Can the Powerful Movements to Dismantle White Supremacy and Protect Our Ecosystem Help Us build the World We Know is Possible?

Grounding ourselves in our connection to the earth and our common humanity, we will explore the critical state of the climate catastrophe, the urgency of addressing white supremacy, and how each fuels the other. Together we will explore how we can strengthen our skills to help build a unified, life-affirming movement for justice and health in all realms of life. We welcome the feelings these topics bring up in us and will provide caring space for openness and healing.

Trainers:

Jacqueline Velez served as Holyoke’s Lead Organizer for Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N) Education Fund for three years and as Regional Organizing Director for Senator Ed Markey’s Re-election Campaign in 2018. She is currently the Racial Justice Organizer for Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, taking on several environmental and climate justice campaigns, police accountability, and incarceration issues. She holds an Arts Associate Degree from Bard Holyoke Micro-college and lives in Springfield, MA with her two children.

Susan Theberge, deeply concerned about the eco-system catastrophe we face and the urgency of addressing white supremacy, left her academic job leading the School Counselor Program at Keene State College to return to her roots as a community organizer, with a particular focus on environmental and climate justice. Susan helped start Climate Action Now, Springfield Climate Justice Coalition and Sugar Shack Alliance.

Russ Vernon-Jones is a long-time racial and climate justice activist and educator. He is a volunteer with Climate Action Now of Western Mass (CAN) and with Sustaining All Life (SAL). He has been part of NGO presentation teams at the UN Paris Climate Conference in 2015 and at Climate Week in NYC, as well in local conferences and classes. He heads the Racism, White Supremacy, and Climate Justice working group of CAN.