Evanston RoundTable
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The first Evanston Environmental Justice Conversation Series will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Community Center, 1655 Foster St. All are welcome.
The forum will focus on local and national issues shaping the contemporary struggle for environmental justice. The biennial series intends to foster rich conversations between community members, environmental justice advocates, and civic, religious, and academic leaders from the Evanston community and beyond.
Cheryl Johnson from People for Community Recovery in Chicago will be the keynote speaker. She will be followed by an intergenerational panel with Janet Alexander Davis, co-chair of Environmental Justice Evanston; Isabel Bernal, a high school student with Evanston Cradle to Career; and Nicole Hoskins, assistant professor at the University of Scranton and Garrett Scholar-In-Residence.
Building on the Chicago area’s rich history of environmental justice advocacy, the organizers selected Cheryl Johnson to speak at the inaugural event. As Executive Director of People for Community Recovery, Cheryl engages environmental justice with equitable housing and economic opportunity, following in the footsteps of her mother, Hazel Johnson, “the mother of environmental justice”. Cheryl has served as member of the EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council and is currently a member of the Illinois Commission on Environmental Justice.
Reverend Dr. Michael Nabors, president of the NAACP Evanston Branch, is committed to the conversation series. He said, “Racism in its many forms, does not have a hierarchy. Every form is heinous, deplorable and wretched, whether it is in education, housing, health care, the judicial system, law enforcement, politics or the environment. Evanston/North Shore NAACP is proud to bring attention to the environmental racism and climate change. The more we know, the more we grow and the further we go.”
Andrew Wymer, chair of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Committee, and organizer of the event stated, “We are working to ensure that there is a consistent, accessible, and visible conversation in our city about how to address the impact of environmental racism and the systemically disproportionate impact of climate change right here in Evanston and beyond.” He added that awareness of environmental justice in Evanston continues to expand with the collaboration of long-standing efforts by groups like Environmental Justice Evanston, Evanston Cradle to Career, Lighthouse Rotary and other established community organizations to join the work.
Janet Alexander Davis, who will be on the panel, said, “My hope that is informational events like the NAACP Conversation Series will educate more of us about our unique challenges and needs and to hear from all segments of the community in addressing climate change, our local rules around zoning, and other injustices that are now being looked at through the Envision Evanston 2045 effort”.
The series is made possible through a partnership between the Center for the Church and the Black Experience and the Stead Center for Ethics and Values at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and the Evanston/North Shore branch of the NAACP.
Sponsoring organizations include the City of Evanston, Environmental Justice Evanston, a program of Climate Action Evanston, Evanston Cradle to Career, Advocates for Action and Evanston Lighthouse Rotary Club.
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The Evanston RoundTable is the community’s leading source of news about local government, schools, civic and artistic activities, and other important issues facing our city. We seek to foster civic engagement and empower people to address complex issues facing our diverse community, promoting a better understanding and appreciation of people of all races, ethnicities, and income levels.
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