"North Stars of Emancipation" Book Talk & Panel Discussion
2026-07-21 19:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for a book talk about North Stars of Emancipation: California’s Diverse Food and Farming Movements in Times of Racial Reckoning, with author Antonio Roman-Alcalá. A panel with local food justice advocates from Soul Fire Farm, the Radix Center, and Serenity Solidarity will discuss food movements in the Capital Region. Books will be available for sale by Greenlight Books.

North Stars of Emancipation traces the recent evolution of California’s food movements towards a more liberatory model grounded in diverse radical traditions. Drawing on his work in urban farming, radical politics, and academic research, author Antonio Roman-Alcalá will discuss the themes of his book with local food justice advocates.

About this Book

How we grow, harvest, distribute, and consume food is bound up with how we use (and abuse) environmental resources, and how we achieve (or undermine) collective well-being. In North Stars of Emancipation, Antonio Roman-Alcalá finds in the radical experiments of new food movements the seeds of a world liberated from old, extractive systems, where a more equitable way of eating and living is possible.

The book traces the transformation of California’s diverse food movements as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and other people of color have come to play a larger organizational role, especially at a time of toxic national politics. A new vision now guides these movements, rooted in the radical traditions of anarchism, Black radicalism, and Indigenous resurgence, yet focused on pragmatic solutions to the problems of market and state. In pursuing a North Star political ideal that rejects capitalism, colonialism, and state violence while prioritizing survival, California’s food movements have achieved greater collaboration among sectors, workers, and consumers, pointing toward a promising future.

North Stars of Emancipation takes the rare step of analyzing movements as interconnected wholes. From their collective success, we learn how to move past an untenable present. Published by MIT Press.

Featured Guests

Antonio Roman-Alcalá is an educator, researcher, writer, musician, and organizer based in California who has worked on sustainable food systems and radical politics for over 20 years. Antonio is currently an Assistant Professor at California State University East Bay teaching Geography and Environmental Studies, while researching movements for social and environmental justice through agroecology and food sovereignty. His previous efforts include urban farms, civil society alliances, activist-researcher networks, and documentary film-making.

Hudson Mohawk Magazine · Book Talk "North Stars of Emancipation" Coming to the Sanctuary

Emet Vitale-Penniman is a multiracial farmer, carpenter, and program leader at Soul Fire Farm. He got an early start with growing and building, assisting his parents with CSA packing, youth programs, and house building. Now, he leads educational programming, works with farm team, and leads AV for the campus.

Ericka Williams Rodriguez is an Afro-Indigenous labor and housing organizer, farmer, and advocate for incarcerated people and their families. She co-founded Serenity Solidarity, a Black and Indigenous-led land project in the capital region, and is developing Mumia House there, dedicated to political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal. She is a member of New York State Jails Justice Network, and is motivated by ending colonization and the suffering of her people.

Scott Kellogg is the Educational Director at the Radix Center, an urban ecological literacy and just sustainabilities advocacy non-profit in Albany, New York. Radix runs a one-acre farm in the middle of the city that teaches local youth about gardening, composting, tree planting, and river activism. He currently also teaches at Bard College’s Center for Environment and Policy and is Chair of Urban Agriculture for the Albany Sustainability Commission.

Judith Enck on Plastics and Creating Legislation
2026-11-19 19:00 - 21:00 | The Sanctuary, 3361 6th Ave, Troy, 12180, United States
Join us for a book talk and conversation around plastics and how to push legislation with environmental policy expert Judith Enck. After presenting on her book The Problem with Plastic: How We Can Save Ourselves and Our Planet Before It’s Too Late, which investigates plastic innovation which has created devastating environmental and public health impacts, Enck will be joined by Shaunty M of Golden Leaf Books to talk about how to make a bill into law. Enck’s organization Beyond Plastics works on a slew of legislation to reduce the plastic in our environment, while Shaunty has experience pushing electric vehicle legislation.

Register Here… Coming Soon

Golden Leaf Books will supply books for sale.

What if we said that the line between societal advancement and environmental degradation is as thin as a layer of plastic wrap? Once a marvel of modern science, plastic has become so inextricably woven into our lives that imagining a world without can seem impossible. Over the last 75 years, plastic has cradled our planet in a synthetic embrace.

“The Problem with Plastic” critically examines the paradox of this material, first celebrated for its innovations and now recognized for its devastating environmental and public health impacts. This compelling narrative reveals how plastic pollution contributes to poisoned oceans, polluted air, a warming planet, and overwhelming waste, particularly affecting marginalized communities, which bear the brunt of petrochemical pollution. The book highlights the pervasive presence of microplastics in the environment and the human body, challenging the belief that recycling can solve the crisis.

In addition to uncovering environmental racism and debunking industry claims, “The Problem with Plastic” emphasizes the urgent need for action against plastic’s toxic legacy, and offers readers practical, actionable solutions, including a “household waste audit,” which empowers readers to track and reduce their own plastic consumption.
