BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Sanctuary For Independent Media - ECPv6.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org X-WR-CALDESC:Events for The Sanctuary For Independent Media REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-Robots-Tag:noindex X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20180311T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20181104T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20190310T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20191103T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20200308T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20201101T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20210314T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20211107T060000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20220313T070000 END:DAYLIGHT BEGIN:STANDARD TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20221106T060000 END:STANDARD END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210528T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210528T190000 DTSTAMP:20230213T194759Z CREATED:20210525T155334Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T194759Z UID:10001012-1622221200-1622228400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Blitz of the L-Lot: Permaculture in North Central! DESCRIPTION:Join us! \n\n\n\nWe have a semi annual Blitz of the L lot\, which is at the South End of the alley on Glen Street and is one of CCG Garden Mentor Christian Grigoraskos’ favorite places on the Sanctuary campus. With a bit of care each year\, we have been ushering this once abandoned space into a beautiful and productive Food Forest\, a very unique sort that is largely been dictated by what is already there and has come in naturally. Includes Plant Identification! Please bring gloves if you have them! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA message from Christian: \n\n\n\nMay you live in Wild times\, with Wild Spaces. \n\n\n\nEcology capitalizes on disturbance (dissed-urbance) and when humans intervene with guided observance a paradise is born…so join us for our biannual Blitz of a patch of land We call the L lot because of its L shape and because of the deep Love we have for all our Botanical allies that inhabit it.  Each growing season we give just a little bit more support to the plants we want to see grow while utilizing the surrounding biomass of support species that grow rampant in our climate offering their bodies to the cycle of soil life.  \n\n\n\n\nIn this workshop we will cover many permaculture principles and practices such as:\n\n\n\n\nPaying attention\n\n\n\nPlant identification\n\n\n\nSuccession planning\n\n\n\nChop and drop mulching \n\n\n\nPollarding and other radical pruning methods\n\n\n\nPicking up trash\n\n\n\nStaring at bees coming and going from their entrance\n\n\n\nImagining the possibilities based on our observations URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/blitz-of-the-l-lot-permaculture-in-north-central/ LOCATION:Collard City Growers\, 3337 6th Avenue\, Troy\, New York\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Workshop ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/mhp_logo_collard-city-growers.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210522T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210522T130000 DTSTAMP:20230213T194853Z CREATED:20210427T130848Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T194853Z UID:10001212-1621681200-1621688400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:CCG Plant Swap Party! DESCRIPTION:Join us (socially distanced\, of course!) to actively learn about garden propagation and division! The fruits of our labor will fill the beds of Collard City Growers and swap plants with attendees! \n\n\n\n\nThis is an event for the community and gardeners to get together and exchange seedlings for the season. Stop by to pick up some seedlings that you might want for your garden\, drop off any extra flats that you don’t have room for\, or just come on over to hangout and say hi 🙂 Azure and Christian are generously providing Shiso\, Bronze Fennel\, Absinth\, Wormwood\, Wild Strawberries\, Anise Hyssop\, Bee Balm\, Garlic Chives\, Elderberry\, Lovage\, Rhubarb\, Willow cuttings\, Borage\, Irises\, Day Lilies\, and lots more. And remember\, all plants that you give and take are FREE! \n\n\n\n\nPhoto by Felicity Jones\n\n\n\n\nWe hope everyone will enjoy the plants we have to offer and are excited to see what others have to share. Please be sure to still wear a face mask and follow safe social distancing. Looking forward to seeing you there! \n\n\n\nAnd if you haven’t listened to it already\, check out an interview with Christian Grigoraskos and Azure Keahi talking about the history of Collard City Growers\, the purpose of the space\, and advertising the Plant Swap. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/ccg-plant-swap-party/ LOCATION:Collard City Growers\, 3337 6th Avenue\, Troy\, New York\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/icon-strawberry-2-web.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210515T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210515T120000 DTSTAMP:20210512T032210Z CREATED:20210512T025701Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210512T032210Z UID:10001220-1621072800-1621080000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Sunflower Planting around Norlite DESCRIPTION:Join us on Saturday\, May 15th to plant sunflowers across the City of Cohoes\, with the City’s permission. We hope this will be a healing activity for our community that is affected by Norlite’s emissions. Sunflowers not only beautify the landscape\, they are hyperaccumulators\, removing toxins and heavy metals from the soil. \n\n\n\nWhere: Saratoga Sites (courtyard)Bring water to stay hydrated and garden tools/gloves\, if handy. \n\n\n\nRain Day/Updates/Directions: call or text Alexis Goldsmith\, 260-444-1341 URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/sunflower-planting-around-norlite/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Sunflower_Planting.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210505T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210505T235959 DTSTAMP:20230213T195116Z CREATED:20210417T184155Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195116Z UID:10001193-1620172800-1620259199@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Witness to the Future: 25th Anniversary Screening DESCRIPTION:Witness to the Future still\n\n\n\nTwenty-five years after its release\, Witness to the Future’s focus on so-called “ordinary” citizens turned environmental activists has more relevance than ever before! Here’s an interview with producer Branda Miller on the WOOC Hudson Mohawk Magazine as part of the build-up to this event. \n\n\n\nIt’s time to watch this video again! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThen\, watch the Q&A with WTTF filmmaker Branda Miller and co-producer Robin Oppenheimer speaking with interviewer Corinne Carey of WOOC 105.3 FM’s Hudson Mohawk Magazine before this 25th anniversary screening. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBranda Miller’s “Witness to the Future” is an experimental documentary video project about individuals who have been transformed from so called “ordinary” citizens into activists who struggle for environmental and social change. \n\n\n\n“Witness to the Future” seeks connections that unite people of all cultures\, communities\, races\, and economic classes as they struggle for environmental and social change. Represented are people from three regions of the U.S.: the “downwinders” of Hanford\, WA\, including Native Americans; “whistleblowers” and white-collar workers from the nuclear reservation; rural African American\, poor\, and working-class communities in “Cancer Alley\,” LA; and Latino and Hmong farmworkers and mothers in the San Joaquin Valley\, CA. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nReviews of “Witness to the Future“ \n\n\n\nThe Economist \n\n\n\n\n“Environmentalist may be leery of some modern technologies\, such as genetic engineering and nuclear power. Yet one new technology promises to make their movement much more powerful. This CD-ROM demonstrates how recent advances in computing and the internet can be used for dramatic political effect. The enemies of the greens – the firms and governments that greens accuse of neglecting nature – aught to watch out.” \n\n\n\n\nMacWorld \n\n\n\n\n“If you seek thought-provoking material for an environmentally inclined friend\, look no further.“ \n\n\n\n\nI.D. Magazine \n\n\n\n\n“It will change the way you think about [Image] consumerism and the industrial infrastructure that supports it.“ \n\n\n\n\nWorldFest International Film and Video Festival \n\n\n\nGold Award – Interactive Educational / Adult CategorySilver Award – Ecology / Environment / Conservation Category \n\n\n\nDr. Nicholas J. Smith-Sebasto \n\n\n\n\n“When I experienced Witness to the Future\, I was left literally NUMB. My initial impression was one of complete shock. Branda has created something that appears to be truly revolutionary. Those interested in the Environmental must be made aware of her production and more important\, must be trained in how to use it.” (National Association of Environmental Educators) \n\n\n\n\nPacifica Network & Democracy Now!Segment about “Witness to the Future\,” December 29\, 1997 \n\n\n\nAbout the Filmmaker \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBranda Miller is a media artist and educator\, dedicated to art\, ecology and community interdisciplinary arts. She is the Arts and Education Coordinator at The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, where she has developed numerous media literacy/community arts/youth media and creative place-making projects. She is a Professor of Media Arts at Rensselaer\, teaching courses in documentary\, art\, community and technology\, and independent art production.  Miller is an Emmy award-winning editor who worked in the media industry of L.A. and N.Y.C.\, and whose media art works have been screened\, exhibited and broadcast nationally and internationally. Branda Miller has three decades of experience in participatory design and praxis\, and a history of transdisciplinary collaborations created to stimulate cultural animation\, build community\, and create dialogue around freedom of expression and environmental justice. \n\n\n\nAbout the Producer\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRobin Oppenheimer is a Seattle-based internationally recognized media arts historian\, curator\, educator\, and scholar who has worked in the field since 1980. She was Executive Director of media arts centers in Atlanta (IMAGE Film/Video 1984-89) and Seattle (911 Media Arts 1989-95). Earning a PhD in Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University in 2011\, she was a Lecturer at the University of Washington Bothell (2008-2015) and adjunct faculty at Cornish College of the Arts (2014-16). Recent projects include working as a media arts historian/writer for Google’s Artist and Machine Intelligence group in Seattle https://ami.withgoogle.com/ . Her areas of research include media arts histories\, with an emphasis on 1960s collaborative art & technology projects (light shows\, E.A.T.)\, participatory media\, and media activism. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/witness-to-the-future-25th-anniversary-screening/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/miller_witness_xl.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/witness-to-the-future-25th-anniversary-screening/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210502T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210502T203000 DTSTAMP:20230213T195207Z CREATED:20210428T221835Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195207Z UID:10001213-1619982000-1619987400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Community Investment\, Not Community Police DESCRIPTION:This event is past – but you can watch the town hall on YouTube or below! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDid you know the City of Troy is voting next Thursday to expand the police force by six additional officers?\n\n\n\nJoin a coalition of groups from Troy in a Town Hall on Sunday\, May 2\, 2021 as we discuss recent actions by the City of Troy around policing. This gathering is being convened at the last minute as the City Council Finance Committee pushes forward to hire an additional SIX police officers to the Troy Police Department. The proposal passed in this Committee with a 5-2 vote and the full City Council vote will take place on Thursday\, May 6\, 2021. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Troy Coalition of Black Leaders\, NAACP Troy Branch\, YWCA of the Greater Capital Region\, The Justice Center of Rensselaer County\, Equality for Troy\, and the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists. \n\n\n\n\nRegister\n\n\n\n\nSpeakers\n\n\n\n\nJerry Ford (Troy Coalition of Black Leaders)\n\n\n\nRenee Powell (NAACP Troy Branch)\n\n\n\nWillie Terry  (Coalition of Black Trade Unionists)\n\n\n\nDiamond Owens (Community Youth)\n\n\n\nStarletta Smith (Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative)\n\n\n\nTasheca Medina (Equality for Troy)\n\n\n\nJessica Ashley (The Justice Center for Rensselaer County)\n\n\n\nDeanna Ultimo Swenson (North Central resident)\n\n\n\n\nBackground\n\n\n\nRecently\, the City of Troy\, like most municipalities across the State of New York\, held a series of discussions on the topic of policing. Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 203\, issued in June of 2020\, required municipalities with police forces to examine the policies and procedures of their police department and make recommendations for future changes to address police violence\, biased policing\, and systemic racism. The measure stated its intention was to provide transparency and build trust\, urging localities to hold listening sessions and meetings with community members. \n\n\n\nMayor Madden did not announce the creation or intentions of the Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative until the end of January 2021. There were nine highly controlled meetings held in February with very little open community participation—the city made little effort to inform residents about the meeting or how to get involved. \n\n\n\nOnce the report was drafted\, in early March\, Black leaders throughout the city expressed their dismay and loss of trust in the city about this process. This included all four Black PRRC committee members (Starletta Smith\, Executive Director\, YWCA of the Greater Capital Region\, Inc. and Renée Powell\, President of the NAACP\, Troy\, NY Branch\, Pastor Justin Relf of Rhema Revealed Ministries\, and Stacey Howard of Troy’s Police Objective Review Board). They released a statement decrying the report and saying that they felt “tokenized throughout this process.” \n\n\n\nSo why this\, why now? \n\n\n\nAs critiques of policing grow across the country and calls for reallocating funds to expand or create new entities to respond to mental health calls\, domestic disputes\, traffic stops\, and more\, Troy is swiftly pushing forward to increase the police budget and add more police to the force. Again\, with very little time for dialogue and discussion with community members and community leaders. \n\n\n\nWhile the City of Troy\, Mayor Madden\, and the Troy City Council avoid input from community members\, we are making space for dialogue and discussion. We know that with more investment in social services and community support\, communities can better look out for each other and construct the means through which to survive and thrive.In what ways can we call for structural investment to address the history of deliberate marginalization and segregation? How can we invest in our under-funded\, under-served\, structurally marginalized Black and brown communities? \n\n\n\nWhile Mayor Patrick Madden told the Times Union\, “People want police officers out in the neighborhood. They want police officers to know them. They want to know their police officers.” Given the lack of space for open dialogue and discussion\, we don’t know who the Mayor is referring to. \n\n\n\nWe are convening to address the lack of dialogue\, alternatives to policing\, alternatives to more police and a bigger police budget as an answer\, and calls to invest in our neighborhoods and communities! \n\n\n\nJoin us. Listen. Share your thoughts. \n\n\n\n\nWhat should Troy be investing in?\n\n\n\nWhy increase an already large police budget?\n\n\n\nThe problems of policing in Troy.\n\n\n\nWhat are alternatives to hiring “community” police officers?\n\n\n\nLocal leaders will discuss their opinions and visions for Troy\n\n\n\nWhat are strategies for moving forward?\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nYou can listen to Renée Powell and Starletta Smith share more about their experience on the City of Troy’s Police Reform & Reinvention Collaborative committee with Hudson Mohawk Magazine producer\, Elizabeth Press: URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-investment-not-community-police/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/TroyPoliceDepartment-CopBlock.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-investment-not-community-police/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T080000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T170000 DTSTAMP:20210712T170242Z CREATED:20210430T220436Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T170242Z UID:10001218-1619769600-1619802000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Community Forum to Address Capital Region Health System Merger DESCRIPTION:This event is over but\, thanks to the magic of Sanctuary TV\, you can watch the video here.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Zoom chat window is here. \n\n\n\nIn October 2020\, the Albany Times Union reported a planned merger between Ellis Medicine in Schenectady and St. Peter’s Health Partners. Mergers between Catholic Health Systems and secular hospitals have raised concern in communities across the country and they have for many years as evidenced by this 1995 article in the New York Times about Leonard and St. Mary’s Hospitals in Troy. \n\n\n\nAccording to the national group MergerWatch\, Catholic hospitals follow a set of ethical guidelines that prohibit the provision of certain kinds of patient care\, most often\, reproductive\, LGBTQ+-inclusive\, and end-of-life care. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nConcerns about the financial stability of Ellis Medicine and its importance to the community reportedly drive the need for a partnership between two of the largest health systems in the region\, a solution that is the result of years of planning. \n\n\n\nBut religious restrictions and forces of healthcare economics threaten to have a disparate impact on residents who already face barriers in our healthcare system. A knowledgeable panel will discuss\, answer questions\, and hear comments from the community about: \n\n\n\n• How religious restrictions will affect (and how religious biases may affect) equitable access to healthcare services• Possible solutions to eliminating gaps in services through other local healthcare providers• Potential community benefits resulting from the partnership.• History of SPHS’s aggressive medical bill collection• Process required for partnership approval by the NYS Department of Health• The importance of memorializing the community’s priorities in the application for certificate of need\, including an effective enforcement mechanism• Opportunities for advocacy and continuing dialogue \n\n\n\nSpeakers:\n\n\n\nMichelle Ostrelich is a Schenectady County Legislator and Chair of the Legislature’s Health & Human Services Committee. \n\n\n\nLois Uttley\, MPP\, is Women’s Health Program Director for Community Catalyst\, a national consumer health advocacy organization. She has worked for more than 20 years to protect access \n\n\n\nto comprehensive reproductive health services\, LGBTQ-inclusive care and end-of-life options when community hospitals propose to merge with nearby Catholic hospitals.  She has published research about the growth of large Catholic health systems and\, as Founder/Director of the MergerWatch Project\, advised community coalitions in 38 states\, including several in NYS. Now based in Manhattan\, Lois serves on the steering committee of the statewide Health Care for All New York coalition and coordinators the work of Community Voices for Health System Accountability. Formerly a Capital District resident\, she served as Vice President of Family Planning Advocates of NYS\, Director of Public Affairs for the NYS Department of Health and an award-winning reporter and editor covering New York State government for the Albany Times Union. \n\n\n\nArthur Butler is the executive director of the Schenectady County Human Rights Commission. Butler helped found the Capital District African American Coalition on AIDS\, serving as their executive director for 17 years. He also worked for Hunger Solutions New York and as the national project coordinator of the Framework for Dialogue – USA. \n\n\n\nNikita Hardy\, MPA\, is the Affirmative Action Manager for Schenectady County She is a well-respected\, highly recommended political strategist and community engager with over 14 years of progressive experience\, including having held dynamic roles within legislative\, state and local government. She recently has taken on several endeavors to further causes impacting marginalized communities.  Most notably her passion for birth justice and breastfeeding advocacy led her to organize the Capital Region Black Breastfeeding Empowerment Network\, as well as her committed research on Maternal Mortality of Black Women in America. She is an advocate\, an educator\, a public speaker\, full-spectrum Doula and policy enthusiast. \n\n\n\nDr. Debbie Stulberg is a long-time colleague in the work trying to protect reproductive health care from Catholic health restrictions. She was a family medicine resident at West Suburban Hospital in Illinois when it was taken over by the Catholic Resurrection Health System. Since then\, she has become one of the nation’s leading researchers on the impact of religious restrictions on patients and doctors. \n\n\n\nGlenn Northern leads and implements Catholics for Choice US activities\, including advocacy\, outreach\, policymaker education\, legislative analysis and collegial relationships. He directs CFC’s Catholics in Public Life project\, a nonpartisan public education initiative that helps Catholic policy makers in the US clearly articulate prochoice positions grounded in progressive Catholicism and sound public policy. He oversees CFC’s strategic relationships with pro-choice Catholics\, policymakers\, reproductive health providers\, religious and secular activists and collegial organizations to inform and influence debates on sexual and reproductive health and rights\, social justice and religious liberty. Before joining CFC\, Mr. Northern led constituency building and advocacy efforts at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice. He holds a degree in political science and women’s studies from Williams College in Williamstown\, Massachusetts. \n\n\n\nThis People’s Health Sanctuary event is sponsored by The Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access. The Schenectady Coalition for Healthcare Access was formed to educate the administrations and the public about the risks of losses to our community from Ellis’ partnership with SPHP. In addition to education\, members of the Coalition seek to advocate equitable access to evidence-based\, inclusive\, and comprehensive patient-centered care\, including comprehensive reproductive care\, infertility care\, LGBTQ+-inclusive care\, gender affirming care and end-of-life care within our local community. www.schdy.org \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCommunity partners include:Local Care Midwifery\, PLLCNew York Civil Liberties UnionRosemarie Pérez Jaquith\, Niskayuna Town Board MemberProClergy.comProgressive Schenectady URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/community-forum-to-address-capital-region-health-system-merger/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/merger_monitor-Internal-640x303-1.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210430T235959 DTSTAMP:20230213T195348Z CREATED:20210417T183107Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195348Z UID:10001192-1619740800-1619827199@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Echoes from Lock One DESCRIPTION:“Echoes from Lock One” is an evocative call for environmental and water justice from the eyes and voices of youth in Troy\, NY. \n\n\n\nPersonally screen this video and listen to a Q&A podcast with co-creators! \n\n\n\nDuring the Sanctuary’s “Uptown Summer” program\, media makers\, artists and scientists worked with teens in camera\, audio production\, script writing\, music production\, dance\, historical research as well as scientific testing\, to create this experimental\, participatory documentary with a message for change: \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“We live along the shores of the Hudson River at the beginning of the Erie Canal\, Lock One\, the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution. The history of the Erie Canal and the devastating effects of industrialization are mostly unknown… even to the people of Troy\, who live right next to it.  Our river and our neighborhood have been poisoned by a legacy of pollution. This is our call to action. For justice and for our future. No more waiting!” \n\n\n\n\nFeatured in: \n\n\n\n\nEnvironmental Film Festival of the Capital\n\n\n\nNorth Dakota Environmental Film Festival\n\n\n\nKansas City Environmental Film Festival\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMistah Jayohcee is an Artist\, Activist\, Performer\, songwriter\, producer\, engineer\, and promoter – a jack of all trades. He is a First Nations Mohawk Warrior who is also a hip-hop artist. Jayohcee is featured in Echoes from Lock One\, teaching youth how to write and perform hip hop for their video\, and offering a private performance for them.\n\n\n\nCo-created by Youth Media Sanctuary/Uptown Summer Youth and Mentors in collaboration with The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, Executive Producer Branda Miller. \n\n\n\nThe Sanctuary for Independent Media is a place for community-engaged interdisciplinary experimentation\, with the overarching goal of shedding light on the intersectional role of media\, science and art in the process of building a democratic society. Uptown Summer is a media arts and environmental education summer employment program for local youth to share homegrown stories of hope and justice. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/echoes-from-lock-one/ CATEGORIES:Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Milan_North_Central.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/echoes-from-lock-one/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210425T140000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210425T153000 DTSTAMP:20230213T195739Z CREATED:20210425T182300Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195739Z UID:10001209-1619359200-1619364600@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Arica: A Toxic Waste Scandal with "Our Soil" Panel DESCRIPTION:View a special Northern Hemisphere sneak preview of the documentary Arica\, then join us for a panel discussion with directors\, Lars Edman and William Johansson Kalén\, plus local “Our Soil” project leader Professor Abby Kinchy and Professor Sebastian Ureta (Chile) and Rodrigo Pino (Chile). \n\n\n\nRegister to screen the Arica documentary by Lars Edman\, William Johansson Kalén plus join us for the  “Our Soil” Panel! You will be sent a link once you register\, with a 24 hour window to view the film. The panel will meet at 2 pm. Please view the film before or after the panel! \n\n\n\n[Please note: because this is a sneak preview\, we have agreed to close registration at 100 people\, so be sure to register!] \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nArica tells the story of a Swedish mining giant who dumped hazardous waste in Arica in northern Chile. Subsequently thousands of inhabitants are damaged. Now the survivors are seeking justice in a groundbreaking transnational corporate accountability trial. \n\n\n\nA Swedish mining company exports 20\,000 tonnes of toxic waste to the Chilean desert town of Arica. Thousands of people become sick\, many die from cancer. ARICA plunges us into the groundbreaking corporate accountability trial which begins after Lars Edman – born in Chile and raised in Boliden – exposes the scandal. \n\n\n\nAlongside his co-director William Johansson\, Lars follows the story for 15 years\, exposing how decisions made decades ago in Europe continue to affect people in South America.  Part personal journey\, part courtroom drama\, ARICA is the story of an afflicted community fighting for justice against a multinational company desperate to clear their name. \n\n\n\nToxic Colonialism – the export of waste material from rich to poor countries – is on trial.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n“Our Soil / Nuestros Suelos” \n\n\n\nThe city of Arica is a sister city with our local city of Troy\, NY\, in the project “Our Soil / Nuestros Suelos.” \n\n\n\nFunded from a National Science Foundation grant\,  Our Soil involves community-engaged environmental research (“citizen science”). The Our Soil / Nuestros Suelos teams have been developing a Community Soil Study Toolkit to test soils for three heavy metals (lead\, arsenic\, and copper) that may be found in urban soils. One of our partners is in Chile\, Dr. Sebastian Ureta\, has done work with these DIY kits in Arica\, Chile. \n\n\n\nThe research involves The Sanctuary for Independent Media as a community partner\, bringing to the project strong record of involving neighborhood youth in environmental projects\, such as water testing and urban gardening.  Our plan is to hold a series of hands-on workshops with North Troy neighborhood residents\, to teach them how to sample and analyze soil from yards and gardens. It is important to note a distinguishing element of the project: unlike soil testing projects that exist elsewhere\, NSF has funded us to develop and evaluate a method of collaborative\, community-based soil research. It is not merely “soil testing” but a package of interdisciplinary education and collective action\, conducted and analyzed by an interdisciplinary research team. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMore about the Panelists\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLars Edman\n\n\n\nBorn in Chile and raised in Sweden\, Lars returned to South America to attend the Valparaiso Film School. Toxic Playground was Lars’ first film which went on to win 6 international awards\, screening in over 30 international festivals and being broadcast on TV across Europe. \n\n\n\nSince completing Toxic Playground\, Lars has retrained as a speech and language therapist and now lives in the north of Norway. Arica will be his second feature documentary. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWilliam Johansson Kalén\n\n\n\nWilliam Johansson Kalén has worked as a Director\, Editor in chief\, DoP and Film editor since 2006 and has been working with a number of documentaries\, documentary series and TV-programs. He co-directed the award-winning documentary Toxic Playground in 2009 and started as a film producer in 2015 when he also became a shareholder of Laika Film & Television. He is currently producing an artistic documentary about architecture that will premiere in early 2021 and producing a couple of Laika’s projects in development. He has worked as assistant producer on the documentary Cold Case Hammarskjöld and the fiction Beauty And The Dogs and The Man Who Sold His Skin. He is also the Swedish producer in the fiction Jordanian film Farha that premiere in spring 2021. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbby Kinchy\n\n\n\nAbby Kinchy is a sociologist\, working in the interdisciplinary field of science and technology studies (STS). Her research examines the politics of pollution\, in order to illuminate the relationship between science and democracy. \n\n\n\nMost recently\, her research has focused on “citizen science”–public participation in environmental monitoring. Her goal is to bring concepts of power and social justice into sharper focus in popular and professional discussions of citizen science. What kind of citizenship is implied in citizen science? How can participatory environmental research enhance struggles for social change beyond merely generating data? Her book on this topic\, co-authored with Aya H. Kimura\, is Science by the People: Participation\, Power\, and the Politics of Environmental Knowledge (Rutgers\, 2019). Kinchy’s newest NSF-funded project\, Nuestros Suelos/Our Soil\, explores how citizen science could help urban communities to identify heavy metal contamination in soil and to advocate for solutions. \n\n\n\nProfessor Kinchy is the author of Seeds\, Science\, and Struggle: The Global Politics of Transgenic Crops (MIT\, 2012).  She was the PI on the NSF-funded Watershed Knowledge Mapping Project\, which examined the practices and politics of environmental monitoring in the context of shale gas development\, or “fracking.” She is also a co-organizer of STS Underground\, a research network that advances social science research on the technoscientific dimensions of mining\, burial\, and other forms of subterranean exploration. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSebastian Ureta\n\n\n\nSebastián Ureta is an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at the Universidad Alberto Hurtado (Santiago\, Chile). He trained as a sociologist\, with a focus on science and technology studies. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degree in sociology from the Universidad Católica de Chile in Santiago and completed his PhD in 2006 in the media and communications department at the London School of Economics (UK). Subsequently\, he worked as an Assistant Professor at the Instituto de Sociología\, Universidad Católica de Chile. From November 2007 to March 2008 he was also a British Academy visiting fellow in the sociology department at Lancaster University (UK). From May 2009 to March 2012 he was a Marie Curie International incoming fellow at the Center for Technology and Society (ZTG)\, Technische Universität Berlin. Currently he is working on a research project focused on the government of industrial waste in Chile\, in particular the massive waste produced by the country’s booming mining industry. In March 2015 he became the PI of the Millennium Nucleus for Energy and Society Research (NUMIES)\, a new research group studying the interrelations between energy issues and society in Chile. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRodrigo Pino\n\n\n\nRodrigo Pino is from Arica. Since the beginning of the controversy regarding Boliden’s waste more than 10 years ago\, Rodrigo has been quite probably the most important spokesperson of the affected communities. \n\n\n\n— \n\n\n\nToxic justice is a platform where we discuss waste trade\, corporate responsibility and ways to legally challenge human rights abuse by big corporations in the west. The platform is inspired by the case of Arica Victims KB vs. Boliden and the documentary film ARICA\, which describes the case. Our goals are prevention\, accountability and reparation. And justice for those of us who are affected. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSponsored by iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer\, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/arica-a-toxic-waste-scandal-with-our-soil-panel/ CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Arica_1vxL1djLmYjKnPKFcASv9sdttGl.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/arica-a-toxic-waste-scandal-with-our-soil-panel/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210421T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210421T203000 DTSTAMP:20230213T195954Z CREATED:20210417T180545Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T195954Z UID:10001191-1619031600-1619037000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Local Voices / Local Media: The Struggle for Clean Air in the Hudson Mohawk Region DESCRIPTION:You will receive links to the videos prior to the panel\, and then can join in for a conversation with the media makers and local activists. \n\n\n\nIn the Shadows of Norlite\, photo by Catherine Rafferty\n\n\n\nOn Earth Day\, we celebrate our local voices in their eloquent calls for environmental justice and clean air in the Hudson Mohawk region. We focus on local media makers who are creating media as an organizing tool\, whose work shines light on the power of personal voice. \n\n\n\nOur “mini-media festival” features a conversation with local Capital Region media makers Sonja Stark with “Albany Alert\,” Dave Publow with “We Care About Our Kids: Voices of the Victims of Norlite\,” and Catherine Rafferty with “In the Shadow of Norlite\,” along with the powerful voices featured in their films\, Joe Ritchie\, Judith Enck and Barbara Heinzen. \n\n\n\nOur featured local media makers focus their lenses on two grassroots environmental action groups: Lights Out Norlite\, who are raising awareness about the Norlite toxic waste incinerator located in Cohoes\, and Clean Air Coalition Of Greater Ravena-Coeymans\, who are addressing waste incineration and tire burning at the Lafarge/Holcim Ravena cement plant located next to the Ravena Coeymans Selkirk middle and high schools in Coeymans. \n\n\n\nSponsored by iEAR Presents! and the School of Humanities\, Arts and Social Sciences at Rensselaer\, made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. \n\n\n\n\nRegister Here\n\n\n\n\n\nEVENT SCHEDULE\n\n\n\n7:00-7:10 Opening Welcome/ Thanks & Acknowledgements \n\n\n\n7:10-7:40  Panel 1 Media as an Organizing Tool \n\n\n\n\n7:10 Sonya Stark\n\n\n\n7:20 Dave Publow\n\n\n\n7:30 “In the Shadows of Norlite\,” photojournalism essay by Catherine Rafferty\n\n\n\n\n7:40- 8:10  Panel 2  Power of the Personal Voice \n\n\n\nDiscussion with subjects of the films: Joe Ritchie\, Barbara Heinzen\, Judith Enck \n\n\n\n8:10 Final conversation/ Moving into action! \n\n\n\n8:30pm  End \n\n\n\n\nMEDIA MAKERS\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSonja  Stark \n\n\n\nSonja Stark began her freelance DP career in 2005.  Prior to that she was employed as an Emmy award-winning news videographer for the local CBS news affiliate WRGB for over a decade.   She has honed her craft shooting and editing footage in over 72 countries for documentaries about history\, environment\, music and social causes as well as episodic programming about travel for broadcast on cable channels and PBS.  She calls her one-woman business PilotGirl Productions. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDave Publow \n\n\n\nDave Publow is an environmental activist\, radio journalist\, printmaker\, and videographer. He is also a resident of Troy\, NY\, one of the many communities directly affected by the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator. His focus is to use the tools at his disposal to spread awareness of environmental injustice\, and to help galvanize the community to find the powers within themselves to meet the challenge. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCatherine Rafferty \n\n\n\nCatherine Rafferty is a freelance photojournalist and documentary filmmaker from upstate New York whose work explores intimate\, complex themes with concern for social justice. She recently worked in Phoenix\, AZ at The Arizona Republic\, part of the USA Today network\, as a Pulliam Fellow covering the COVID-19 pandemic and calls for racial justice. She’s previously interned at the Times Union in Albany\, NY and The Sanctuary\, where she documented Uptown Summer in the Roots for Resilience solo exhibition. She graduated with a BFA in photojournalism from Rochester Institute of Technology in 2020. Rafferty produces the “Birth Justice” podcast on WOOC 105.3 FM and is currently media mentor to the Water Justice Lab Fellows at The Sanctuary. She’s excited to continue working with the fellows to tell the story of their community and its relationship to the river. \n\n\n\nFEATURING\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoseph Ritchie is an environmental justice advocate and the Executive Director of Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions. He is a student at Syracuse University studying Environmental Policy. Joe grew up in the shadows of Norlite. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEnvironmental Policy Expert Judith Enck founded Beyond Plastics in 2019 to end plastic pollution through education\, advocacy\, and institutional change. Passionate about protecting public health and the environment\, she teaches classes on plastic pollution as a Senior Fellow and visiting faculty member at Bennington College\, and was recently a Visiting Scholar at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. \n\n\n\nJudith has held top influential positions in state and federal government. Appointed by President Obama\, she served as the Regional Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency\, overseeing environmental protections in NY\, NJ\, eight Indian Nations\, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands – in addition to managing a staff of 800 and a $700M budget. Previously\, Judith served as Deputy Secretary for the Environment in the New York Governor’s Office\, and Policy Advisor to the New York State Attorney General. She was Senior Environmental Associate with the New York Public Interest Research Group\, served as Executive Director for Environmental Advocates of New York and the Non-Profit Resource Center\, and is a past President of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. Judith appears on a weekly public affairs radio show on a local NPR affiliate\, the Roundtable on WAMC in Albany\, NY. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBarbara Heinzen is a long-term strategist and scenario planner with a successful 35-year practice working with companies and civil society\, usually in non-Western countries in Africa\, Asia and Latin America.  Recent assignments have been with two multi-stakeholder projects concerning the future of energy: one in East Africa and the other in Pennsylvania\, USA.  In 2011\, Barbara Heinzen returned to the USA from central London\, UK after buying 20 acres of land along the Hudson River in upstate New York.  This property is part of the Barbets Duet partnership. Individuals in East Africa\, England and the USA are working with their own land and communities to learn how to manage land for environmental benefit while improving local livelihoods. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\nRegister Here URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/local-voices-local-media-the-struggle-for-clean-air-in-the-hudson-mohawk-region/ CATEGORIES:Panel Discussion,Screening ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/In-the-Shadows-of-Norlite_Catherine-Rafferty-scaled-1.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/local-voices-local-media-the-struggle-for-clean-air-in-the-hudson-mohawk-region/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210319T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210319T200000 DTSTAMP:20210419T031416Z CREATED:20210418T225738Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210419T031416Z UID:10001196-1616178600-1616184000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Dying with Dignity in New York DESCRIPTION:In the midst of unprecedented personal\, national and global oppression\, suffering and death\, how do we process loss to maintain hopeful connections?  The People’s Health Sanctuary has offered a 3-part series\, End-of-Life in the Age of Covid featuring conversations about our experiences of death\, end of life care\, and the creation of social and spiritual community during the pandemic. \n\n\n\nAs a result of COVID-19\, far too many New Yorkers have been forced to confront death\, spurring what used to be uncomfortable\, avoidable discussions about life and death issues among family and friends. What death looks like\, when it comes\, is something far too many of us now think about regularly yet many of us remain awkward about discussing.  \n\n\n\nAdvance care planning can help ensure that you get the care that you want at the end of life\, but terminally ill New Yorkers don’t have the full range of options that our neighbors in New Jersey and Vermont\, and 8 other US jurisdictions have: the right to medical aid in dying.  Nearly 20% of people living in the United States have access to this compassionate end-of-life care option\, which allows terminally ill\, mentally capable adults with six months or less to live to ask their doctor for a prescription they can take to avoid needless suffering and die peacefully on their own terms. \n\n\n\nParticipants will discuss what it means to have a “good death\,” explore what advance care planning means and what tools exist to help put those plans in place\, and learn about the option of medical aid in dying. \n\n\n\nThis event is part of the “End-of-Life in the Age of Covid” series of virtual conversations every 6 weeks presented by People’s Health Sanctuary.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCorinne Carey\, Esq. MODERATOR & presenterSenior State Director for New York & New Jersey\, Compassion & Choices \n\n\n\nCompassion & Choices is the nation’s oldest\, largest and most active nonprofit organization committed to improving care and expanding choice at the end of life. The organization works towards a society where people receive state-of-the-art care and a full range of choices for dying in comfort\, dignity and control. \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey joined Compassion & Choices as a Campaign Director in August 2015. She led the successful campaign for New Jersey’s Medical Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act\, which took effect on August 1\, 2019. \n\n\n\nCorinne joined C&C after nearly a decade with the New York Civil Liberties Union where she served as Deputy Legislative Director. At NYCLU\, she engaged in advocacy around a wide range of civil liberties issues\, concentrating on public health\, medical privacy\, discrimination\, drug law reform\, and reproductive rights issues. She led the campaign to pass a 10-point Women’s Equality Agenda as co-chair of the New York State Women’s Equality Coalition. All 10 points\, including strengthening equal pay laws and codifying Roe v. Wade into state statute\, have become law. \n\n\n\nPrior to her tenure at the NYCLU\, Corinne was a researcher with the U.S. Program at Human Rights Watch where she focused on access to public housing for people with criminal records\, punitive and ineffective sex offender registries\, and the treatment of prisoners during Hurricane Katrina. \n\n\n\nCorinne holds a masters degree in American Studies from the University at Buffalo\, and she graduated summa cum laude and first in her class from SUNY Buffalo School of Law in 1998. \n\n\n\nVolunteering as a political & public affairs correspondent for the Hudson Mohawk Magazine\, an evening radio show on WOOC 105.3 FM out of the Sanctuary for Independent Media in the capital region\, Corinne has produced more than 100 stories that can be heard on WOOC’s podcast. She lives in Troy\, New York. \n\n\n\nDonna SmithDiversity and Inclusion Advisor and State Director\, Compassion & Choices \n\n\n\nDonna Smith is an accomplished professional with over twenty years of experience in political consulting\, legislative advocacy\, public affairs\, policy and program management. \n\n\n\nDonna has been employed by Compassion and Choices (C&C) for 7 years.  She is the Diversity and Inclusion Advisor and  State Director  for DC and Maryland.  In this capacity she directs  C&C’s state-based strategy on how to integrate diversity\, equity and inclusion principles into the work\, helping to ensure build culturally competent programming from the outset. led the campaign to pass end of Death with Dignity legislation in both the District of Columbia (the legislation passed in Feb. 2017) and Maryland. \n\n\n\nDonna was the Chief of Policy and Community Programs for eight years at the Maryland Department of Aging. She led a team of program managers that implemented aging statewide programs for the aging and their caregivers.  She was also detailed to work on the White House Conference on Aging in as a public relations specialist. \n\n\n\nA graduate of Tuskegee University and George Washington Law School\, she has one son and resides in Laurel\, Md. \n\n\n\nDr. Mary Applegate \n\n\n\nDr. Mary Applegate is highly regarded nationally for her work in public health education and in maternal & infant health.  She served as a public health physician and medical director in Women’s Health at the New York State Department of Health (DOH) for 14 years\, followed by 15 years at the University at Albany School of Public Health as the Associate Dean for Public Health Practice. Dr. Applegate has been awarded statewide and national leadership awards in the fields of Preventive Medicine and Maternal & Child Health.  Her volunteer work with Compassion & Choices takes her to a different part of the life cycle\, but still emphasizes her belief in individual’s autonomy during this other universal life transition. \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT PEOPLE’S HEALTH SANCTUARY\n\n\n\nPeople’s Health Sanctuary‘s goal is to establish a central space to share health skills\, provide basic integrative care and explore ways to build networks of community health. We are celebrating a year of organizing around this project\, initiated under the organizing name Health Autonomy Clinic and after listening sessions with our surrounding community\, re-named People’s Health Sanctuary. Our goal is to embrace models of open sharing of health knowledge\, and empower all of the growing collective of community members to seek their independent health goals\, as opposed to the traditional\, hierarchical top-down approach of clinical medical practice. Though caring for our elders\, our children\, or cooking soul-nourishing food for family or friends may not be deemed ‘real’ healthcare\, they know that in fact\, it’s what holds us together and keeps us sane. Our growing network sharing skills to build a space where creative\, joyful health is possible and accessible. \n\n\n\nIn this current crisis\, we are more than even committed to the potential that People’s Health Sanctuary can offer.  Everyone it seems is struggling to keep up with the flood of information about the current crisis\, the ways those in power are forcing us back to a “normal\,” the over-reliance of the economy as a marker of anything lending towards health.  And then we have the horrific news from Georgia and Minneapolis\, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd\, a stark reminder of the crisis behind the crisis. COVID has only exacerbated the social oppression and disparities that mark the “normal” so many of the elites want to return to. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/dying-with-dignity-in-new-york/ CATEGORIES:Community Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/CompassionChoices_dcwebsite-281x258-1.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/dying-with-dignity-in-new-york/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210307T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210307T130000 DTSTAMP:20210712T163502Z CREATED:20210419T024651Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T163502Z UID:10001200-1615111200-1615122000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Tending the Urban Forest DESCRIPTION:Learn about the Collard City Growers foodscape and how to care for our arboreal family\, with professional arborists from the More Trees Cooperative. \n\n\n\n***As health experts project we will continue to social distance into 2021\, we’ll plan to wear masks.  \n\n\n\nTrees are amazing creatures. Like a fountain of life\, they provide nourishment\, habitat\, shelter\, materials\, flowers\, colors\, and oxygen. They perform essential services like purifying the air and water. And they do it all for free! Trees on the Sanctuary’s campus produce delicious fruits\, provide food for the chickens and protect them from predators\, help offset the heat island effect of pavement\, and look beautiful year round. Trees can thrive and propagate on their own\, but a little loving tending can make the symbiotic relationship even stronger. \n\n\n\nCollard City Growers is a volunteer-run food justice project where we connect arts and culture to growing a wealth of annuals and perennials including vegetables\, medicinal herbs\, natural dye plants\, grains\, and fruit trees. We share our homegrown harvest at neighborhood events that host hundreds of community members and passersby who come in search of nutrient dense food or “the best lettuce [they’ve] ever tasted.” During off-season\, we share our harvest in the form of preserved greens\, sauerkraut\, pickles\, and hot sauce. \n\n\n\n**Snow date: Sunday\, March 14th.** URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/tending-the-urban-forest/ LOCATION:Freedom Square\, 35 5th Ave\, Troy\, NY\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Workshop ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/collard-city-growers.jpg GEO:42.754030225802;-73.681172076926 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Freedom Square 35 5th Ave Troy NY 12180 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=35 5th Ave:geo:-73.681172076926,42.754030225802 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210227T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210227T130000 DTSTAMP:20230213T200530Z CREATED:20210430T215813Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T200530Z UID:10001217-1614423600-1614430800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Black History: Capital Region Youth Rise Up! DESCRIPTION:Exploring the minds of youth in the Black History that they are part of and continue to create. Learn from the voices and vision of our younger generations\, as they rise up to imagine a more just future! \n\n\n\nCLICK HERE TO REGISTER \n\n\n\nThis event builds upon last month’s Capital District MLK Holiday Labor and Community Celebration “Rise Up! The Struggle Continues…” event. Join us as youth share Black History “Influencers” with a focus including having a voice\, women\, film history\, LGBTQ and environmental justice. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPresenters include: Erika Diggs\, Asad Benbow\, Team H.E.R.O.\, Shades of Cocoa\, Angelo Domingo\, Water Justice Lab Fellows Shansanique Pollack\, Genesis Cooper\, Gabriella Espada Asad Benbow and Diamond Owens. Event organizing support from Shana Davis\, with Erika Diggs\, Willie Terry\, Jerry Ford\, Debra Garrett\, Melissa Bromley and Branda Miller. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by: TEAM Hero\,  Water Justice Lab\, Troy 4 Black Lives\, NAACP\, Capital District Chapter Coalition of Black Trade Unionist\, The Solidarity Committee of the Capital District and more! \n\n\n\nBios of participants \n\n\n\nGenesis Cooper\, a student at Lansingburgh High School\, is in advanced math and science programs\, and has been a high honors student since elementary school. Genesis is in various school clubs\, and works to help other organizations in her community.Working in WJL\, Genesis hopes to help her community understand more things about their own home that they don’t really know about\, like local economics\, environmental racism\, and local politics. \n\n\n\nGenesis Cooper’s main focus is to help and educate those around her by volunteering her time. She helps run the Justice4Dahmeek organization that was started by her father\, Massiah Cooper. They go around the city and hold events to educate the community on police brutality and inequality in America. Genesis is a Water Justice Lab fellow at The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, a collaboration with Riverkeeper. She has also volunteered her time at the Sanctuary\, and has been an Uptown Summer leader for the summers of 2019 and 2020. In 2019\, she ran the face painting table at the Spirit of the Suffragettes concert series and community resource fair at Freedom Square. She is thinking about attending Howard University and possibly becoming a teacher. Genesis has interests in many subjects including science and hope to educate the youth on many different topics about the world around them. \n\n\n\nAngelo Domingo is a senior student at Lansingburgh High School. He takes multiple advanced classes and has been on high honor roll for all of high school. Angelo participates in various school clubs and other programs outside of school. Angelo is very passionate about social justice and works frequently on projects with The Sanctuary For Independent Media to spread awareness about social issues. Ever since Angelo was in the Uptown Summer youth program in summer of 2018\, he’s been passionate about raising issues in social awareness. Angelo made a 3 part radio series on slumlords to raise awareness in his community. He even made a survey to hear personal experiences from the community. His time as an Uptown Summer youth member inspired him to keep pursuing activism and making his voice heard to help improve the lives of others. \n\n\n\nAngelo Domingo is currently working with the NYCLU Student Ambassador Program tackling issues for youth including comprehensive sex education and the school to prison pipeline. Angelo Is currently planning on going to college to pursue a degree in musical theater with hopes to minor in a field where he can work on tackling the social issues that he so deeply cares about. \n\n\n\nGabby Espada is a ninth grader at Lansingburgh High School. She is in advanced science and top of her math class as well. Gabby enjoys hands-on activities in science\, and she’s a very social and outgoing person. She strives for the best and is an extremely determined teen. Gabby likes having her voice heard and making a change. She does as much as possible in school such as: drama club\, soccer\, volleyball\, track and field\, basketball\, student council\, and tutoring. Gabby is a determined teen ready to take on anything that comes her way. \n\n\n\nGabby Espada is is a Water Justice Lab fellow at The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, a collaboration with Riverkeeper.  She has been involved in many movements including: Justice for Dahmeek\, suicide prevention movements\, and Dance for Donations\, She’s also worked with kids and animals. Gabby attends the STEP program at R.P.I. and takes architecture and coding there. In Dance for Donations she danced and taught others dances for donations for leukemia. She has experience working with people of all ages. \n\n\n\nDiamond Owens is a young poet\, and a member of TEAM H.E.R.O. \n\n\n\nShansanique Pollack is currently attending Lansingburgh High School and just graduated 9th grade year with high honors. She is also involved in her school’s advanced programs including advanced science\, advanced math\, and both Pre AP history and ELA.  As a WJL Fellow\, Shansanique is excited to deal with science that could also help the community learn more about what’s around them and help educate the community on what it can do to improve. \n\n\n\nThroughout her life\, Shansanique has always tried to improve the lives around me in any way possible and to help spread useful information. When she’s older Shansanique wants to be able to use her career to help people in any way possible. Shansanique is a Water Justice Lab fellow at The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, a collaboration with Riverkeeper. She’s hoping to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology for college and go into computer science\, hopefully using computers in new and exciting ways to change communities and people for the better. \n\n\n\nEstreja Turner is an Afro/Latino 12th grader of Shaker High School.  In 2017 Estreja was a part of the Black Student Union and in 2018-2019 she was a member of the Key Club. Estreja started liturgical dancing at 3 years old. She joined the Art In Motion Dance Academy (AMDA) in 2009 where she participated in Hip-Hop classes for a couple of years in 2011 Estreja moved into other dance genres i.e. Ballet\, Modern\, Jazz\, Tap\, Contemporary\, Musical Theatre and Technique. Estreja has been dancing competitively for a number of years. Estreja has been a Teacher Assistant AMDA for 5 years. Along with dancing Estreja has been an active in the community doing Get Out the Vote campaigns\, Literature Drops for the 2010 and 2020 US Census\, Black History Month Movie programs with the Capital District Chapter CBTU\, a member of the CBTU National & Regional Youth Conferences and Conventions since 2012. Estreja participated in the 2019 & 2020 Capital Region Human Rights Summer Synopsis Program and also volunteers at Life Church Albany working with children. Estreja will be attending college in the fall majoring in Dance and minoring in Psychology. Estreja’s dream is to work with young people to help them learn to use dance as a way of communicating. Estreja feels like often young people do not always know how to articulate their thoughts and emotions and that Dance Therapy is another form of effective communication for children. \n\n\n\nErika Dulcinia Diggs is a writer\, actress\, and production assistant. Erika has been a producer for the Media Sanctuary for Independent Media for two years now. Before her time at the Sanctuary\, she grew up in a small town. Erika is a mixed-race woman who never grew up seeing color\, being from an Italian and Caribbean background she was able to see different perspectives. Erika was not truly aware of the harsh injustices that happened to people of color on the daily. She wanted to find a way to help\, back in 2019 she stumbled into a young woman who told her she would be a perfect fit for the Sanctuary. Throughout the duration of her time here she learned how to engineer\, produce\, and edit interviews. Some of her biggest accomplishments are through her social justice work within the community with Homer Bosh Jr. She is a co moderator for this wonderful Black History: Capital Region Youth Rise Up Celebration because with everything that has happened this past year\, we still must remember that it is okay to bring light to our influential black leaders who fought for us to have a voice. \n\n\n\nAsad Benbow is a 17 year old filmmaker from Troy\, NY. He is a student at YouthFx. He mainly creates satires because that is what he is most interested in. \n\n\n\nHi my name is Justin Gilmore ll. I am 15. I’m a sophomore at Troy High School. Some hobbies I have is playing football and playing the keyboard. When I grow up I want to be in the NFL or have a good music career. I’m a member of Team HERO. \n\n\n\nMy name is Diamond Owens. I am an active member of my community. I am a college student. I am dedicated to bringing my peers and the adults around us together. I’m a member of Team HERO. \n\n\n\nMy name is Olivia Ford\, I’m a 6 year old first grader. I’m very energetic and have a love for soft and cuddly teddy bears and blankets. I love dancing\, singing and exploring all types of talents.I once won runner up for lil Miss Uncle Sam(received my first trophy too). I have two big brothers who look after me. I love giving back to my community by volunteering with my parents. \n\n\n\nMy name is Jeriyah Ford\, I’m a 14 year old 9th grader. I enjoy playing basketball\,video games music and making tik tok videos. \n\n\n\n“Black History Influencers” include: \n\n\n\nBlack History Environmental Justice Influencers \n\n\n\nLeah Thomas is an intersectional environmental activist and eco-communicator based in Southern California. She’s passionate about advocating for and exploring the relationship between social justice and environmentalism. You can follow her work on instagram @GreenGirlLeah.\n\n\n\nDr. Robert Bullard is the Father of Environmental Justice. He has been a leading campaigner against environmental racism\, as well as the foremost scholar of the problem\, and of the Environmental Justice Movement which sprung up in the United States in the 1980s.\n\n\n\nJohn H. Francis III (born 1946) John Francis is an American environmentalist nicknamed The Planetwalker. John Francis stopped travelling in cars and began walking wherever he went during the 1970s\, often travelling vast distances with a backpack and banjo.\n\n\n\nRue Mapp is the Founder and CEO of Outdoor Afro\, a national not-for-profit organization with offices in Oakland\, CA\, and Washington\, D.C. Rue oversees a carefully selected and trained national volunteer leadership team of nearly 90 men and women who represent 30 states around the US\, and shares opportunities to build a broader community and leadership in nature.\n\n\n\nBlack History Black Women “Influencers” \n\n\n\nCongresswoman Cori Bush is a registered nurse\, community activist\, organizer\, single mother\, and ordained pastor for the people of St. Louis. Congresswoman Bush is serving her first term as the representative of Missouri’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is the first Black woman and first nurse to represent Missouri; the first woman to represent Missouri’s 1st Congressional District; and the first activist from the movement fighting for Black lives elected to the United States Congress.\n\n\n\nSimone Leigh is a celebrated contemporary sculptor. Working in a variety of media that includes ceramic\, video\, installation\, and bronze\, her work explores issues of identity and race\, beauty\, and feminism. Her artworks frequently incorporate materials and forms traditionally associated with African art and the African diaspora\, while her performance-related installations often blend historical precedent with personal stories.\n\n\n\nBlack History Filmmaker Influencers \n\n\n\nRaymond Lawrence “Boots” Riley (born April 1\, 1971)\, is an American film director\, producer\, screenwriter\, rapper\, and communist activist. He is the lead vocalist of The Coup and Street Sweeper Social Club. He made his feature-film directorial debut with Sorry to Bother You (released July 2018)\, which he also wrote.\n\n\n\nBlack History LGBTQ Influencers \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGladys Bentley A gender-bending blues performer who became 1920s Harlem royalty. \n\n\n\nBayrad Rusin was an American civil rights activist\,a former adviser toMartin Luther King Jr. and a staunch advocate of gay rights\,\n\n\n\nMarsha P. Johnson was an activist\, self-identified drag queen\, performer\, and survivor. She was a prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969. Marsha went by “Black Marsha” before settling on Marsha P. Johnson. The “P” stood for “Pay It No Mind\,” which is what Marsha would say in response to questions about her gender. Marsha P. Johnson stood at the center of New York City’s gay liberation movement for nearly 25 years. Her body was found in the Hudson River in 1992. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/black-history-capital-region-youth-rise-up/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/s950551849721562186_p140_i2_w1269.jpeg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210209T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210209T203000 DTSTAMP:20220630T150500Z CREATED:20210210T035600Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220630T150500Z UID:10001190-1612897200-1612902600@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Clearing the Air in Coeymans: Community Forum on Clean Air vs. Tire Burning DESCRIPTION:Hold this date for the Coeymans Community Clean Air Forum! \n\n\n\nLafarge/Holcim wants to burn millions of tires every year at their Ravena cement plant opposite the Ravena Coeymans Selkirk middle and high schools on Route 9W.  In 2019\, the Town of Coeymans adopted a Clean Air Law to establish clean air standards for waste burning facilities. The law requires continuous monitoring of 19 serious pollutants\, and places other restrictions on burning by any facility. This law defends the public from emissions containing highly toxic dioxins\, sulfur\, lead particulates\, benzene\, carbon monoxide\, and more. \n\n\n\nOn November 19\, 2020 the new business-backed Town Board held a public hearing on their decision to amend the Town’s Clean Air Law . These amendments would strip the strong pollution protections in the law and pave the way for any business to burn massive amounts of tires and waste.  On November 23\, the Town Board unanimously passed the amendments after only one public hearing and very little notice to town residents struggling in the middle of a pandemic. \n\n\n\nAs a result\, the Town of Coeymans is now the only town within the County of Albany where hazardous waste and tires can be burned in spite of the Albany County Clean Air Law prohibitions. Since the amendments to the clean air law went into effect immediately\, Lafarge/Holcim can now add the burning of tires to the waste it is already burning in the town. \n\n\n\nAmong the issues to be discussed in this community forum\, moderated by WOOC 105.3 FM correspondent Corinne Carey\, include: \n\n\n\nOverview of LaFarge’s history as a polluterThe Albany County Clean Air Law\, Amendments to the Coeymans Clean Air Law\, and the Permissive ReferendumHealth threats of burning tires and waste for fuel vs. coal in cement kiln incineratorsLaFarge’s threats of job loss or even closing the plantCoeymans Town Board misrepresentations to votersWhy the DEC and EPA does not protect us\, using the Norlite hazardous waste incinerator in Cohoes as an exampleThere will be plenty of time for Q&A\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPANELISTS\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAttorney Carlo A.C. deOliveira is a Ravena resident. He is actively involved in the community’s Ravena Soccer Club Board and volunteers as a coach during the year and most recently with the Coeymans Clean Air Coalition. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatt Miller is a Selkirk Resident and Regents and AP Biology teacher in the Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Schools. He is serving his first term in the Albany County Legislature representing the 36th Legislative District\, Committee Assignments: Conservation\, Sustainability and Green Initiatives\, Health \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJane Williams is the Chair of the National Sierra Club Clean Air Team. She is an environmental policy expert with 30 years of policy and advocacy experience. She has extensive knowledge on incinerators. (Photo: Earth Justice) \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJoseph Ritchie is an environmental justice advocate and the Executive Director of Saratoga Sites Against Norlite Emissions. He is a student at Syracuse University studying Environmental Policy. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nModerator Corinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. She is a regular correspondent for WOOC 105.3 FM. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSponsored by the Coeymans Clean Air Coalition and the Hudson Mohawk Environmental Action Network. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/clearing-the-air-in-coeymans-community-forum-on-clean-air-vs-tire-burning/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/screenshot-cleanairalbanycounty.org-2021.01.22-19_09_21-300x168-1.png LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/clearing-the-air-in-coeymans-community-forum-on-clean-air-vs-tire-burning/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210205T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210205T200000 DTSTAMP:20210712T162751Z CREATED:20210419T025935Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T162751Z UID:10001202-1612549800-1612555200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Stretched Thin: The Grief of Traumatic Loss with Lisa Good/ Urban Grief DESCRIPTION:We are individually and collectively being bombarded with grief and traumatic losses. The repetitive losses and cumulative grief in conjunction with the social restrictions associated with COVID-19 have stretched social connections and relationships beyond capacity. \n\n\n\nIn our time together\, we will explore the overlapping aspects of trauma\, and grief and consider ways/next steps to build and reinforce our capacities for individual and collective care in our communities. \n\n\n\nClick here to register for this virtual event! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThis event is part of the “End-of-Life in the Age of Covid” series of virtual conversations every 6 weeks presented by People’s Health Sanctuary.  \n\n\n\nUrban Grief is trauma informed and healing centered 501(c)(3) community-based organization. Urban Grief responds to the traumatic impact of community violence\, death and loss through community education\, crisis response\, victim advocacy and grief support. Urban Grief provides relevant and relatable information about trauma\, grief\, self-care\, resiliency\, and victim services. UG acknowledges the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, along with chronic exposure to traumatic events\, and strives to avoid further re-traumatization. \n\n\n\nLisa Good\, MSW\, is founding the director of Urban Grief\, a trauma-informed community-based organization that educates on the effects of violence and supports those affected through outreach and victim advocacy. She is the former director of SNUG (formerly known as Cure Violence) and has over 25 years of human service experience. She is an experienced speaker and trainer\, facilitating trauma-informed workshops such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, and community events\, and faith-based workshops aimed at creating healing spaces and empowering community members through information about trauma\, grief\, and resilience. \n\n\n\nhttp://lisawgood.com/ \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT PEOPLE’S HEALTH SANCTUARY\n\n\n\nPeople’s Health Sanctuary‘s goal is to establish a central space to share health skills\, provide basic integrative care and explore ways to build networks of community health. We are celebrating a year of organizing around this project\, initiated under the organizing name Health Autonomy Clinic and after listening sessions with our surrounding community\, re-named People’s Health Sanctuary. Our goal is to embrace models of open sharing of health knowledge\, and empower all of the growing collective of community members to seek their independent health goals\, as opposed to the traditional\, hierarchical top-down approach of clinical medical practice. Though caring for our elders\, our children\, or cooking soul-nourishing food for family or friends may not be deemed ‘real’ healthcare\, they know that in fact\, it’s what holds us together and keeps us sane. Our growing network sharing skills to build a space where creative\, joyful health is possible and accessible. \n\n\n\nIn this current crisis\, we are more than even committed to the potential that People’s Health Sanctuary can offer.  Everyone it seems is struggling to keep up with the flood of information about the current crisis\, the ways those in power are forcing us back to a “normal\,” the over-reliance of the economy as a marker of anything lending towards health. And then we have the horrific news from Georgia and Minneapolis\, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd\, a stark reminder of the crisis behind the crisis. COVID has only exacerbated the social oppression and disparities that mark the “normal” so many of the elites want to return to.   \n\n\n\nPeople’s Health Sanctuary is a project of the Media Sanctuary. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/stretched-thin-the-grief-of-traumatic-loss-with-lisa-good-urban-grief/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Lisa-Good.png LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/stretched-thin-the-grief-of-traumatic-loss-with-lisa-good-urban-grief/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210118T110000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210118T130000 DTSTAMP:20230213T200903Z CREATED:20210430T210753Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T200903Z UID:10001216-1610967600-1610974800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:MLK Holiday Labor and Community Celebration: Rise Up! The Struggle Continues... DESCRIPTION:The theme of 2021’s twenty-second Capital District MLK Holiday Labor and Community Celebration was “Rise Up! The Struggle Continues…”  \n\n\n\nThe virtual event is over now\, but you can watch the video here soon.  \n\n\n\nWe saved the Zoom chat window so you can see it here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKey speakers were Charles Barron (Assembly member District 60)\, Dr. Ron Daniels (President\, Institute of the Black World 21st Century/IBW21) and Denise Berkley\, Executive Vice President CSEA. \n\n\n\nJerry Ford and Shana Davis were the MC’s\, with a guest appearance by musician Taina Asili.  The event featured local poets D. Colin\, Shania Jackson and Erika Diggs. Participants split up into “Break Out” thematic groups for intensive discussion and report backs! \n\n\n\n\nCommunity – Jerry Ford/ Team H.E.R.O. and Odell Winfield\n\n\n\nLabor – Sean Collins and Mark Emanation\n\n\n\nCulture- Taína Asili\n\n\n\nSystemic Racism – Renee Powell/NAACP\n\n\n\nNational/ International – Larry Wittner\n\n\n\nEnvironmental Justice – Alexis Goldsmith\n\n\n\nJustice Reform – Jamaica Miles/All of Us  and Amani Olugbala/ Troy 4 Black Lives +\n\n\n\nYouth/Education – Debra Garrett + Steve Fiqueroa/ YouthBuild\n\n\n\nEconomic Justice – H. Bosch Jr + Joe Paparone/ Poor People’s Campaign\n\n\n\nHealth Justice – People’s Health Sanctuary with Dr. Xavier Coughlin and Lisa Good/Urban Grief\n\n\n\n\nWould you or your organization like to participate next year? For more information\, call Willie Terry at (518) 369-4978 or (518) 272-2390. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMUSICIANS\n\n\n\nTaína Asili is a New York-based Puerto Rican singer\, filmmaker and activist carrying on the tradition of her ancestors\, fusing past and present struggles into one soulful and defiant voice. Her music combines powerful vocals carrying themes of hope and liberation with an energetic fusion of Afro-Latin\, reggae and rock. \n\n\n\nSPEAKERS\n\n\n\nDr. Ron Daniels is founder and president of the Institute of the Black World 21st Century (IBW21)\, a progressive\, African-centered\, action-oriented resource center dedicated to empowering people of African descent and marginalized communities. As the administrator for the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC)\, IBW21 has emerged as a leading organization within the U.S. and global reparations movements. \n\n\n\nCOMMUNITY\n\n\n\nAssemblymember Charles Barron has been fighting for human rights since 1969\, when he joined the Harlem branch of the Black Panther Party as an 18 year-old\,  A self-described “elected activist\,” he currently represents the 60th District in Brooklyn in the New York State Assembly. Formerly\, he represented Brooklyn’s 42nd District on the New York City Council from 2001 to 2013. \n\n\n\nLABOR\n\n\n\nDenise Berkley is Statewide Executive Vice President for the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)\, one of New York State’s largest worker unions. Her labor activism began in 1979\, working as a Mental Health Therapy Aide at the Brooklyn Developmental Center. Two years later she ran for president of her CSEA Local and won. She has worked to ensure working people have the power of a union behind them ever since.  \n\n\n\nMCs\n\n\n\nShana Davis has served as the  President of the Capital District Chapter Coalition of Black Trade Unionist since 2008 and a board member of the Capital District Area Labor Federation. An employee of the NYS Department Taxation & Finance for more than 30 years\, she has been a member of CSEA Tax Local 690 since 1989. She was elected as Treasurer of CSEA Capital Region IV in 2016\, CSEA Capital Region IV Executive Vice-President in 2020\, and the Chairperson of the CSEA Statewide Constitution & ByLaws Committee. \n\n\n\nDeacon Jerry Ford\, a husband\, father and leader; has seen his share of trauma and adversity. He lost his mother and father at a young age. He was raised by a loving aunt\, but found himself in the streets looking for the love he never received from his parents and eventually ended up in prison. After his 3rd prison stint\, he saw himself on a path toward life in prison or death. Finding strength in faith\,  Deacon Ford was able to make a 180 degree turn and now his story of resilience and hope is impacting communities across the nation. He started a nonprofit organization named Team H.E.R.O. standing for Helping Everyone Recognize Opportunities which focuses on youth mentoring\, character and leadership development and linking families to resources. He has been recognized both locally and nationally for his service to the community\, most notably winning  the Maytag Dependable Leader Award. \n\n\n\nPOETS\n\n\n\nD. Colin is a poet\, performer\, visual artist and educator living in Troy\, NY. She is the author of two poetry collections\, Dreaming in Kreyol and Said the Swing to the Hoop\, curates and hosts the weekly open mic Poetic Vibe\, and teaches workshops for schools ahd organizations. D. Colin has been involved with community theater since 2009\, writing and acting. \n\n\n\nShania Jackson is a local 4th grade teacher at School 2. She is the daughter of Eddie Jackson (passed) of Holy Serenity COGIC and Doris Jackson of United Ordained Church of Christ.Shania graduated with a Bachelors in Early Childhood/Childhood Education\, Concentration Black Studies\, Minor in Deaf Studies from SUNY New Paltz in 2018 and will be pursuing her masters shortly. \n\n\n\nGROUP MODERATORS\n\n\n\nOdell Winfield\, a retired Excelsior College faculty member\, is the founder and executive director of The A. J. Williams-Myers African Roots Community Center Library at 43 Gill Street in Kingston. It is a resource stocked with books and other learning materials focusing on the roots of African and African-American history and culture. \n\n\n\nH. Bosch Jr. is Hudson Mohawk Magazine producer of “The Triple E’s: Education\, Entrepreneurship and Empowerment\,” and an “Overcoming Adversity Specialist.” \n\n\n\nLisa Good\, MSW\, is founding the director of Urban Grief\, a trauma-informed community-based organization that educates on the effects of violence and supports those affected through outreach and victim advocacy. The former director of SNUG (formerly known as Cure Violence)\, she has over 25 years of human service experience. She facilitates trauma-informed workshops such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, and community events\, and faith-based workshops aimed at creating healing spaces and empowering community members through information about trauma\, grief\, and resilience. \n\n\n\nDr. Xavier Coughlin\, MD is works as an ER physician at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield and Samaritan Hospital in Troy. As “People’s Health Sanctuary” Coordinator\, Coughlin is excited to build on the generations of strong communities in the Capital Region and to foster health autonomy as a liberatory practice. \n\n\n\nJamaica Miles\, co-founder of All of Us\, is a seasoned comm. All of Us seeks to break down the subdivisions of Black and Latinx culture to unite and fully empower the greater community. \n\n\n\nDebra Garrett is originally from Brooklyn\, NY\, she is a mother of 4\, a former Council member for district 2 in the city of Troy. Debra is currently completing a dual degree in Health Science at Excelsior College. Debra is a member of the Nation Parents Union\, and she Co- chairs the Advocacy group for NYS Character Parent Council. She is the founder of Shades of Cocoa\, to support parents with education concerns and creating a sisterhood for young black and brown girls.  \n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT COMMUNITY PARTNERS\n\n\n\nThe Solidarity Committee of the Capital District\n\n\n\nThe Greyhound Strikers Solidarity Committee of the Capital District was created by Albany\, New York-area labor union activists who supported the autumn 1983 Amalgamated Transit Union strike against Greyhound Bus Lines. After the strike ended\, the organization was reconstituted as the Solidarity Committee of the Capital District. \n\n\n\nThe Solidarity Committee of the Capital District’s mission is “to promote solidarity and understanding of the labor movement\, through educating and organizing in times of need.” Its founders envisioned an organization that would organize and support strikes\, protest closures of manufacturing plants\, aid unemployed workers\, lobby for political and economic reform\, and organize non-union workers. Their vision continues to guide activities through the present day. \n\n\n\nTeam H.E.R.O./ The Block Center\n\n\n\nWe want to empower communities to improve the quality of life for young people and their families. We develop and implement programs to support youth making the transition from childhood to adulthood. We utilize a relationships first model\, prioritizing human connections rather than focusing on perceived problems; our strategies are long-term and built around the strengths and needs of people who make up the communities we serve. \n\n\n\nOur Programs: The Block Center is a positive youth development program for young people ages 11-17 living in the Troy\, NY area. Founded in 2015 in partnership with the Troy Boys and Girls Club\, the program connects caring adult mentors with young people for educational groups\, character-building activities\, field trips\, and more.Weekly sessions are held every Tuesday from 6:00-8: 00 PM. Learn more at https://theblockcentertroy.com/ \n\n\n\nAll of Us is a Black-led grassroots community organization fighting for Black Liberation and an end to all forms of racism\, oppression and exploitation. We are committed to a strategy that prioritizes the voices of the marginalized in localities across the Greater Capital Region of New York\, building toward change within New York State as a whole. All Of Us makes space for conversations that unite people across differences\, invests in the leadership development of local communities\, especially of its youth\, and works in coalition with other groups and organizations. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nUrban Grief is trauma informed and healing centered 501(c)(3) community-based organization. Urban Grief responds to the traumatic impact of community violence\, death and loss through community education\, crisis response\, victim advocacy and grief support. Urban Grief provides relevant and relatable information about trauma\, grief\, self-care\, resiliency\, and victim services. UG acknowledges the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, along with chronic exposure to traumatic events\, and strives to avoid further re-traumatization. \n\n\n\nNATURE Lab People’s Health Sanctuary \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs part of the Sanctuary for Independent Media’s growing NATURE LAB Urban Environmental Center\, a collective of care workers and organizers are working to establish a central space in Troy to share health skills\, provide basic integrative care and explore ways to build networks of community health. Though caring for our elders\, our children\, or cooking soul-nourishing food for family or friends may not be deemed ‘real’ healthcare\, we know that in fact\, it’s what holds us together and keeps us sane. Let’s bring our skills together to build a space where creative\, joyful health is possible and accessible! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by:\n\n\n\nThe Solidarity Committee of the Capital DistrictTeam H.E.R.O/ The Block CenterSave the Pine BushCapital District Coalition Against IslamaphobiaUnderground Railroad Education CenterPoor People’s CampaignTroy 4 Black LivesAll of UsWater Justice Lab URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/mlk-holiday-labor-and-community-celebration-rise-up-the-struggle-continues/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Panel Discussion ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/MLK-Event.jpg LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/mlk-holiday-labor-and-community-celebration-rise-up-the-struggle-continues/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210117T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210401T070000 DTSTAMP:20210712T162307Z CREATED:20210418T230040Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210712T162307Z UID:10001198-1610884800-1617260400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Memorial Altar: “Emerging from Darkness” DESCRIPTION:An installation to honor personal\, community\, national and global loss\n\n\n\nWe welcome you to visit Freedom Square\, at the corner of 101st St. (where 6th Ave. turns into 5th Ave.) in socially distanced and masked groups of 10 or less\, any time(s) between 1/17-1/20\, to add the names of your beloved dead and/or leave offerings on the Altar in their honor. Please come with your hearts open\, make sure to wear your mask and let’s love each other via this community Altar space. This too is a form of resistance and protest!! \n\n\n\nCheck out this latest television story! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAs we continue working to create the more just and equitable world we know is possible\, we recognize the deep need to grieve collectively.  Join us  as we transform Freedom Square to create a community space to express grief\, loss\, generosity and resilience. This participatory installation began in conjunction with our MLK day event “Rise Up: The Struggle Continues…”  and the Nationwide Covid Memorial (1/19/21 at 5:30 pm) for those who have died of Covid\, and is being continued because of popular demand. Community participants continue to visit the altar\, leave messages\, honor loved ones\, and share gifts of food (wrapped for safety) and clothing. \n\n\n\nThe installation includes an Altar for our Ancestors Known and Unknown and for all those who have died longing for justice and freedom.  Stop by to Say their Names\, Share their/your Stories\, Honor your Ancestors/Beloved Dead. Remember to visit in socially distanced and masked groups of 10 or less\,  to add the names of your beloved dead and/or leave offerings on the Altar in their honor.* \n\n\n\n*Altars are sacred spaces formed with intention. A few ideas of what to place on an Altar include: \n\n\n\n      Prayers & wishes      Natural materials (rocks\, leaves\, flowers\, water\, dirt from your motherland)      Pictures (copies are suggested to minimize loss of original precious mementos)      Art\, poetry\, songs\, letters (consider weather-proofing or bring messages and names to write on our flags)      Some BIPOC cultures offer food/ fruits/bread/liquor/tobacco\n\n\n\n(Please individually wrap offerings for safety. Recognizing the reality/impact of addiction\, please leave only small amounts of alcohol.) \n\n\n\nWe would deeply appreciate support of this community altar! \n\n\n\nContact us if you’d like to volunteer or contribute in any way. \n\n\n\nPlease recognize that as you come in and out the area of Freedom Square\, know that many of our neighbors have and continue to experience over-policing and gun violence and might even feel a sense of shame or dissonance from such a visible community holding space. We ask that each of you respect the right of our neighbors to stop and stare\, to ask questions and engage or simply walk by. Regardless\, this is a vibrant and beautiful community\, so please come with your hearts open\, make sure to wear your mask and let us love on each other via this community altar space. This too is a form of resistance and protest! In the honoring is the healing. \n\n\n\n*For many of us\, these times have been challenging\, reminding us of loved ones who are absent and reinforcing experiences of social and economic marginality amidst a culture of consumption.  This was particularly true in 2020\, a year of unbearable loss amplified by COVID\, the state sanctioned killings of Black bodies globally\, the climate crisis and most recently\, insurrection in our Capitol. Let us make space and honor our right to grieve collectively. \n\n\n\nAltar for the Ancestors\, original creation by Nancy Weber. \n\n\n\nCo-created by the People’s Health Sanctuary program of NATURE Lab\, Media Sanctuary. \n\n\n\nCo-sponsored by Urban Grief\, Troy 4 Black Lives\, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists Capital District\, NAACP\, North Central Little League\, Team H.E.R.O.\, Troy Bike Rescue and NATURE Lab’s People’s Health Sanctuary. \n\n\n\nCheck out this tv story\, 2/22/21https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2021/02/21/freedom-square-installation-bringing-community-together URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/memorial-altar-emerging-from-darkness/ LOCATION:Freedom Square\, 35 5th Ave\, Troy\, NY\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Screen-Shot-2021-01-14-at-23.45.04.png GEO:42.754030225802;-73.681172076926 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Freedom Square 35 5th Ave Troy NY 12180 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=35 5th Ave:geo:-73.681172076926,42.754030225802 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201211T210000 DTSTAMP:20210419T031310Z CREATED:20210419T031309Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210419T031310Z UID:10001205-1607713200-1607720400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Water Justice: Echoes from Lock One DESCRIPTION:Register for either/both days of this event here! \n\n\n\nWater Justice Lab in North Troy\, NY hosts “confluence” virtual gatherings with youth environmental justice advocates throughout communities in the Hudson River Watershed. \n\n\n\nThe opening evening features a land acknowledgement of the Stockbridge Munsee Community by Heather Bruegl\, before the premiere of the water justice documentary “Echoes from Lock One\,” a participatory youth production.  \n\n\n\nThe screening is followed by followed by an open dialogue\, “What is Water and Environmental Justice?\,” facilitated by environmental justice mentors  Heather Bruegl and youth educator Meghan Marohn\, with participating youth groups\, Water Justice Lab (Troy\, NY)\, Kingston YMCA Farm Project (Kingston\, NY) and Groundwork Hudson Valley (Yonkers\, NY).  The evening will end with a collective performance of “Stay Woke” with Jayohcee\, and a special visit from hip hop artist Xiuhtezcatl!  \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEchoes From Lock One – Trailer from Catherine Rafferty on Vimeo. \n\n\n\nAbout Echoes from Lock One \n\n\n\nNorth Troy teens spent five weeks with Media Sanctuary creating a multimedia documentary on water justice and the legacy of the Erie Canal in one of NY’s most economically challenged and environmentally devastated neighborhoods. \n\n\n\nEnvironmental Justice Mentor \n\n\n\nHeather Bruegl is the Director of Cultural Affairs for the Stockbridge Munsee Community. The mission of the Cultural Affairs Department is to protect\, preserve and tell the history of the Stockbridge Munsee Band of the Mohican Indians. We do this through the archives at the Arvid E. Miller Memorial Library and Museum\, protection of our ancestral lands through Historic Preservation\, and revitalization of our Language. She is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin\, is a graduate of Madonna University in Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in U.S. History. Inspired by a trip to Wounded Knee\, South Dakota\, a passion for Native American History was born. She has spoken for numerous groups including the University of Michigan\, College of the Menominee Nation\, Shawano County Historical Society\, the Kenosha Civil War Museum\, Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohicans\, and the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. She has spoken at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for Indigenous Peoples Day 2017. Heather also opened up and spoke at the Women’s March Anniversary in Lansing\, Michigan in January 2018. She also spoke at the first ever Indigenous Peoples March in Washington\, DC in January of 2019. Summer 2019\, she spoke at the Crazy Horse Memorial and Museum in Custer\, South Dakota for their Talking Circle Series. She has also become the ‘’accidental activist’’ and speaks to different groups about intergenerational racism and trauma and helps to bring awareness to our environment\, the fight for clean water and other issues in the Native community. A curiosity of her own heritage lead her to Wisconsin\, where she has researched the history of the Native American tribes in the area. In addition to that she also currently travels and speaks on Native American history\, including policy and activism.\n\n\n\nHip Hop Artists \n\n\n\nXiuhtezcatl!  Martinez\, Earth Guardians Youth Director Xiuhtezcatl Martinez\, (his first name pronounced ‘Shoe-Tez-Caht’) recently turned 18. He’s an indigenous climate activist\, hip-hop artist\, and powerful voice on the front lines of a global youth-led environmental movement.\n\n\n\nRecently named TIMES Next 100\, Xiuhtezcatl has felt called to change the narrative on what it means to be an activist since an early age. Still a teenager\, X has spoken multiple times a the UN\, addressing the General Assembly and spoken on panels with the likes of Bernie Sanders\, Van Jones\, Shailene Woodley\, Bill Mckibbens and Pharrell Williams. \n\n\n\nXiuhtezcatl has a unique talent for connecting people through popular culture and sharing the message of his indigenous roots to better serve the planet and reimagine the future for his generation. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJayohcee\, also known as Corey Jocko is an hip hop artist\, activist\, and a First Nations Mohawk Warrior. Jayohcee is featured in Echoes from Lock One teaching youth how to write and perform a song through hip hop “for their multimedia documentary and performing his Standing Rock song\, “Stay Woke.\n\n\n\nPARTICIPATING YOUTH GROUPS \n\n\n\nWater Justice Lab\n\n\n\nThe Water Justice Lab fellows are taking a leadership role organizing and leading the Water Justice Confluence. This youth science mentorship program is a project of Media Sanctuary’s NATURE (North Troy Art Technology and Urban Research in Ecology) Lab Environmental Education Center and Riverkeeper. The project will establish a water quality sampling lab\, educate diverse communities about water literacy and water civics (water issues and how to make a difference)\, develop the advocacy capacity of the North Troy area\, and strengthen a network of environmental justice advocates focused on water issues in the Hudson River Watershed. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Kingston YMCA Farm Project\n\n\n\nThe Kingston YMCA Farm Project’s mission is to educate\, nourish and connect the Kingston community with our urban farm. Our vision is to use the farm as a way to engage young people in the magical and empowering process that is food production. Children and youth are involved in all aspects of food production and farm care: seeding\, transplanting\, watering\, weeding\, harvesting\, and ultimately preparing and eating. We have farm stands on Tuesdays and Wednesdays\, where we make our produce as accessible as possible to our community. Participants learn how to turn the vegetables they grow into healthy snacks and dishes. \n\n\n\nWe are committed to racial and economic justice and we are working to create a more equitable food system for all. As we do this\, we find different ways for our youth to make change in our community. We have recently started having a Book Club this summer. Since then\, we have read Stamped the Remix by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi; as well as How to be an Anti-racist by Ibram X. Kendi. The crew has also done things such as sent letters to elected officials\, installed a Say Their Names memorial\, painted two utility boxes with antiracist messages\, initiated a county-wide Sojourner Truth Day\, and more. \n\n\n\nThe Kingston YMCA Summer Youth Crew wrote and created a video called Truth Talk.  Truth Talk focuses on what they learned about our history and how to be an anti-racist agent of change. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGroundwork Hudson Valley creates sustainable environmental change in urban neighborhoods through community-based partnerships that promote equity\, youth leadership\, and economic opportunity. \n\n\n\nThe Green Team program hires local teenagers enrolled in the Yonkers Public School system for environmental jobs – for many\, their first real job. The program focuses on leadership\, group dynamics\, and a variety of conservation and construction skills. This hard work is tempered with amazing adventures\, like hiking\, camping\, and swimming. \n\n\n\n\nhttps://youtu.be/fxNvLj9u5Qw\n\n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT WATER JUSTICE LAB \n\n\n\nOrganized and hosted by Water Justice Lab\, a new project of Media Sanctuary’s NATURE (North Troy Art Technology and Urban Research in Ecology) Lab Environmental Education Center and Riverkeeper. The project will establish a water quality sampling lab\, educate diverse communities about water literacy and water civics (water issues and how to make a difference)\, develop the advocacy capacity of the North Troy area\, and strengthen a network of environmental justice advocates focused on water issues in the Hudson River Watershed. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/water-justice-echoes-from-lock-one/ CATEGORIES:Performance,Screening LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/water-justice-echoes-from-lock-one/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201204T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201204T200000 DTSTAMP:20210419T030510Z CREATED:20210419T030509Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210419T030510Z UID:10001204-1607106600-1607112000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:People’s Health Sanctuary presents: End-of-Life in the Age of Covid DESCRIPTION:In the midst of unprecedented personal\, national and global oppression\, suffering and death\, how do we process loss to maintain hopeful connections? End-of-Life in the Age of Covid features conversations about our experiences of death\, end of life care\, and the creation of social and spiritual community during the pandemic. How do we honor the memory and voices of the dying? How can our grief inform and inspire us to create a new world that is inclusive\, and responsive to the needs of marginalized populations most hard hit by Covid?  \n\n\n\nJoin us for an initial conversation to process our personal and collective grief and loss. \n\n\n\nModerator: Corinne Carey \n\n\n\nPanelists: \n\n\n\nMarne Lucas\, artist and end of life doulaUrban Grief\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBIOS \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a political & public affairs strategist taking on bold public health initiatives backed by sound evidence & human rights. Carey is the campaign director of Compassion & Choices New York. Compassion & Choices improves care\, expands options and empowers everyone to chart their end-of-life journey. \n\n\n\nCompassion & Choices’ award-winning video features the groundbreaking filmmaker Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. “My cancer is incurable … I will reach a very debilitated state\,” she says in the video\, in which she notes that she suffered through more than 100 chemo treatments for ovarian cancer over 12 years before entering hospice in late 2018. “I would so much like to be able to manage my own death by choosing the time and the person I’d like to have with me so that I can die in comfort and with compassion and not in pain and morphine-drugged.” Hammer died on March 16\, 2019\, at age 79 in her Manhattan home without access to this gently dying option. In February\, Oscars in Memoriam honored her for her legacy as an experimental filmmaker. Watch the entire award-winning video of Barbara Hammer urging New York lawmakers to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. \n\n\n\nCorinne Carey is a radio producer with Hudson Mohawk Magazine on WOOC 105.3 FM.  \n\n\n\nMarne LucasMarne is an artist and end of life doula. As a multidisciplinary artist her work investigates social justice related projects such as Bardo ∞ Project\, an ongoing exploration of creativity as a form of spiritual end of life care\, and video installations using infrared imaging technology to reference surveillance culture and the fragility of human existence. She is in-training at Parker Jewish Institute to be an INELDA certified end-of-life doula\, and currently serves as a client board member at URAM\, a Harlem United health agency. \n\n\n\nUrban Grief \n\n\n\nLisa Good\, MSW\, is founding the director of Urban Grief\, a trauma-informed community-based organization that educates on the effects of violence and supports those affected through outreach and victim advocacy. She is the former director of SNUG (formerly known as Cure Violence) and has over 25 years of human service experience. She is an experienced speaker and trainer\, facilitating trauma-informed workshops such as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, and community events\, and faith-based workshops aimed at creating healing spaces and empowering community members through information about trauma\, grief\, and resilience. \n\n\n\nhttp://lisawgood.com/ \n\n\n\nUrban Grief is trauma informed and healing centered 501(c)(3) community-based organization. Urban Grief responds to the traumatic impact of community violence\, death and loss through community education\, crisis response\, victim advocacy and grief support. Urban Grief provides relevant and relatable information about trauma\, grief\, self-care\, resiliency\, and victim services. UG acknowledges the prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)\, along with chronic exposure to traumatic events\, and strives to avoid further re-traumatization. \n\n\n\nEnd-of-Life in the Age of COVID organizing team \n\n\n\nDr. Xavier Coughlin\, Kathy High\, Corinne Carey\, Nancy Weber\, Branda Miller \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE’S HEALTH SANCTUARY\n\n\n\nThe People’s Health Sanctuary‘s goal is to establish a central space to share health skills\, provide basic integrative care and explore ways to build networks of community health. We are celebrating a year of organizing around this project\, initiated under the organizing name Health Autonomy Clinic and after listening sessions with our surrounding community\, re-named People’s Health Sanctuary. Our goal is to embrace models of open sharing of health knowledge\, and empower all of the growing collective of community members to seek their independent health goals\, as opposed to the traditional\, hierarchical top-down approach of clinical medical practice. Though caring for our elders\, our children\, or cooking soul-nourishing food for family or friends may not be deemed ‘real’ healthcare\, they know that in fact\, it’s what holds us together and keeps us sane. Our growing network sharing skills to build a space where creative\, joyful health is possible and accessible. \n\n\n\nIn this current crisis\, we are more than even committed to the potential that People’s Health Sanctuary can offer.  Everyone it seems is struggling to keep up with the flood of information about the current crisis\, the ways those in power are forcing us back to a “normal\,” the over-reliance of the economy as a marker of anything lending towards health.  And then we have the horrific news from Georgia and Minneapolis\, the killings of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd\, a stark reminder of the crisis behind the crisis. COVID has only exacerbated the social oppression and disparities that mark the “normal” so many of the elites want to return to.   URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/peoples-health-sanctuary-presents-end-of-life-in-the-age-of-covid/ CATEGORIES:Community Event,Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Death_Doula_Marne_Lucas_gold_Ring_skull_Screen-Shot-2019-02-27-at-2.09.51-PM.png LOCATION:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/peoples-health-sanctuary-presents-end-of-life-in-the-age-of-covid/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20201020T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20201120T235959 DTSTAMP:20210418T225054Z CREATED:20210418T225053Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210418T225054Z UID:10001195-1603152000-1605916799@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Lawn (Re)Disturbance Laboratory Sound Walk DESCRIPTION:Unearthing to Rewild\, Remember\, Look Forward\n\n\n\nWhat kind of biodiversity can lawn ecosystems support? This fall\, Lawn Lab offers a meditative audio tour for slowing down and tuning in to the urban rewilding taking place at the lawn next door to Media Sanctuary’s Collard City Growers. \n\n\n\nThe twenty minute audio tour guides you through simple activities for engaging with Lawn Lab’s six experimental plots before they go dormant for the winter. What was here before? What might be here in the future? How should humans—you\, me\, this community?—shape the urban habitat \n\n\n\n??????? \n\n\n\nOur FALL AUDIO TOUR for the 3333 Sixth Avenue plots is live! Break the (phyto)social distance before the plants sleep for the winter. Learn more here. For additional info\, contact artist Ellie Irons at When you complete the tour\, please send your plant portraits\, mailing address\, and any comments to ellieirons@gmail.com. \n\n\n\nABOUT \n\n\n\nThe Lawn (Re)Disturbance Laboratory is an ongoing art-science experiment now in its third season. A project of the NEXT EPOCH SEED LIBRARY\, it involves re-wilding interventions in institutional and residential lawns from seeds lying dormant in the soil. From plant-based sculptures and community science workshops to novel approaches to data collection and presentation\, the project offers multiple entry points through which to consider lawn habitats and their impacts on the communities—human and nonhuman—who live in and among them. \n\n\n\nSeason 1 (2018) took place in institutional and residential lawns throughout the city of Troy\, NY. Season 2 (2019) took place at Wheaton College in Massachusetts and Seton Hall University in New Jersey. The 2020 season was planned for plots at RPI\, The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, and Radix Sustainability Center. It has been scaled back due to the pandemic\, to six plots in a lawn near The Sanctuary for Independent Media in North Central Troy. \n\n\n\nFollow project progress at #lawnredisturbancelaboratory. City Lab wrote about the project in September 2019: Uncovering the Seeds of a Post-Lawn Future. In August 2020\, Media+Environment’s “Mediating Art and Science” Stream published Ellie’s article about the project’s first season: The Next Epoch Seed Library’s Lawn Lab: A Public Experiment in Collaboration with Seeds\, Time\, and Weeds. Also in August 2020\, Ellie presented the project with a 5 minute lightening talk for the Ecological Society of America’s annual conference. \n\n\n\nEllie Irons is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn and Troy\, New York. She works in a variety of media\, from video to workshops to re-wilding experiments\, to reveal how human and more-than-human lives intertwine with other earth systems. Her recent work focuses on plants\, people and urban ecosystems in the so-called Anthropocene. She is a cofounder of the Next Epoch Seed Library and the Environmental Performance Agency. Irons received her BA from Scripps College in Los Angeles and her MFA from Hunter College\, CUNY in New York. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute\, where she is researching the intersection of socially engaged art\, community science\, and urban ecology as a means for envisioning and enacting multispecies solidarity in the face of climate chaos. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/lawn-redisturbance-laboratory-sound-walk/ END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20190608T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20190608T180000 DTSTAMP:20220518T144837Z CREATED:20190608T200300Z LAST-MODIFIED:20220518T144837Z UID:10001152-1560006000-1560016800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Freedom Festival with SA-ROC and Fay Victor's Mutations for Justice DESCRIPTION:SPIRIT OF THE SUFFRAGETTES LAUNCH!\n\n\n\nThe seventh annual end of the season festivities of free food\, art and music\, featuring a special performance by Fay Victor and Mutations for Justice to launch our Spirit of the Suffragettes concert series! \n\n\n\nFreedom Festival is free. Free music\, free food\, free art activities. At Freedom Square – 101st Street where 5th and 6th Avenues meet – in North Troy. Rain location is The Sanctuary for Independent Media\, nearby at 3361 6th Avenue. \n\n\n\nThe Spirit of the Suffragettes Summer Festival presents… \n\n\n\nSA-ROC & FAY VICTOR’s MUTATIONS FOR JUSTICE\n\n\n\nPerforming in Freedom Square on June 8th during the Freedom Festival\, join us for the opening concert of the Spirit of the Suffragettes Summer Festival and Community Resource Fair! \n\n\n\nSa-Roc will be performing from 3:15PM to 4:30PM\, and Fay Victor ‘s Mutations for Justice will be performing from 4:45PM to 6PM. \n\n\n\nACTIVITIES INCLUDE\n\n\n\nMusic with Sa-Roc and Fay Victor’s Mutations for JusticeLaunch of Spirit of the Suffragettes concert series and Women’s Resource FairFree hyper-locally sourced food from our Collard City Growers’ garden down the block and Denison Farms\, with food from Unity House kitchens Bike giveaway courtesy of our 6th Avenue neighbors\, Troy Bike RescueArts n’ crafting tableCollard City Growers workshop: Getting Grounded: Transplanting Party with Collard City GrowersCommunity resource tablesand much much more!\n\n\n\nCheck out the video below to see our featured acts perform: \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nABOUT SA-ROC\n\n\n\nSa-Roc is otherworldly-figuratively and literally. Since appearing on to the hip-hop scene in 2008\, she has upended conventional narratives within the genre\, her fiery lyrics peppered with themes of spiritual evolution\, social injustice\, and messages of empowerment. \n\n\n\nAn ardent student of the culture\, she has crafted\, alongside legendary Atlantan producer Sol Messiah\, a fresh sound dubbed God Hop. Melding the raw energy and classical precision of the golden era of hip-hop with a lyrical ingenuity and consciousness that sets her light years ahead of her musical peers\, Sa-Roc has quickly grabbed the attention of many of hiphop’s established luminaries. \n\n\n\nSOCIAL \n\n\n\n​website |Facebook | Twitter | Instagram \n\n\n\nABOUT FAY VICTOR\n\n\n\nOver a 20 year span\, Victor has released 9 albums as a leader to critical acclaim as well as seminal sideperson projects with leaders such as Anthony Braxton\, Roswell Rudd\, Nicole Mitchell\, William Parker and Marc Ribot. Victor’s most recent release as a leader is ​Wet Robots (ESP Disk\, July 2018) with her latest group\, SoundNoiseFUNK\, featuring Joe Morris (guitar)\, Sam Newsome (sop. saxophone) & Reggie Nicholson (drums).  \n\n\n\nVictor was the 2017 Herb Albert/Yaddo Fellow in Music Composition where she composed ​Faith\, The Gift ​- a piece in tribute to the life of her mother\, Faith E.S.Victor. In addition to ​Wet Robots\,​ Victor also appears on Nicole Mitchell’s M​aroon Cloud(FPERecords\, August2018) recording and Marc Ribot’s ​Songs of Resistance 1942-2018 (ANTI-records\, September 2018) featuring Victor as well as guest vocalists Tom Waits\, Steve Earle and ​Meshell Ndegeocello among others. ​Victor is a music educator and vocal specialist of the highest order\, giving clinics and workshops at home in New York City and around the world. \n\n\n\nSOCIAL \n\n\n\n​website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram \n\n\n\nABOUT MUTATIONS FOR JUSTICE\n\n\n\nMutations for Justice is a rolling diary of the Trump administration using small compositional mantras or ‘memes’. The minimalist framework is built on repetition and developed through improvisation. Chanting protest music as a mutable entity to change how we see. \n\n\n\nConception\, words & music written by Fay Victor. The culmination of Mutations For Justice will be a recording project of 45 pieces in 2020. \n\n\n\nSome of the subjects covered in Mutations for Justice pieces are on immigration\, gun violence\, Stormy Daniels\, poverty\, race\, the economy and creative license. \n\n\n\nMembers: Fay Victor voice and composer\, Jaimie Branch trumpet\, Mazz Swift violin\, Sean Conly double bass\, Michael Vatcher drums \n\n\n\nABOUT SPIRIT OF THE SUFFRAGETTESThe Spirit of the Suffragettes is an 8-week summer concert series and Women’s Resource Fair celebrating the history of these radical historical activists through an updated and more racially/economically inclusive lens. We’re presenting female and gender non-conforming musicians (predominantly women of color) alongside a resource fair highlighting the organizations and opportunities that support women and families in our extremely low-wealth neighborhood. Learn more about the series and the supporters URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/freedom-festival-with-sa-roc-and-fay-victors-mutations-for-justice-spirit-of-the-suffragettes-launch/ LOCATION:Freedom Square\, 35 5th Ave\, Troy\, NY\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Performance ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2019SoS-FayVictorSa-Roc.jpg GEO:42.754030225802;-73.681172076926 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=Freedom Square 35 5th Ave Troy NY 12180 United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=500;X-TITLE=35 5th Ave:geo:-73.681172076926,42.754030225802 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR