EMEAC lends voice to Grassroots Global Justice 2011 Congress in Raleigh

October 24, 2011

RALEIGH -- EMEAC holds space in several important collaborations and alliances committed to revealing and addressing injustices against poor and working people and the environment.  One such group is Grassroots for Global Justice [GGJ], which is an alliance of U.S.-based grassroots groups who are organizing to build an agenda for power for working and poor people.  In September, Development Coordinator Ife Kilimanjaro, represented EMEAC at GGJ's 2011 Congress in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

Ife, along with over 250 members and supporters, helped to shape GGJ's focus over the next year by discussing and offering recommendations for revision of its proposal called  No War! No Warming! Build an Economy for the People and the Planet! These three issues were selected by GGJ staff and members of the Coordinating Committee for their overlap, the opportunity they offer to define and articulate alternatives to capitalism-in-crisis, and their impact on and implications for local, national and international organizing and movement building.  Congress participants debated each of the three areas in separate working groups over two days to recommend goals, objectives and actions for the upcoming year and presented them to the larger body on the last day. 

During the morning of day 2, representatives of international social movements - World March of Women (Brazil), FASE (Brazil), Hemispheric Social Alliance (Canada/Mexico), Anti Privatization Forum (South Africa), South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (South Africa), and Alternatives (Maghrib) - participated in person and via skype to discuss their organizations and recent victories, offer their perspectives on GGJ's proposal, share their views on the state of social movements at the international level and how they've dealt with the challenge  of alliances in their work. 

In the afternoon, Congress participants engaged in a rally in support of working people and the poor at the Republican party headquarters.  This action was picked up by the local news station and can also be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/ggjalliance#p/u/7/coIF1nzNoyg .



On the last day of the Congress, members voted on 3 resolutions: offering support for Mexican Trade Unions by condemning the attacks on the independent trade union movement and freedom of association in Mexico; affirming several food sovereignty statements that support the people's democratic control of the food system, culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and people's right to define their own food and agricultural systems; and supporting the Hemispheric Social Alliance's statement on unity to stop the economic crisis and build a different economy.  Support for each was unanimous.

Videos of presentations and interviews can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/user/ggjalliance . 

 

Peoples Kitchen Detroit holds skill share on tomato canning

DETROIT – The preservation of good food choices and the sharing of good relationships are all at heart of what the Cass Corridor Community Commons (CCCC) is all about. Throughout the upcoming months – if not years – friends of the Peoples Kitchen Detroit (PKD) can get a taste of both thanks to a special tomato canning skill share held recently at PKD inside the CCCC space of the First Unitarian Universalist Church.

“Our tomato canning skill share was a great success,” said PKD’s Angela Newsom “We had a wonderful turnout, everyone had a great time and walked away with jars of delicious locally grown tomatoes to enjoy throughout the winter in soups or sauce.”

A skill share is a no-to-low cost way to share time, skills and resources with others in a community. People with varying degrees of knowledge on a particular subject - in this case, canning tomatoes - come together to work on a project. This provides an opportunity for those with no or little knowledge to learn a new skill and ask questions of seasoned veterans. It also allows for those who know the skill to expand their knowledge with new techniques or ideas. Relationships are built and communities are strengthened through working together and sharing resources.

The diverse group attending the tomato canning skill share were EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady, who is also an administrator of the Detroit Food Justice Taskforce, Candice  Coleman and Kanezia Smith of Creative Community Pathways, Blair Nosan of Suddenly Sauer, Natali Perkins, Priscilla Dziebek of EMEAC’s Greener Schools Program, Carolyn Leadley of Rising Pheasant Farms, Ana Howrani Heeres and Sarah Sidelko of the CCCC’s Fender Bender.

The group set up to process the tomatoes like an assembly line after all the tomatoes were chopped and cooked down in a large pot. The tomatoes were funneled into jars, wiped, lids put on, and placed into a hot water bath. Labels were made including the date, which is very important. The newly transformed tomatoes were then cooled the next day.

Newsom says the event blends well into the work of the CCCC and Detroit Food Justice Taskforce of which PKD is also a founding member.

“These skill-shares fit into the work of both People’s Kitchen Detroit and the Food Justice Task Force in many ways,” she said. “One of the foundations of a community kitchen, like PKD, is the intention to bring people together around food. In addition to this, these skill-shares usually are connected to excess food from farms and gardens around the city, so we’re helping farmers and gardeners move some of their produce.  Through the preservation of this excess food we’re also taking a resource that typically has a short shelf life and preserving it so that it is available during the winter months or when we need it sometime in the future.
“These classes also provide us the opportunity to work together differently and to explore small examples of alternate or new economic models. By pooling our community resources, excess tomatoes, jars and lids, kitchen space and equipment, chopping, cutting and washing dishes, to create an environment where everyone walks away with some food and the know-how to do it again, we inspire new ways of thinking and living that open up new possibilities.”

Of course, sharing with friends is always an occasion for heart felt thanks.

“We are so thankful to everyone who came out to the event and who have supported our work over the last five years,” Newsom said. “We’d also like to thank the 1st UU congregation for the donation of the buildings to the Commons and for welcoming PKD with excitement and open hearts.”

 

Fender Bender a key cog to what the CCCC is all about

October 22, 2011

DETROIT -- As the reality of the Cass Corridor Community Commons builds around the framework of social justice in Detroit in the halls of the First Universalist Unitarian Church where EMEAC’s offices are now housed, it’s only fitting that there be an organization like Fender Bender which is dedicated to bending society’s the rules while mending what’s broken be squarely in the mix.

So it is that the group of female bicycle mechanics founded by Sarah Sidelko ride into the fray on their mission of promoting gender equity, environmental
sustainability and healthy lifestyles all around the love of cycling.

Fender Bender's Sarah Sidelko talks with EMEAC youth
during a tour of the Motor City Brewery during the
Gardening Activism Media and Education summer camp
“When you are not given access to do things, you don’t even know how much you might love it and how that can actually transform your life later,” Sidelko said. “For me, getting involved in building bicycles gave me a sense of confidence. It gave me a sense of power and ableness in my life to go out and do things. It made me feel like I was strong and that I could carry things at home on my own. It’s really simple and basic things that other people may not think of as a challenge or obstacle every day in being a woman.”

Sidelko has taken that sense of empowerment and become only one of a handful of licensed female brewers in all of the United States. When she’s not plying her trade at the Motor City Brewry just around the corner from the CCCC, she and her fellow Fender Benders are busy giving bicycle repair and maintenance workshops, group rides or educating others on the virtues of cycling with a special outreach to the Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender-Queer (LGBTQ) community.

“Fender Bender is a group of female bicycle mechanics who currently do bicycle mechanic training currently with people from the LGBQT community,” Sidelko said. “We do have programming that is accessible to everyone during events and bike rides.

“We’ve been asked to do bicycle trainings around workshops, but we like to do trainings around women and the LGBQT community so that they can have a safe and nurturing space where we can have a space to work on bikes and learn mechanic skills and just engage with things such as tools and mechanics where as women we might not necessarily feel we were able or allowed because of these stereo typical set of rules we are kind of born into.”

Fender Bender’s mission of empowerment does extend to the broader Detroit community around the principle of social justice. The group has worked with EMEAC in the past around quality of life and environmental justice issues during EMEAC’s initial Gardening Activism Media and Education summer camp where young people got a tour of the Motor City Brewery to learn how beer is made and a demonstration of the group’s smoothie bike to demonstrate the conjunction of healthy eating and healthy living.

“We want to promote projects and activities that are about the uplifting and the empowerment of Detroit and its residents,” Sidelko said. “We like things that are about the engagement of people on a face-to-face one-to-one level. We like activities that promote exercising our bodies and going on rides, and things that help us really connect with one another every day. We also want to get at some of the racial things that go on underneath because even in something like cycling where everybody has a common ground that all people can connect on, we sometimes have all these other barriers that prevent us from connecting in our lives.

“I was organizing a biker auction and I thought (about the smoothie bike), ‘Wow what a cool way to use these interactive pieces. It’s a great way to introduce environmental issues, social issues and quality of life issues. In a lot of countries where people don’t have all these advanced technologies, people really do have to come up with some very practical ways of processing their foods. Whether it’s coffee grinders, corn huskers and water irrigation systems, there are all these different ways to use pedal power. It could be like your brake from gardening. There are no emissions. There are no waste. It’s powered by old bicycles and uses vegetables from your garden to replenish yourself with things that are actually nourishing.”

All in all, Sidelko’s Fender Bender mission and goals have put them on the path to be in alignment with the mission of the Cass Corridor Community Commons.

“We are honored and feel really grateful to be invited into a presence like that where people are able to work together for something sustainable and really have each other’s back,” she said. “It’s good to work around people that will help you get yourself back up again whether it’s emotionally or physically. It’s great to be able to work with other groups of people around those over arching principles of social justice.

“(EMEAC) is doing it on all these other different levels like food and gardening and we learn a lot from each other about how all these things come together. You realize that in many ways the work we do is not so separate.”

 

DFY to gather in Southwest Detroit’s Young Nation on Halloween Eve

DETROIT – On the eve of the annual Feast of All Saints celebrations, there will be a gathering of the Detroit Future Youth (DFY) Network as part of the second annual Angel’s Night event sponsored by Young Nation of Southwest Detroit.

Youth from all 12 member organizations of the DFY Network will gather from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, October 30 at The Alley Project (TAP) 9233 Avis Street where they will join youth and adult community members in Southwest Detroit for food and a series of interactive workshops on the decriminalization of youth and street art demonstrations.

“This is something (Young Nation) does as a response to the criminalization of youth on Angel’s night,” said DFY Coordinator Ilana Weaver. “They create a safe space for youth to gather and be able to have a good time without being harassed. We are bringing out the entire youth network in solidarity with the work they are doing in Southwest for this gathering. It’s all about countering the violence against and criminalization of youth in southwest Detroit.”

Young Nation is a community-based organization that seeks to empower youth from Southwest Detroit through positive forms of creative expression. Young Nation follows a program model that speaks to the community’s passions, facilitates interaction, raises awareness, and inspires action. The organization takes a unique approach to youth development by attempting to affect change by inspiring young minds through example and engagement. Implicit in this approach is that youth are involved in participatory processes where the principles of positive youth development are promoted with the goal of young people discovering where their passions intersect their community’s needs.

Young Nation Youth Coordinator Erik Howard
“This year’s expanded focus will be on offering street art education and experience to participants through a series of interactive workshop stations,” said Young Nation Youth Coordinator Erik Howard.  “At the end of the day attendees will be familiar with some history and techniques of street art as well as ways it can be used to support youth and community development.”

Angel’s Night came about as a way of providing constructive and positive examples of youth activities in the community during Halloween festivities. The event seeks to counter the narrative that youth activities on the holiday tend to be destructive and negative.

“The other part that sometimes gets left out of conversation but not out of the motivation of the young person is to vandalize, or do something they are ‘not supposed to,’ Howard said. “Without guidance and direction the youth’s testing and understanding of structure and boundaries may not evolve beyond mere participation in deviant behavior.  However, through positive relationships with peers and adults this exploration can be a healthy exploration of rules and limitations that results in an understanding of how to work within and outside of what is provided and toward innovation without the extreme legal or physical risk.

“We want to provide practical knowledge and experience in street art and its ability to be utilized as a tool for youth and community development to others in the network.”

DFY Coordinators Ilana Weaver and Alia Harvey-Quinn
Weaver agreed that criminalization of youth in the city remains a serious problem and that the Detroit Future Youth team was looking forward to examining these issues.
“This provides another perspective on youth activism in Detroit,” she said. “We hope to be adding to those perspectives with this gathering.
“Street art is criminalized although it’s basically a safe place for youth to express themselves creatively through graffiti and other arts. We are really going to be highlighting that as a tool of resistance as well as highlighting their website www.insidesouthwest.org. It’s an incredible outlet for the youth in southwest Detroit to talk about the issues that are pertinent to them and their communities.”

 

GM Theatre inside C.H. Wright Museum to host 2011 Green Screen Youth Film Festival

EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady, second from right,
stands with (from left), Leah Spady, Sabrin Salaam and
Maria Ryen outside the Charles H. Wright Museum
of African American History
DETROIT – The General Motors Theatre inside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will serve as the venue for the fifth annual Green Screen Youth Film Festival sponsored by the East Michigan Environmental Action Council on November 17 in Detroit. Green Screen 2011 is scheduled to get underway at 7 p.m. and will be preceded at for 4 p.m. by a special Green Room youth gathering for Green Screen filmmakers, actors and participants along with young people from the 12 organizations of the Detroit Future Youth Network inside the nearby Plymouth United Church of Christ.

“We really wanted this year to mark the fifth anniversary of Green Screen with a gala event at a location that really reflected our commitment to Detroit and its history,” said EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady. “The young people have always got really excited to see their name up on the marquee. I think they’ll be even more excited to know that their work is going to be featured at the GM Theatre. We think we have a venue that’s fitting of the event.”

Green Screen provides a forum where students from across southeast Michigan and beyond showcase short films with environmental themes. These films allow young filmmakers to express what they think is most crucial to their health and to the natural environment. Some films also focus on making the world, their school or neighborhood environmentally healthier.

November 1 is the entry deadline for Green Screen 2011, which celebrates youth voices and emerging environmentalism.  The three-to-five-minute short films, created entirely by young artists and aspiring young activists, span a range of environmental and social issues. 

The films are judged for cinematic merit, relevance to Southeastern Michigan, and creative messaging.  The panel of judges will consist of independent directors, environmental activists, youth activists, and a journalist.  Now in its fifth year, EMEAC gets statewide inquiries about this exciting event, as well as requests for film making workshops and demonstrations through out the year.

“This is also the fifth year for the Green Screen and it’s exciting that it has lasted for five years,” Spady said. “It’s special that it is still well received and it is looked forward to. It keeps growing in number and in size with the amount of media entries with the scope of topics that are covered. That was of the atmosphere and vibe that the event is to us. It’s all about the young people that are in it as part of the community.”

Until this year, Green Screen had been held each year at the Main Arts Theater in Royal Oak. Organizers expressed gratitude for the hospitality and support received at the former venue and thanked them for helping to build Green Screen into a sustainable community event.

“We really were happy and appreciative of them having us host the event there for the last four years,” Spady said. “With EMEAC’s focus on the work in South East Michigan and in particular Detroit with Detroit’s environmental justice issues, we really felt that it was time for the venue for this event to reflect that commitment to Detroit.”

Those sentiments were naturally extended to the young film makers and environmental activists themselves. In cooperation with the Detroit Future Youth Network, the special pre-event green room activities will be put together to provide youth with a forum to learn about and discuss environmental issues concerning them and dialogue with each other.

“In the past, we have always had some hour durves where all the young people, their parents and their teachers would all have something to eat, then go in and see the films,” Spady said. “But, they really didn’t have a chance to interact with one another.
“Through our partnership and work with the Detroit Future Youth Network, each month the organizations in the network get to get together and exchange ideas and express what’s special about their organization. They also talk about ways to collaborate, so we decided to tie that monthly event to the front end of Green Screen so that they would have a chance to see all of the people who were involved in the media making.”

Anyone interested entering a film for Green Screen 2011, sponsoring a film, volunteering or making a donation of support should call 313 559-7498 or visit www.emeac.org. Guidelines for Green Screen are as follows.
  1. Films may be up to 5 minutes in length.
  2. Film must be about an environmental issue facing your community, city or county.
  3. Topics may include but not limited to;
    1. Environmental health
    2. Alternative energy
    3. School bus emissions
    4. Urban sprawl
    5. Brownfields
    6. Recycling
    7. Climate change
    8. Stream and wetland protection
    9. Trash/ recycling
  4. Film must be suitable and appropriate for an audience of all ages. Films that promote violence will not be accepted.
  5. There are no restrictions on the art form of your film. Films may be live action, animation, claymation, still photography or any combination.
  6. Entry must be in Mini DV or Quick Time movie file on a DVD (other formats or VHS may be accepted but you need to call the EMEAC office in advanced and submit project 2 weeks before deadline).
  7. Entry must be labeled with film, title, filmmaker's name, e-mail and phone number.
  8. Participants must fill out and return an application form.




 

YEA receives Spirit of Detroit Award for work at 2011 Detroit Green Economy Youth Summit

http://www.detroitgreenyouth.org/summit

Members of EMEAC's Stand Up Speak Out Program
Young Educator's Alliance from left, Donovan Murray,
Paris Smith, Sabrin Salaam, Raven, Noel Frye and
Anthony Grimmett
DETROIT -- The EMEAC youth group, Young Educators Alliance (YEA), was recently awarded with the Spirit of Detroit Award at City Hall on October 11 for their work at the 2011 Detroit Green Economy Youth Summit in September. YEA team members Siwatu Salama-Ra, Roger Boyd, Paris Smith, Knydra Jefferson, Anthony Grimmett, Donovan Murray, Noel Frye, Elayne Elliot, Sabrin Salam, Malik Harris and Raven Roberts each received certificates in recognition of their volunteer efforts for the event.

“I’m really excited and I think it definitely shows that our work is appreciated and recognized as youth leaders,” said Salama-Ra, EMEAC’s Stand Up Speak Out Program Youth Leader. “I’m real proud of the Young Educators Alliance. It was hard work going to the planning meetings in addition to the actual summit itself. Even though we got in late on the planning, they had a lot of work still to do, so we took a lot of responsibility. We didn’t plan on it that way when we walked in, but we were up to it.”

In addition to their volunteer efforts on the planning committee, the YEA team helped in facilitating events, coordinating entertainment and publicizing the event via social network media. The group said they especially enjoyed bringing their very own flavor of positive energy to the event.

“As far as the summit itself, it was real cool,” Salama-Ra said. “I did some emcee work and I tried my best. We did a little dance thing to break the shells of people. We had the live twitter feed going on. We hash tagged it out and we were almost close to becoming a trending topic on twitter. We didn’t quite get there but that was cool because we had a lot of tweets going out to Detroit Future.”

The Spirit of Detroit Award can be requested from any city council member on behalf of person, event or organization for “outstanding achievement or service to the citizens of Detroit.” The certificates were signed by all nine city council members and awarded at Councilman Ken Cockrel’s office.

DeRaina Stinson and Ahmina
Maxey show their Spirit of
Detroit Awards
“This award shows the commitment of the YEA team to the City of Detroit,” said EMEAC Associate Director Ahmina Maxey who also directs SUSO. “It shows that they are committed to the betterment of their city, and that working through the lens of environmental and social justice, they are raising awareness and creating solutions.”

EMEAC was also presented the award as a sponsor of the summit. Maxey was also recognized for her work on the planning committee.

YEA has worked on several other events since their official formation in June. The YEA led a cleaning up Cass Park, facilitated a Cook Eat Talk community engagement session around food issues at Vanguard Community Development Corporation, held a community mediation session with the North Cass Community Garden around the negative affects of gentrification, and meets regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. to discuss upcoming events.

“They have not only raised their awareness around issues, they are also actively working to be involved,” Maxey said. “Up to this point YEA has gone through the process of learning about environmental, educational, food, and many other justice issues in Detroit.”

In addition to participating in the planning of the 2012 Detroit Green Economy Youth Summit, the YEA team has several other projects planned in the coming months. Upcoming events include a “Feed One Teach One” community meeting around the recent public assistance shut offs affecting numerous families with children in the city and across the state.

“We definitely want to take some actions around the welfare shut offs happening now,” Salama-Ra said. “A lot of us are affected by it. All of us have at least one person in our families who depend on their bridge cards for assistance from the city. We want to take action around that with our Feed One, Teach One event coming up in November.

“We are doing some outreach to community members because we are all one step away. So whether you are homeless, working class, middle class or whatever it may be, we hope people will come out and talk about strategies on how to meet our needs. Whether people needs clothes, shoes, food or whatever, we hope to have something that may help.”

 

EMEAC volunteers and staff enjoy special volunteer night at CCCC

EMEAC Volunteer of the quarter Roger Boyd, left,
speaks at Volunteer Appreciation Night as EMEAC
Youth Leader Siwatu Salama-Ra listens on
DETROIT – In the course of doing environmental justice work in a city like Detroit, it is unfortunately a rare occasion when the staff of community organizations like EMEAC find casual time to share with the selfless people who dedicate their own free time to lend a hand in helping to improve the quality of life for their fellow citizens. Volunteers give freely of their free time to help community groups further their mission but it happens to be in the course of helping others. 

In recognition of that service and in honor of the volunteers themselves, approximately 60 volunteers and staff members came out on September 30 for EMEAC’s first Volunteer Appreciation Night gathering in McCollester Hall of the Cass Corridor Community Commons Space inside the First Universalist Unitarian Church. The event not only was a forum for staff members to express their appreciation for the efforts of volunteers, but it was also that special occasion when staff and volunteers could enjoy time in community with each other. 

“Volunteer night went very good,” said EMEAC Volunteer Coordinator Kim Sherobi. “People had a good time although it was a cold rainy night. I think that kept some people out and we didn’t get as many people as we expected, but overall I think it was good. Still the food was great and the company was great.”

Several volunteers were recognized for their exceptional work in helping the various EMEAC programs through out the year. Nineteen-year-old Roger Boyd was recognized as EMEAC’s volunteer of the quarter for his work over the summer with the Stand Up Speak Out Young Educators Alliance team, the Gardening Activism Media and Environmentalism (GAME) summer camp and the Youth Food Justice Taskforce.

“Roger came in and really stepped up for us this summer,” said EMEAC Communications Coordinator Patrick Geans-Ali. “He’s been the kind of young person that leads by example. He’s been one of the best youth leaders on our YEA team. He was a consistent presence through both phases of GAME Camp and he is taking a leading role in the development of the youth food justice taskforce.

“It’s a real credit to the city and the community in general to have young men like Roger representing Detroit. He not only has the kind of natural ability we see in so many of our young people but he’s also a very hard worker who is trying to put those gifts to use benefiting his community.”

EMEAC's Sanaa Nia Joy raffles off prizes
Other volunteers receiving special recognition were Talib Bexler of the Youth Build Program, DeRaina Stinson with ReMedia, Ms. Gligor of Detroit Institute of Technology, EMEAC’s Americorps Interns: Ashley Foresyk, Sharmin Salaam, Maria Rien and Madeline Smith and many others.

“It’s not that any one person does everything because we need the help of so many, but I want to give a shout out to Deraina,” Sherobi said. “She helped us put the video together. DeRaina spent a lot of time getting the piece together so we want to thank her, but everybody stepped up.

“I want to thank the volunteers themselves for coming out and helping to put the event together. I always think about for instance Ms. Gligor. She always steps up. As a teacher from DIT/Cody she brought at least one or two students who showed up. She’s very committed.”

Other activities at volunteer night included the raffling of over a dozen prizes, a slide show in honor of the volunteers and their work, a special presentation by M'lis Bartlette, a landscape architect student from the University of Michigan, who helped design and supervise the school landscaping under EMEAC’s Greener Schools Program and a special meal provided by CCCC partner People’s Kitchen Detroit.

“Talib volunteered several times at P3A and DIT and Nsoroma,” Sherobi added, “They’ve helped us get the gardens together, so I was glad he came out. He also won one of the prizes in the raffle. He really appreciated that and I had another volunteer tell me how much that was appreciated and of course, they are always appreciated in return.”

More than anything, EMEAC staff said it was good to be able to interact with their volunteers and get to know them on a personal level.

MSU's M'Lis Barlette gives a presentation on the
landscaping projects at DIT and P3A
“M’Lis has done a lot with the landscape design. She’s very committed. Her father helped in the landscape design. Her partner, who is a local farmer, he helped. He’s a really nice guy and of course M'Lis shows up and she just absolutely loves what she does,” Sherobi said. “Without her help, it couldn’t have happened and the wonderful thing about it was that I got a chance to even get to know her more personally. She got a chance to meet my partner, who also does urban gardening. We all got a chance to sit down at the table and talk farm talk. That was fun. It gave us all a chance to interact on a personal level.”

 

Fifth annual Green Screen Youth Film Festival makes call for entries

September 21, 2011



DETROIT – Entries are currently being accepted for the upcoming fifth-annual Green Screen Youth Environmental Film Festival sponsored by East Michigan Environmental Action Council. 
Green Screen provides a forum where students from across southeast Michigan and beyond showcase short films with environmental themes. These films allow young filmmakers to express what they think is most crucial to their health and to the natural environment. Some films also focus on making the world, their school or neighborhood environmentally healthier.
“We are really hoping that the entries feature a wide range of environmental and environmental justice issues pertinent to Southeast Michigan and will show a deepening involvement of youth in these critical issues,” said EMEAC Associate Director Lottie Spady who also directs the ReMedia Program. “We also are looking forward to food justice having a larger presence based on the work being done throughout the city around food.”
The festival is a celebration of youth voice and emerging environmentalism.  The three-to-five-minute short films, created entirely by young artists and aspiring young activists, can span a range of environmental and social issues. 
The films are judged for cinematic merit, relevance to Southeastern Michigan, and creative messaging.  The panel of judges consists of independent directors, environmental activists, youth activists, and a journalists.  Now in its fifth year, EMEAC gets statewide inquiries about this exciting event, as well as requests for film making workshops and demonstrations year round.
“This is the 5th year anniversary of EMEAC’s Green Screen. We are looking forward to celebrating this fact with a gala “Green Carpet” event,” said Spady who has guided the festival since its inception. “Each year the number of participants has increased, and with the collaborations we continue to build, this year will reflect even more meaningful relationships.
“We are kicking off with a Green Room where we invite young people city-wide to participate in a fun get-to-know-EMEAC pre-Green Screen event featuring the Tap Water Challenge, Recycle Relay, and Environmental Media Mash Up”
Once the event itself begins, young people will enjoy a unique opportunity to share their creative vision around how to address some of the more pressing environmental concerns of the day. Over the years, Spady says she has also been inspired by how youth voice can effectively reach adults.
“The goal is to showcase youth environmental media in such a way that guests begin to understand the importance, value, and relevancy of youth voice in the environmental justice and food justice movement. Also, they are moved to further support this work through skill sharing, mentoring, and monetary donations,” she said. “We’ve come so far in the creation of youth media that is highlighted at the Green Screen, yet we could do more to inform the ongoing conversation by developing youth leadership.
“Our next challenge is to move the event beyond a once a year showcase, to increase the visibility of this body of work for citizen’s education so young people see more people that look like them as experts on environmental issues. We’d like to see youth become peer educators on the topics of air quality, waste management, water access and affordability, and food justice.”
The date for this year’s Green Screen is November 17. Exact details regarding the location and time are still being worked out. In the meantime, organizers are hoping that community support from local businesses and organizations continues to grow each year.
“There are many way to support the efforts of Green Screen,” Spady said. “Please consider sponsoring a movie, sponsorship of the event, food donations, or just come out and attend. We hope to build our membership and longstanding relationships through this work.”
Deadline for entries is November 1st, 2011. Anyone interested entering a film for Green Screen 2011, sponsoring a film, volunteering or making a donation of support should call 313 559-7498 or visit www.emeac.org for Green Screen entry guidelines.

 

Community voices emerge loud and clear from recent EPA EJ Conferencence in Detroit

Lottie Spady and DeRaina Stinson present at the 2011
EPA EJ Conference at Wayne State University
DETROIT – In the midst of an all out assault against environmental and social justice protections through out the country, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) couldn’t have picked a more appropriate place or time to bring together citizens and community groups concerned about both environmental and social justice causes.  The EPA did just that on August 23-26 at the Detroit Renaissance Center and Wayne State University in the form of an Environmental Justice Conference, which if nothing else gave local citizens an opportunity to voice their concerns and strategies around these two critical issues facing the Detroit.

“I would say at this point the portion that dealt with the "Detroit Story" was key,” said Rhonda Anderson, of the Detroit Sierra Club’s Environmental Justice Office and an organizer for the conference. “It was an opportunity for residents to speak to the issues of EJ from their perspective, to tell the story of EJ themselves, and lift their voice. This is the new age of media, social media, social justice and the people speaking their voice. It’s not someone else speaking for them.”

The theme for the conference was “One community. One environment.” It targeted community organizations, indigenous organizations, community members, community advocates, government officials, university level professionals, faith-based organizations, businesses and other stakeholders interested in learning about opportunities to work toward environmental justice in their respective communities.

Detroit Sierra Club EJ Officer Rhonda Anderson
gives an EJ Tour of Detroit
Topics of discussion during the conference were community capacity, strategies for addressing pollution sources, the Federal Interagency Working Group on EJ, environmental workforce development training and job creation, funding opportunities, Title VI Human Rights Delegation Agreements, an EJ Tour of the city, the role of youth and social media in EJ, and sharing tools and resources toward greater accountability. Still in a city like Detroit – disproportionately affected effected by EJ issues due to the combination of demographics and a worsening economy, EPA officials seemed caught off guard at times by the level of concern among local citizens and those from abroad.

“The first day with the EPA on the panel in the large open forum was highly charged with emotions,” said Maria Ryen, a graduate student at the University of Michigan who spent her summer interning with EMEAC’s ReMedia program. “There were a few hundred participants in the room with a few mixed panels that consisted of EPA staff and others. One of the initial speakers brought on some heavy criticism of EPA accountability, and from there it really became the topic raised by almost every person allowed to speak. Another man, representing indigenous communities in Alaska, came to publicly ask that they make cultural considerations in their actions with indigenous tribes in the state. Another woman representing Puerto Rico, questioned why the EPA was not involved in relief effort from floods of recent hurricanes, which were heavily contaminated with toxins and effecting largely poor and underserved communities.

“The second day, Grace Lee Boggs spoke to the very issue of government accountability when she said something along the lines of 'don't wait and don't rely on these government agencies and academics to help.’ She stressed that community organizers and local empowerment was really the key to battling successfully for environmental justice. After what I had seen the first day, I could really understand why.”

Anderson, who has been involved in community work for over a decade said she agreed that local activism and empowerment is the key to addressing local issues.

“I've attended many conferences over the course of my activist/work life.  While this one could have been better, it was rewarding simply because it dealt with the work I do around EJ,” she said. “Right now the EPA is faced with survival. With attacks from the Republicans and big industry, they are simply having to hold on.  I believe many of us will say that the EPA has been limited or restricted in the ways in which they assist EJ communities, but without the Clean Air Act, water and so on, what chance do we have to protect our communities?  
“As we strengthen our communication skills and media skills we will become more able of doing many of these things for our selves. Over the 11 years that I've worked here in the Detroit area, I've worked with a number of communities.  We created the E J Community Committee consisting of leaders in the communities where I've worked.  The purpose of the committee was to create a support system for the communities, to bring them together so that they do not stand alone.”

Panelist enjoy a break at the EPA EJ Conference
Anderson praised the work of local leaders like Jay Henderson, President of the Riverbend Community Association, Theresa Lewis, a leader in the Master Metal campaign, Vickie Burton of the Greendale/Drixdale Community Association, Rev. Sandra Simmons and Dr. Charles Simmons of Northwest Goldberg/Hush House. Anderson also cited the courageous work of Dr. Deloris Leonard, Theresa Landrum, Vincent Martin, Mr. & Mrs. Roland Wahl, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Lucille Campbell, and a host of other community leaders from the 48217 community, which was declared to be the third-most polluted area in the U.S. by a recent University of Michigan study.

The role of youth was not overlooked at the conference as EMEAC’s Associate Director Lottie Spady and ReMedia Environmental Justice Fellow DeRaina Stinson took part in a panel discussion on the role of youth and social media in the fight for environmental justice in Detroit.

“It was nerve wracking. I was kind of nervous; I have to admit,” said the 22-year old Stinson who also attends Wayne State. “We talked about social media and how the youth use media to do environmental justice work.
“We did a slide show and showed some of the movies that we’ve made with ReMedia. We talked about social justice in the context of the media and how youth use social media like twitter to connect. We just wanted to acknowledge what the youth are doing because that’s what is happening now.”

By the end of the conference, Ryen acknowledged that the informative panel discussions did provide significant benefits to attendees.

“The following small panel discussions in the different tracks were really inspiring and it was clear that individual organizers, whether they had the EPA EJ or not, are extremely resourceful and amazing networkers,” she said. “Each panelist was able to give meaningful advice and even audience participants began small conversations on strategizing to solve obstacles that organizations were running into. If anything, I think the fact that the EPA provided a national forum where the government was present but allowed all these agencies to network was very meaningful in itself.”
Anderson added that she hopes that there were several positive lessons to be taken away from the conference. Not the least of which was that local organizations and community groups need to rally together now more so than ever.
“We could have worked more closely together. We could have approached the conference with a united front,” Anderson said.  “The only organization that went as a coalition was Zero Waste. What experience, skills, power can we pull together by working together?  Well, I see an awesome opportunity. EMEAC brings some awesome skills of media application, food justice, and youth.  The Ecology Center has Brad VanGuilder an expert with an awesome background and the skills of his co-workers. MEC and Sandra Turner Handy, have a strong background in politics, organizing and EJ. Southwest Environmental Vision, Detroiters Working for EJ, and the Green Door Initiative are faced with the same challenges along with the EPA. When we are shortsighted the community suffers, and that’s something I think we really should keep in mind going forward.”   





 

EMEAC Volunteer Appreciation Night coming up September 30

EMEAC volunteers like Ms.
Forshatta Scott will be
recognized on Sep. 30 
DETROIT – The East Michigan Environmental Action Council will be holding a special volunteer appreciation event on September 30 at 6 p.m. in McCollester Hall inside the Cass Corridor Commons spaces of the First Universalist Unitarian Church.

“We are appreciating the volunteers and supporters of EMEAC,” said EMEAC Community Partners Coordinator Kim Sherobbi. “We want to recognize all their efforts to help us become the community hub that we want to become. We want to honor them in terms of the support they’ve been giving us.”
In addition to special awards of recognition for the volunteer work done with the various EMEAC programs over the past year, the event will also feature fun activities such as performances, entertainment and refreshments.
“We will have some entertainment, music and possibly poetry,” Sherobbi said. “We will have food and drinks. We will also have some giveaways. I’m not sure if it’s going to be by raffle or by individual gifts yet. We’ll also have some acknowledgements of their work.”
All in all, the event will also provide an opportunity for EMEAC staff, partners, community members and volunteers to socialize and deepen their relations around the work of community building among people supporting the common cause of improving the overall environment in the city. It will also be an opportunity for EMEAC partners to familiarize themselves with EMEAC’s new location and mission of building the Cass Corridor Commons facilities at First UU.
“We want to introduce them to our new space and then enjoy each other’s space with some camaraderie and by getting to know each other not just as EMEAC staff and volunteers but person to person,” Sherobbi said. “That is going to be a day not only to honor them but also for them to get more familiar with what we do as an organization.
“That way they may be able to develop ways to volunteer further and help us in a capacity that they might not have before to help us serve the community better. Hopefully, we can provide an environment for them to contribute in ways that are just as good as what they had before if not even better.”

 

Detroit Future Youth make presence known at Earthworks Harvest Festival

DETROIT – Youth from the various programs affiliated with the Detroit Future Youth Program made their presence known from start to finish at the 2011 Earthworks Harvest Festival on September 17 at the Gleaners Food Bank Banquet Hall. The Harvest Festival began with a social hour and garden tours of the Earthworks facilities. It also include food stories by the Earthworks Youth Farmstand and closed with a special musical performance by the Rosa Parks Youth Violas and Violinists accompanying local hip hop artist Ilana “Invincible” Weaver, who is also a co-coordinator of the DFY Program.

“I think it went really well,” said Weaver’s DFY co-coordinator Alia Harvey Quinn. “It was youth lead and people definitely contributed to parts of the agenda. They got a chance to showcase the work that they were excited about, so it went well.”
That sentiment was shared by the Earthworks staff as several comments were made commending the increased youth presence at the event.

“It was huge. It’s unlike any of the other years that we’ve had,” said Earthworks Youth Program Coordinator Denis Rochac. “It’s becoming more and more young people oriented. I think that’s where the power should be. It’s a very powerful thing when we invite the youth to lead because they are going to lead this movement. They are the ones that are going to take us where we want to go.”

Earthworks is a program of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen whose mission is to create a just food system. Earthworks promotes sustainable agricultural practices, nutrition education, media justice with local youth and adult leadership for ownership of Detroit’s food system.

Youth Farm Stand member Makea (left)draws
a ticket during the raffle as Shane Bernardo
holds the raffle box.
The DFY Program, of which Earthworks is a member, is made up of twelve organizations that are committed to working together to strengthen and deepen youth social justice organizing in Detroit. The program facilitates trainings, gatherings and retreats between the twelve organizations so that the organizations can continue to focus on their work while also building relationships with the other partners in the program.
DFY got a first hand look at the operation as Earthworks youth led them on a tour of the organization’s facilities. The youth visited the Earthworks offices, the soup kitchen, gardens and hoop houses, which are green houses where various vegetables are grown in a semi-controlled environment.
See more of the DFY trip to Earthworks at http://communicatinginthed.com/2011/09/20/detroit-future-youth-and-earthworks/
“Our young people led two groups and the tour went great” Rochac said. “It was really exciting to see our younger youth actually take those leadership roles and that they are really excited about the space they’ve done a lot of work in and grown up in.
“Our hoop house was a big hit. Everyone was able to harvest some tomatoes. Mostly I think everyone got excited about gardening and food sovereignty. We did a walk-the-line workshop around food sovereignty, and I think that really sparked some good discussions around access and who is controlling the distribution and the access around food currently. Hopefully we can make that paradigm shift because lot of the visiting youth had questions.”


After the tour, the youth made their way over to Gleaners where they joined the larger gathering for the rest of the program. The program included an introduction by Earthworks Youth Farm Stand members Makea and Quinn, a welcome by Earthworks Farm Manager Patrick Crouch, and a prayer by Father Jerry Smith, Executive Director of the Capuchin Soup Kitchen. After dinner Julia Putnam of the Boggs Education Center led a discussion on youth leadership. That was followed by the Food Stories from the Farm Stand and a crowd-stirring closing with Invincible and the Rosa Parks Violas and Violinists.

DFY Coordinator Ilana "Invincible" Weaver and the
Rosa Parks Youth Violinists perform 
The Farm Stand is an entrepreneurship program that teaches youth between the ages of 12 and 17 how to grow their own food and sell it at local markets themselves. During the Food Stories, Earthworks youth shared an inter-generational oral history project that documents local history around food through interviews and storytelling.
“The Harvest Festival is more a friend raiser than a fund raiser,” Rochac said. “This is the time of year where we all come together. We invite all our friends to have a meal from the bounty of our garden. We ask our friends who are preparers of food to help us out with this party, and that’s what it is. It’s a party.”

 

Senior Engagement Program unites generations through gardening


Robin Massey gives a gardening presentation
during the Senior Engagement program at P3A
DETROIT – Gardening by nature is the science of making things grow, but in the context of EMEAC’s Greener Schools Senior Engagement Program, it is having the affect of shrinking the generational gap in Detroit. The Senior Engagement Program’s Gardening Angels are now entering its second year of existence, but if the success of its first year is any indication there is a harvest of intergenerational connections ahead for the students of Palmer Park Preparatory Academy and the senior gardeners from Hannan House.

“That’s been working out really well because the Hannan seniors have a gardening club and they have a garden,” said Senior Engagement Program Coordinator Priscilla Dziubek. “They also have transportation, so they’ve been coming over once a month to Palmer Park Preparatory Academy where we have a group of sixth graders that are working with them throughout the year.”

The program has consisted of P3A students meeting with the seniors to share oral histories of their gardening knowledge and experience, as well as hands-on gardening lessons. The hope is to transfer and preserve that knowledge and experience through recorded conversations with the youth. The students will then work with EMEAC’s ReMedia program to turn those oral histories into a special documentary or short film.

“We are doing oral histories using flip cameras. The students are asking the seniors about their lives from the time that they were kids,” Dziubek said. “They are asking them what their gardening experiences were and what it was like in the city of Detroit for them as young people.

“EMEAC's programs are now all meeting to determine how we can best leverage our capabilities and to figure out how we can best integrate all of our youth programs going forward. The Gardening Angels are definitely a part of that.”


Greener Schools staff with seniors 
The seniors in turn are volunteering their time to help students at P3A and Detroit Institute of Technology learn the how-to's of gardening. Rachel Jacobsen of Hannan Foundation, has been instrumental in bringing seniors from the Hannan Gardening Club, the residents of St. Martha’s Presbyterian Village of Michigan and the local communities to work with the students of both schools.

“We have some sessions where the seniors give the lessons. We’ve had some sessions where the students give the lessons,” she said. “We've recorded quite a bit of the histories and we’ve been doing quite a bit of learning also.”



 

Blair Theatre being refurbished as part of the Cass Community Commons Space

http://dblairtheater.blogspot.com/
D. Blair

DETROIT – Renovations are underway and volunteers are being sought to help with the refurbishment of the D. Blair Grassroots Community Theatre inside the new Cass Corridor Community Commons Space of the First UU Church. Renovations are under the direction of Oya Amakisi of the Detroit Grassroots Community Arts Theatre and will include refinished floors, repainted walls and state of the art equipment among other improvements.
“The Detroit Grassroots Community Arts Collectives believes in the beauty, strength and love of Detroit,” said Amakisi whose organizations has been a long time host of the Detroit Women of Color International Film Festival. “We are invested in being a positive asset to our community.  Imagine our new space with refinished floors, the walls painted, a state of the art stage and more.  The multiple decks add an eclectic look that allows flexibility in an intimate setting.”
Members of the Cass Corridor Community Commons chose to rename the theatre in honor of David Blair, an internationally renown spoken word artist, musician and activist who passed away in August. The theatre has a flexible multilevel space that can easily meet the needs of the types of diverse community-based gatherings commons members envision using it for.
The theatre will also be home to the Detroit Liberation Library. The library was started during the United States Social Forum held in Detroit in June of 2010.  People from all over the United States donated books focused on social justice, cultural arts and more.  
The library will also include adult literacy training, tutoring and computers for research and job searches. Lecture series and book signings from up and coming progressive artists and activists will also take place. The library will also host the Detroit Intergenerational Classes featuring seasoned activists from the labor, civil rights, and black power movements.
D. Blair Grassroots Community Theatre Director Oya
Amakisi, upper left, oversees work party in August
The theater will have visual, literary and performing arts.  The Commons envisions experimental plays, film festivals/presentations, workshops, lecture series, concerts, community forums, fundraisers and more being held at the theatre once refurbishments are complete.  Some examples of long-standing events that will take place in the revamped space will be the Children’s Fun Film Saturday, the Detroit Women of Color International Film Festival, EMEAC’s annual Greenscreen and jam sessions featuring some of Detroit’s top blues, hip hop, jazz, spoken word, rock, soul and classical music artists.
Since the theatre hardly been used in recent years, Amakisi says there is much work to be done. Work parties are being planned in the coming months and volunteers are needed.
“We need volunteers for our Working Party,” she said. “We will clean and paint.  Volunteers will get delicious snacks.  At night we will have a party featuring some of the top deejays in Detroit.  All volunteers get in free.  We will sell fish, chicken and vegetarian dinners, but we need volunteers for renovations and clean up.”
Anyone interested in volunteering for Blair Theatre work parties should email amakisi@gmail.com.