Dec
30
2015
Published by Truthdig.com on December 30, 2015
Black Lives Matter activists march in Minneapolis in November. (Jim Mone / AP)
Although more than two years have passed since three black women—Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi—founded Black Lives Matter (BLM) in the wake of George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the murder of Trayvon Martin, the U.S. justice system’s continued failures clearly illustrate why the …
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Dec
23
2015
Published by Truthdig.com on December 23, 2015
Signs of an interfaith holiday: The first flames of a giant Hanukkah menorah blaze in front of a Christmas tree at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in 2014. (Michael Sohn / AP)
I’ve been celebrating Christmas for as long as I can remember. As a child, I believed in Santa Claus and was rewarded every December for that …
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Dec
17
2015
Published by Truthdig.com on December 17, 2015
Activists gather near the Eiffel Tower in Paris during COP21 earlier this month. (Thibault Camus / AP)
Sonali Kolhatkar reported for Truthdig from Paris.
At Saturday’s mass gathering in Paris marking the end of the United Nations climate negotiations, there were tens of thousands of people on the streets. One of them, a Swedish activist named Svetlana Gross, …
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Dec
15
2015
GUEST: Eros Sana, French activist, member of Zone d’Ecologie Populaire (ZEP).
In the days following a historic agreement in Paris to curb greenhouse gas emissions, a strong contradiction has emerged between those who claim it is a major victory for the planet and most climate justice activists who see it as a death sentence.
That contradiction was in full view at the 2 week COP21 meeting in …
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Dec
15
2015
GUEST: Alexis Rowell, an organizer with Coalition Climat 21, and author of ‘Communities, Councils and a Low-Carbon Future: what we can do if governments won’t.
In the second week of the COP21 climate talks, dozens of prominent climate justice non-profit groups organized a large convergence area in a historic space traditionally used by artists. CentQuatre, in a working-class neighborhood near the River Seine, hosted a series of …
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Dec
15
2015
GUEST: Liddy Nakpil, Coordinator of Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development, from the Philippines.
Next door to the COP21 meeting, the UN and the French government built an official gathering space for members of civil society to use called Espaces Generations Climat, or Climate Generation Space. It was unofficially referred to as “the Green Zone,” as opposed to “the blue zone” where the official COP21 …
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Dec
15
2015
GUESTS: Faith Gemmill, Arctic Village Alaska, Princess Daazhraii Johnson, Arctic Village Alaska, Jihan Gearon, Navajo Nation Arizona.
Indigenous activists had a strong presence at the COP21 meeting, both inside and outside. At the Climate Generation Space, I spoke with a trio of women from US-based indigenous communities who explained to me why they were there.
Watch a video of Sonali’s report here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaLTQN-M05w.
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Dec
14
2015
GUESTS: Martha Agbani from Nigeria, Executive Director of the Lokiaka Community Development Center, Pinki Alanga from South Africa, with the South Africa Green Revolutionary Council, Patience Muramuzi from Uganda, with the National Association for Women’s Action and Development, and Sophie Ogutu from Kenya, with the World March for Women.
Representatives from 190 countries announced success on negotiating an agreement to regulate greenhouse gas emissions after years of …
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Dec
14
2015
GUEST: Dr. Hugh Sealy, Professor in the Department of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at St. George’s University in Grenada. The United Nations Development Programme appointed Dr. Sealy as a consultant and asked that he create a guidance manual that provides climate change negotiators in small island developing states with the information and tools to adequately represent their constituencies during international negotiations.
NOTE: This interview …
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Dec
14
2015
GUESTS: Svetlana Gross, an activist from Sweden who traveled to Paris for the COP21 climate talks, Bill McKibben, acclaimed author and environmentalist, the co-founder of 350.org, Samuel Mondlane of Friends of the Earth, Mozambique, and Tania Libanze also from Mozambique with the National Platform for Climate Change, and Dipti Bhatnagar, International climate justice and energy coordinator with Friends of the Earth.
The COP21 summit in Paris was …
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