Our esteemed lineup included: Sharon Lavigne, Patrice Simms, and Tricia Cortez, and poetry by Greer Nakadegawa-Lee.