2023-2024 OneBook Focus:
Environmental Justice and No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies by Julian Aguon
2023 - 2024 OneBook Events
Join us Spring Quarter:
Wednesday, April 24th 2024, 1-3 PM
"Eating at the Old Growth Table" | Valerie Segrest, Muckleshoot Tribal Member, Nutritionist, and Food Sovereignty Educator
"Often, Old Growth ecosystems are viewed as being in balance with nature because they've been supposedly untouched by humans. However, for thousands of years, humans have involved ourselves in cycles of reciprocity with many life-forms we have come to consider food. Historically, we have been required to navigate our food system with great care and caution to keep on living. But our tables today bear little evidence of Old Growth. Humankind has never been so far removed from the kinship and origins of our food as we are now. We are accelerating environmental threats to Old Growth foods from seafood to wild berries. Still, life continues to invite us to take a seat at the Old Growth table. How do we want to show up? How will we contribute to the living legacy of our foods and humanity? In this discussion we examine ways in which humankind has intervened in ecosystems to create abundance and reflect on the impacts of our contemporary lifestyles and how dietary changes today can positively impact future generations."
Please join us in person in the Student Union River Room or alternatively on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84058681559 | passcode: 186926
Cohosted by The Office of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, The Indigenous Student Success Center, and the One Book Program
This event is part of the Diversity Educational Series held quarterly by ODEI.
All events are free and open to the public.
Join us Fall Quarter:
Tuesday November 14th 2023, 1-3 PM
"Called by Stories: A Conversation with Julian Aguon" | OneBook Author Julian Aguon
"How obscene is it that communities with the smallest carbon footprint - like low-lying islands and atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean - are paying the steepest price for a crisis we had almost no hand in creating? How do warm-blooded longings for equity and justice figure into global discourse dominated by the cold language of mitigation and adaptation? How do we stay sane as well as sentient? .. . But, here's the first lesson, no offering is too small. No stone unneeded. All of us--whether we choose to become human rights lawyers or corporate counsel, or choose never to practice law at all but instead become professors or entrepreneurs or disappear anonymous among the poor or stay at home and raise bright, delicious children all of us, without exception, are qualified to participate in the rescue of the world." (from No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies")
Julian Aguon is a Chamorro author and human rights attorney from Guam, who works at the intersection of Indigenous rights and environmental justice in a time of climate change.
Hybrid presentation. Join us in person: Mel Lindbloom Student Union Grand Hall. Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84230547187 | Passcode: 658516
All events are free and open to the public
Questions or Contact
For more information on the One Book series, contact Jody Segal, faculty librarian, at onebook@greenriver.edu.
Resource Guides
Learn more about the Author and the Issues: Environmental Justice Research Guide
Past Events
One Book Series | Fall 2022
#1 "What Does the Earth Ask of Us?" OneBook Author Robin Wall Kimmerer, Thursday October 27th 2022, 3-5 PM
We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth and yet we are tied to institutions which relentlessly ask what more can we take? Drawing upon both scientific and indigenous knowledges, this talk explores the covenant of reciprocity. How might we use the gifts and the responsibilities of human people in support of mutual thriving in a time of ecological crisis?
#2 “#nature so white” Outdoor Educator Khavin Debbs, Thursday November 3rd 2022, 12-1 PM
What does it mean to be a person of color in outdoor spaces? This talk traces the history of colonization and manifest destiny through the environmental movement, offering an alternative narrative on outdoor spaces and who belongs in them.
One Book Series | Winter 2023
Wednesday February 15, 2023 1-3 PM
"Coast Salish Ecologies of Reciprocity and Resilience" Valerie Segrest, enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Native Nutrition Educator, and Co-Founder of the consulting group, Tahoma Peak Solutions
Coast Salish people maintained richly diverse ecosystems "since time immemorial" and subsequently developed intrinsic relationships over a long period of time. Essentially, Indigenous peoples, the flora and the fauna of the Pacific Northwest have co-evolved, shaping each other over time. This presentation discusses the traditional ecological knowledge and deeper implications of cultural ecosystems, a term utilized to include human contributions to the lands and the waterways.
Environmental Justice Film Series
Week 3 January 18, 3 - 4:30 pm: Generation Greta
(2020) They are aged between 12 and 24. They have grown up in a world with increasing droughts, floods, fires. And they share a common fight: the climate emergency. In spite of their cultural and geographical differences, nine young female activists are united under the same struggle: raising awareness about the climate emergency, fighting against the inaction of politicians, and promoting radical societal change, so that nature and social justice become our top priority. ‘GENERATION GRETA’ recounts the story of these nine incredible young women, combining moving eyewitness accounts and breathtaking archive footage.
Week 5 February 1, 3-4:30 pm: Necessity, Climate Justice & The Thin Green Line
(2022) This film is set along the rivers of Oregon and follows activists as they enlist the necessity defense in a jury trial after being arrested for a direct action at Zenith Energy in Portland. This story of climate resistance in the Pacific Northwest brings into view a historical landscape of tribal leaders, Indigenous activists and white allies as they resist oil trains and trucks carrying highly flammable products through treaty lands. In following the path of oil-by-rail and oil resistance along the Columbia, we revisit lessons of the New Deal era building massive dams and what climate activists take from that era in thinking about a Green New Deal.
Week 8 February 22, 3- 5 pm: Once You Know
(2020) Today, like a ship entering the storm, industrial civilization faces the first symptoms of energy depletion and climate change induced collapse as scientists assert that the opportunity to prevent catastrophic climate change has passed. Are some ways of collapsing better than others? Once You Know takes viewers on an intimate trek across the abyss of a world at the edge of catastrophe, into the intersection of climate science and civil disobedience.
One Book Series | Spring 2023
"Environmental Justice in the Pacific Northwest" Tuesday May 23rd 2023, 1-3 PM
Join us for a lively panel discussion on environmental justice concerns and works in our region. Facilitated by Seattle Times social justice columnist, Naomi Ishisaka, and with Panelists:
- Deric Gruen, Co-Executive Director of Programs and Policy, Front and Centered
- Lylianna Allala, Climate Justice Director, City of Seattle Office of Sustainability & Environment
- Shemona Moreno, Executive Director, 350 Seattle
ONEBOOK SERIES | FALL 2021
#1 Thursday Oct. 7, 12-1pm | Tsega Gaim
One Book / Diversity Educational Series/ GRC ReEntry Program present:
Stop Wasting My Time: Why Asking Black People to Wait is Racist
Too often the response to racial progress has been, “Wait, it's not the right time!” But the expectation that Black Americans should wait for the rest of America to educate themselves and get on board is a racist act itself. Please join in this presentation centered around why we can’t wait, and how you may be hindering the movement with your patience.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88006299338 | Passcode: 072710
#2 Thursday Oct. 21, 12-1pm | Sara Keene
One Book / Diversity Educational Series/ GRC ReEntry Program present:
Privilege in Context: Understanding the Origins of Whiteness and Ways to Dismantle Racial Privileges
This workshop engages with Oluo’s discussion of privilege by tracing the origins of racial constructions and identifying how they have become institutionalized in US society, conferring privileges on White people and exclusions and oppression on BIPOC communities. Space will be provided to discuss various ways to use White privilege to recognize, disrupt and dismantle racial inequities and contribute to structural change.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83721641641 | Passcode: 764608
#3 Thursday Nov. 4, 12-1pm | Jashon Banks
One Book / Diversity Educational Series/ GRC ReEntry Program present:
Education to Incarceration Pipeline
This talk examines how current U.S. policies create a narrative that minor and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds will become incarcerated. In fact, it is these increasingly harsh school, state, and federal policies that have created a large influx of minority school aged children in the prison system. Now, experts are talking about how these educational inequalities contribute to the growing violence in American cities.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82370363370 | Passcode: 280288
#4 Thursday Nov. 18, 12-1pm | Jashon Banks
Panelists include Amanda Chin, Tina Christian, Erica Ihrig, &Chitra Solomonson. Facilitated by Stephanie Hoffman
Unpacking the Model Minority Myth, Yellow Peril, and Racial Triangulation in an Asian America
Polite (without talking back). Hard-working (with little complaint). Smart, driven, and successful (without being aggressive or taking lead roles). New to America (despite migration waves from the 1800s).
In So You Want to Talk about Race, Ijeoma Oluo opens a window into a narrative of Asians and Asian-Americans told to a White and Western world that is alternatingly welcoming and threatening. Join the AAA Caucus in a panel event where several Asian and Asian-American faculty and staff will reflect on the narratives that have shaped their movement both past and present through society broadly and higher education more specifically.
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84625174549 | Passcode: 755375
Spring Quarter
May 12, 1:00-3:00 PM: One Book / Diversity Educational Series/ GRC ReEntry Program present: “Stories of Success: Addiction, Recovery, Reentry, and Building Pathways through Education”
We are excited to host One Book author, Ms. Susan Burton, once again. She will be joined by guests JJ Jackson, Education Reentry Navigator at The Evergreen State College, Joe Conniff, a King County Drug Court peer navigator and resource manager, and others. Facilitated by GRC Counselor, Devon Klein.
June 3, 12:30-2:00 PM: One Book/ GRC ReEntry Program "Imagining ReEntry at Green River"
Join us for a panel discussion on why educational reentry programs are essential, hear about some of the amazing work being done in the field, and help us envision the ReEntry Program at Green River.
Winter Quarter
Dreaming of Justice, Working for Freedom!
Feb 24, 1-3 PM: GDEC-ODEI Diversity Educational Series
Presented by One Book author, Susan Burton
(In collaboration with One Book, GDEC, ODEI, Student Life, & GRC Reentry Program)
The Innocence Project
January 13, 1-3 PM: GDEC-ODEI Diversity Educational Series
Presented by Huwe Burton
Fall Quarter
Imagining a Prison to College Pipeline: A Conversation with FEPPS Co-Founders Shajuanda Tate and Tonya Wilson
Thursday Nov 19 12-1, One Book Brown Bag Series
(in collaboration with the GRC Reentry Program & FacHouse)
Second Chances: Retribution and Reform
Wednesday November 4, 1-3 pm GDEC-ODEI Diversity Educational Series
(in collaboration with GDEC, ODEI, & GRC Reentry)
Presented by Jeremiah Bourgeois, Journalist, Legal Scholar, and Activist
The Juvenile Prison Pipeline
Thursday October 29, 12-1 pm One Book Brown Bag Series
(in collaboration with the GRC Reentry Program & FacHouse)
Presented by Jashon A. Banks, Sr., Ph.D. Criminal Justice Faculty & guest, James Curtis, JD, Defense Attorney
Black Lives Matter: The Racial Justice Uprising and Movement
Wednesday October 21, 1-3 pm, GDEC-ODEI Diversity Educational Series
(in collaboration with GDEC, ODEI, Student Life, & GRC Reentry)
Mass Incarceration in the Land of the Free
Thursday Oct 8, 12-1 pm: One Book Brown Bag Series
(in collaboration with the GRC Reentry Program & FacHouse)
Presented by Kate Lawson Rogers, Sociology Faculty
One Book Research and Resource guide
ONE BOOK BROWN BAG TALK SERIES – FALL 19
Cosponsored by FacHouse - All talks are from 12-12:50 p.m. in SH-110
Screening, Panel and Q&A with Filmmaker and Undocumented Youth Leaders
November 4, 2-4 p.m. in the SU Grand Hall
In partnership with the Social Justice Film Series
The documentary film “Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth” was produced by Portland-based Graham Street Productions and has screened in all 50 states, at the US Capitol and was broadcast on public television stations nationwide. Papers is the story of undocumented youth and the challenges they face as they turn 18 without legal status. Approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate every year from high school without “papers.” Currently, there is no path to citizenship for most of these young people. The film premiered in 2009 when very few undocumented young people were public about their immigration status. The five young people featured in this film (Monica, Jorge, Juan Carlos, Simone and Yo Sub) risked arrest, detention and deportation simply for telling the truth about their lives.
The accompanying book, “Papers: Stories by Undocumented Youth” is a collection of 30 stories by undocumented youth who range in age from 10 to 32. The writers sent these stories to Graham Street Productions during the production of the film.
The film’s director, Anne Galisky, will facilitate a conversation after the film screening on November 4 with undocumented youth leaders from the Pacific Northwest.
October 17
“Do Developed Nations Have An Obligation to Developing Nations?”
Rebeka Ferreira, Philosophy
According to Lifeboat Ethics--a metaphor for overpopulation and overconsumption--wealthy nations [in the lifeboat] have no moral obligations to help those in poverty [who are drowning]. The steady increase in migrant and refugee traffic over the past few years, especially as it relates to climate change and political conflict, sheds new light on this ethical dilemma. If the poverty of poorer nations is at least partly a consequence of the actions of wealthy nations, do wealthy nations carry responsibility? In this talk, we will explore the arguments on either side of resource distribution.
Recommended Resources:
- Garrett Hardin's "Lifeboat Ethics" and
- William Murdoch & Allan Oaten's "Population and Food: A Critique of Lifeboat Ethics"
November 14
“Francophone Heritage, African Voices and U.S. immigration”
Lisa Luengo, French & Spanish - with guests:
- Issa Ndiaye is an accredited Department of Justice Representative who works with individuals and families to provide legal consults, investigate eligibility for immigration relief, help petition their family members, and apply for green cards.
- Aïsha Kone is a student born in Congo, who grew up in the Ivory Coast, and immigrated to the U.S with her parents. She studied economics at Washington State University and Global Trade and Logistics at Highline College.
Presenters will speak on the hopes, expectations and dreams for West African immigrants, and the impact of losing one’s language and country.
December 5
“Intersecting Borders and Bridges: Mobility as Home in Twenty-first Century Literature”
Michael Moreno and Lina Pittser, English
This presentation explores how works of literature both dislocate and redefine twenty-first century constructions of borders and geographical crossroads in determining the meaning of home and the sense of place. As a global phenomenon, how does migration impact the ways in which communities are (re)formed and transnational perspectives of power and agency shifted? What is the role of literature in articulating this process? Our discussion will include Papers: Stories by Undocumented Youth and Mbue’s Behold the Dreamers among other narratives, both domestic and international.
One Book Contact: Jody Segal at Holman Library jsegal@greenriver.edu
Students may pick up free copies of Behold the Dreamers and Papers: Stories of Undocumented Youth at Holman Library
Empathy in a Time of Chaos: Immigration and the American Dream
Wednesday, February 19
6 - 8 p.m.
Student Union Grand Hall (SU-100)
Cosponsored by the Artist and Speaker Series
Followed by moderated Q&A then reception and book signing.