Earth Stories
It has become abundantly clear that the people being harmed the most by the climate crisis– communities of color, migrant populations, people living in poverty– are being hit from multiple sides. Communities of color are more likely to live near polluting power plants or industrial centers, meaning we can only truly combat racism if we’re also fighting for cleaner air and water. People living in poverty are less likely to have access to parks or other green spaces, meaning the fight for a healthier environment is also a fight against poverty. The climate crisis is already resulting in climate refugees, meaning we can’t truly help migrant populations without also addressing climate change. The causes of these harms are also clear—the large companies treating workers poorly are also polluting the earth and donating to right-wing politicians, and the movement against abortion is led by the same people who don’t want their children to learn about racism or LGBTQ rights in school, join unions at work, or welcome immigrants into their communities.
In the winter of 2021 as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage, Silence Speaks brought together a group of women online, to explore the interconnections across these issues. With a desire to acknowledge and repair heartbreaking legacies of environmental destruction, community displacement, and alienation, we offered a unique, six-week online digital storytelling workshop. Our curriculum wove together land acknowledgements, indigenous wisdom, poetry, story sharing, and media production, to support the creation of short videos that point to intimate connections to, and disconnections from, the natural world. The stories were shared in a virtual premiere and highlighted on social media. Earth Stories participant Tania Marien produced a podcast episode about the project: tune in on Tania’s Talaterra website or on Simplecast. View selected examples below and find more on our Silence Speaks Storytelling YouTube Channel.
