A book talk by Malcom Ferdinand

The world is in the midst of a storm that has shaped the history of modernity along a double fracture: on the one hand, an environmental fracture driven by a technocratic and capitalist civilization that led to the ongoing devastation of the Earth’s ecosystems and its human and non-human communities and, on the other, a colonial fracture instilled by Western colonization and imperialism that resulted in racial slavery and the domination of indigenous peoples and women in particular. In his new book, Decolonial Ecology, Malcom Ferdinand challenges this double fracture, thinking ecology from the Caribbean world.

In his talk, Malcom Ferdinand will also speak about his work on climate justice as well as the environmental justice struggle around chlordecone and the toxic afterlife of banana plantations in Martinique.

The symposium will conclude with a pair of panel discussions featuring our community partners.

Justice for All

What are the ghosts of our ecological pasts? How have the cycles of land dispossession, extraction, industrialization, urbanization, de-urbanization and gentrification played out across American landscapes and in people’s bodies? What registers of time do we need to account for the changes of the past? This panel will bring together Indigenous leaders and urban environmental justice activists to share their understanding of how justice and equality (or the lack of both) have aided profit-seekers in degrading environments across the country and accelerating climate change. 

Envisioning Climate Futures 

The closing session of the Living Climate Futures symposium begins with an interactive “community visioning” exercise that will lead the audience in generating a collective, if varied, vision of a liveable climate future. Drawing on that exercise, an intergenerational panel will reflect on the stories, struggles, and dreams that have been voiced during the symposium to consider how, by building on the good work already undertaken by communities living at the frontlines of climate change, we might learn to thrive together across differences.

Open to the public, all welcome. Registration requested but not required.

Living Climate Futures is pleased to host 3 different guided walking tours including hands-on activities with local environmental and climate justice groups around Boston:

GreenRoots Chelsea Environmental Justice Tour and Community Cleanup GreenRoots has over 20 years of experience organizing for environmental justice in Chelsea, a vibrant majority Latinx community with a lot of history packed within 2 square miles. Tour participants will learn about the political, economic, and immigration history that has led to Chelsea's current environmental injustices while walking the city’s streets and seeing firsthand the oil terminals, giant road salt piles, and industrial zones that sit directly next to immigrant-owned businesses and densely packed residential buildings. This tour coincides with a Citywide Cleanup event that GreenRoots is running for Earth Day and we will participate in community trash pickup along the waterfront. The event and tour will start at Chelsea City Hall and will end at 12 noon at PORT park, where lunch will be offered. Bus will return to MIT by 1:30.

The Food Project Join The Food Project for a tour of its growing spaces in the Roxbury/North Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, including their 10,000 square foot greenhouse and two acres of previously vacant land now cultivated by youth, staff, and neighbors. The Food Project employs hundreds of youth from the Greater Boston Area and seeks to ensure that anyone who wants to grow their own food has access to non-toxic growing space. After touring the growing areas participants will help with a gardening project.

ACE Toxic Tour in Roxbury Join Alternatives for Community and Environment (ACE) for a Toxic Tour of Roxbury’s Nubian Square to learn about the history of environmental justice and the Development Without Displacement campaign in our neighborhood home. Toxic Tours are great for students, teachers, community organizations, faith-based groups, public health professionals, politicians and anyone interested in Environmental Justice advocacy, organizing and policy change.

Click on the button below for more information and to register!

Open to MIT community only. Registration required. Limited availability.

We celebrate Earth Day at MIT with an afternoon of testimonials, shared stories, and lively discussion among Indigenous leaders and thinkers from the Southeast (Lumbee Nation), the Pacific Northwest (Lummi Nation), and the North American Indian Center of Boston. Speakers will share how Indigenous knowledges and methodologies inform their approaches to climate change and their projects of working for climate justice in their regions and communities. MIT student groups dedicated to climate justice will close the afternoon by sharing about their efforts at MIT and beyond through an "open mic" format.

Open to the Public. Registration requested but not required.

Four youth activists from the Environmental Justice Club at Southeast Chicago’s George Washington High School will be on campus to facilitate a live discussion between MIT students and their classmates back in Chicago, who will share a virtual tour of their neighborhood.

Open to MIT community only. Registration required. Space is limited with students given priority.

Where Do Farms Fit in American Cities?

Environmental justice activists from GreenRoots Chelsea will join urban farmers from Mansfield, Ohio to discuss the regeneration of American cities from the ground up. Speakers will compare notes on the environmental condition of urban lands, the communities that urban farms serve, and the political strategies that have been successful in each city.

GrowFourth Urban Farm (pictured) is an urban homestead farm and part of the farmers cooperative, Richland Gro-Op in Mansfield, Ohio.

Open to MIT community only. Registration required. Space is limited with students given priority.

Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change (2010) is the world’s first Inuktitut language film about climate change and explores Inuit knowledge regarding ice, animals and the future of the Arctic. Co-Directed by acclaimed Inuk filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk (Atanarjuat The Fast Runner) and Dr. Ian Mauro. 54 min. Discussion following the film led by MIT Anthropology Professor Christine Walley.

MIT students only. Advanced registration for this film event is appreciated but not required.

A virtual workshop bringing together participating community partners and members of the MIT team. By invitation only.