EP 4: LIVE FROM NYC CLIMATE WEEK

Dissent isn’t just important—it’s sacred. It’s how we challenge unjust systems and demand real change.

Our Season Finale comes to you live from NYC Climate Week.

It was an unforgettable afternoon honoring and elevating the power of expression, unity, and civil disobedience in the Environmental Justice movement.

This episode features powerful stories from activists and organizers who have taken bold stands against environmental injustices that threaten their communities and our shared future. 

Guests

Thalia Cachimuel, Director of Philanthropic Networks, NDN Collective

Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Chief Executive Officer, Center for Environmental Health

Chris Tandanzo, Poet and Former New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance organizer

Story Salon Host

Michael McKenzie, Counterstream's Executive Director

Key Topics 

• Does our current democracy function enough for us to protect it?

• Dissent is a sacred act for historically excluded communities. 

• It also means “We are going to give you hell.”

• The importance of storytelling and reclaiming narratives to drive social and environmental change.

• The fight to free Leonard Peltier as a story of truth and reconciliation.

• How environmental justice advocates are the embodiment of dreams.

• The power of Gen-Z.

• The interconnectedness of environmental justice work and the movement to end the genocide in Gaza.

Additional resources

• See images and more from the Season of Dissent Story Salon

• NDN’s #FREELEONARDPELTIER Toolkit

• The urgent need for federal policy on ‘forever’ chemicals, by Kizzy Charles-Guzman

• Revisit some of other Story Salons:

• Cancer Alley Rises Up: Honoring Black Women in Environmental Justice

• Climate Week 2023: In Houston, Texas

• Food Sovereignty As a Pathway to Justice

• Story Salon at Hip Hop For Change

Tune in and listen wherever you get your podcasts — because the fight for environmental justice is also a fight for democracy itself.

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Credits

People over Plastic is a project of Counterstream Media
Produced by Mindy Ramaker and Dennis Maxwell
Project manager is Vincent Ford
Graphic design by Ly Ngo Heisig