Register at tinyurl.com/ewml-climate-justice
Climate change – the number one existential threat to humanity and the planet – is often described as a scientific problem with environmental impacts, but it’s more than that. Where do social justice and climate change overlap? How does identity (race, ethnicity, gender, etc.) influence the way a person is impacted by climate change? And how can we, as concerned community members, fight climate change in a way that is just and equitable for all?
Join Nia Keith, social justice educator and climate activist, as we examine the connection between societal inequities and climate impacts. Nia will share some of the most dynamic climate justice initiatives today, led by youth and People of Color around the world. Finally, we’ll discuss ways we can all take climate action in our communities and beyond.
Closed captioning will be available. This Zoom presentation will be recorded for future viewing.
Presenter Bio: Nia Keith is a Social Justice Educator & Consultant with more than 15 years experience working in nonprofits, schools, and cultural institutions. She is also Mass Audubon’s first Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Justice. Dedicated to cultivating equity and justice in all environments, Nia has spent her career motivating people to address environmental, social, and economic issues. As an educator, she designs and delivers interactive lessons for all ages, to help people understand and take action to fight climate change. Nia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from The Ohio State University and a Master of Science in Environmental Studies from Antioch University New England.
This program was funded in part by Emily’s Friends of the Library.
Five communities are coming together during March and April in a partnership called All Hamptons Read. The inspiration for this multi-community initiative is the book Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo.
It is the remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.
Spearheaded by the public libraries in Northampton, Florence, Easthampton, Southampton, Westhampton, and Williamsburg, All Hamptons Read is partnering to give readers throughout our region the opportunity to come together for discussion and exploration of the themes from Master Slave Husband Wife.
Programs include book discussions, Underground Railroad History program and a conversation with author Ilyon Woo and clothing historian Lynne Zacek Bassett.
Copies of Master Slave Husband Wife are available to borrow from the participating libraries in each community. Ebooks and E-audio are also available through Libby.
About the book:
The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.
In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of self-emancipation in American history. Posing as master and slave, while sustained by their love as husband and wife, they made their escape together across more than 1,000 miles, riding out in the open on steamboats, carriages, and trains that took them from bondage in Georgia to the free states of the North.
Along the way, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers, who might have revealed their true identities. The tale of their adventure soon made them celebrities, and generated headlines around the country. Americans could not get enough of this charismatic young couple, who traveled another 1,000 miles criss-crossing New England, drawing thunderous applause as they spoke alongside some of the greatest abolitionist luminaries of the day—among them Frederick Douglass and William Wells Brown.
But even then, they were not out of danger. With the passage of an infamous new Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, all Americans became accountable for returning refugees like the Crafts to slavery. Then yet another adventure began, as slave hunters came up from Georgia, forcing the Crafts to flee once again—this time from the United States, their lives and thousands more on the line and the stakes never higher.
With three epic journeys compressed into one monumental bid for freedom, Master Slave Husband Wife is an American love story—one that would challenge the nation’s core precepts of life, liberty, and justice for all—one that challenges us even now.