BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//The Sanctuary For Independent Media - ECPv6.17.1//NONSGML v1.0//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH X-WR-CALNAME:The Sanctuary For Independent Media 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: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:20211019T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211019T203000 DTSTAMP:20250212T182953Z CREATED:20211019T200100Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T182953Z UID:10001027-1634670000-1634675400@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Chris Hedges: "Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison" DESCRIPTION:In this virtual talk\, activist author Chris Hedges speaks about his new book\, “Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison\,” on the occasion of its release by publisher Simon & Schuster. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHedges has taught courses in drama\, literature\, philosophy\, and history since 2013 in the college degree program offered by Rutgers University at East Jersey State Prison and other New Jersey prisons. In his first class at East Jersey State Prison\, where students read and discussed plays by Amiri Baraka and August Wilson\, among others\, his class set out to write a play of their own. In writing the play\, Caged\, which would run for a month in 2018 to sold-out audiences at The Passage Theatre in Trenton\, New Jersey\, and later be published\, students gave words to the grief and suffering they and their families have endured\, as well as to their hopes and dreams. The class’s artistic and personal discovery\, as well as transformation\, is chronicled in heart-breaking detail in Our Class. This book gives a human face and a voice to those our society too often demonizes and abandons. It exposes the terrible crucible and injustice of America’s penal system and the struggle by those trapped within its embrace to live lives of dignity\, meaning\, and purpose. \n\n\n\nFind videos of Chris Hedges’s previous visits to the Sanctuary on Sanctuary TV. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nChris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who was a foreign correspondent and bureau chief in the Middle East and the Balkans for fifteen years for The New York Times. He previously worked overseas for The Dallas Morning News\, The Christian Science Monitor\, and NPR. He is host of the Emmy Award­–nominated RT America show On Contact. Hedges\, who holds a Master of Divinity from Harvard University\, is the author of numerous books and was a National Book Critics Circle finalist for War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. He has taught at Columbia University\, New York University\, Princeton University\, and the University of Toronto. He has taught college credit courses through Rutgers University since 2013 in the New Jersey prison system. URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/our-class-trauma-and-transformation-in-an-american-prison-w-chris-hedges/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Chris-Hedges-webshot-2021-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211011T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211011T180000 DTSTAMP:20230213T193038Z CREATED:20210929T133058Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T193038Z UID:10001026-1633964400-1633975200@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Garlic Planting Party DESCRIPTION:Collard City Growers will be hosting a Garlic Planting Party to honor Indigenous People’s Day and prepare for next year’s growing season. The garlic planted is generously donated by Dara Silbermann of 2nd Street Farm and from our own Branda Miller’s Garden. \n\n\n\nWe will also be fundraising for Collard City Growers by selling some jellies and jams made from various fruits of the garden. We sincerely appreciate any small monitory donation to help us purchase necessary items to keep the garden healthy and productive in coming years. \n\n\n\nPick up for your own: \n\n\n\n\nHomemade grape jellies  \n\n\n\nDried herbs \n\n\n\nPotted plants \n\n\n\nFresh veggies from the garden\n\n\n\n\nStop in for planting\, stay to enjoy the fruits of our fall labor. This in person event will take place at the Collar City Grower Garden at 3337 6th Ave in North Troy 12181 URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/garlic-planting-party/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Community Event,Fundraiser ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/SBH_CCG_garlicplanting_2021Oct11_6364s.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20211002T100000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20211002T120000 DTSTAMP:20230213T193645Z CREATED:20210903T235247Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T193645Z UID:10001020-1633168800-1633176000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:"Art and Ecology: In the Spirit of the Suffragettes" Mycelial tiles workshop with Mae-ling Lokko DESCRIPTION:Watch the event recording here.\n\n\n\nMae-ling will be offering a virtual overview of her work with mycelia from 10:00-10:30am. Her brief presentation will be followed by a small number of participants at NATURE Lab who will engage in a hands-on workshop creating the mycelial tiles. This workshop is part of Art and Ecology: In the Spirit of the Suffragettes\, funded by National Endowment for the Arts “Art Works.” \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMae-ling Lokko is an architectural scientist and biomaterials technology researcher from Ghana and the Philippines whose work centers on the upcycling of agrowaste and biopolymer materials. Her research integrates a broad range of criteria that questions contemporary material-value systems to evolve life cycle design to meet generative justice criteria.  \n\n\n\nLokko teaches seminars and design studios on energy and ecology in relation to the built environment\, upcycling and ecoeffective material life cycle design. Lokko holds a Ph.D. and Masters of Science in Architectural Science from the Center from Architecture\, Science and Ecology\, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and B.A from Tufts University. \n\n\n\nFor more information: maelokko.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA Deeper View of the Mycelial Tiles Workshop\n\n\n\nThe exquisite tiles created from this workshop will adorn the wall of the People’s Health Sanctuary in NATURE Lab. While adding aesthetic beauty to the space\, they offer deeper metaphor of connection at the People’s Health Santuary\, NATURE Lab and the Sanctuary. \n\n\n\n\n“As we move forward in an unknown future\, we can learn so much from the invisible organisms that create the foundation of our living world! The mycelial tiles we create will be a constant reminder for us of the power of the community when it works together.” \n\n\n\nBoard member Aileen Javier \n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nWhat can we learn from mycelium?– A mycelium is the bulk of the fungi organism\, growing a mass of threads and fibrous networks underground.  While we see the mushroom (which is the fruiting body of the fungi)\, mycelium create massive networks underground\, which are used to allow communication and resource sharing throughout the forest.  Like mycelium\, we are also social creatures\, forming networks and connections that can allow us to communicate and help each other.  How do networks strengthen communities?– The pandemic has brought up more and more to the surface that in order to have a sustainable society we must go back to a community-based participatory approach; we are seeing more networks forming and collaborating to help each other (like the mycelium).   Individuals as part of those networks? – Metaphorically\, Individuals are like the branches of the mycelium\, stepping up and helping each other bringing up their strengths. While our culture highlights some individuals and creates hierarchies of importance\, we can learn from mycelium that the underground\, invisible work that so many individuals do is what creates the strength of our networks.  \n\n\n\nArt & Ecology: In the Spirit of the Suffragettes\, supported by National Endowment of the Arts “Art Works.”\n\n\n\nThis workshop is part of Art and Ecology: In the Spirit of the Suffragettes\, funded by National Endowment for the Arts “Art Works.” We highlight the work of three exceptional women artists who represent a diversity of races and cultures: \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nMae-Ling Lokko\, an artist and architect who lives between Ghana and U.S.\, focuses on upcycling. She transforms materials considered waste into building materials. Lokko will work with community to create a public art sculpture. \n\n\n\nTiare Ribeaux will focus on creation of bio-plastics and biodegradable materials for art projects\, potentially culminating in a site-specific installation that can be reabsorbed into the environment\, and creating bioplastic tiles which share participants’ hopes and dreams for a sustainable future  \n\n\n\nMinerva Hernández is a Mexican artist who combines art\, science and technology to realize interdisciplinary formations which include dance\, cinematography and photography. Her innovative observations of biodiversity\, as well as experience with arts collectives\, offer opportunity to collaborate with local community to realize a site specific installation for our local ecology.  \n\n\n\nThese residencies inaugurate our new NATURE Lab Urban Environmental Arts & Education Center at the northern tip of the Hudson River Estuary. Through intersections of art\, science and social practice\, each artist will develop a project to advance research\, produce creative content\, and help our surrounding community. \n\n\n\nPositioning the suffragettes as important role models to explore the devastating effects of gender\, racial and economic bias on our biodiversity and ecosystems\, the artists offer creative calls to action for ecological justice and survival of Mother Earth. Our goal is to bring history alive through the trans-disciplinary field of bio-art. Integrating art and biology\, installation and multimedia\, visual arts and performance\, these new forms of artistic expression pose ethical\, social and philosophical questions about our rapidly changing ecosystem. \n\n\n\nWomen artists and artists of color continue to face pervasive under-representation in museums and galleries. This project is in protest of this discrimination–even the new field of bio-arts is male-dominated. We will showcase world-class artists who demonstrate the present-day creative power of women working together to overcome great odds. The century-old suffragette message needs to be heard: women bear the brunt of economic inequality and ecological devastation. These residencies give voice to inequities\, and our struggle for the environmental health of our community and wide world.  \n\n\n\n\nPeople’s Science Interview With Mae – Ling Lokko URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/art-and-ecology-in-the-spirit-of-the-suffragettes-mycelial-tiles-workshop-with-mae-ling-lokko/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Workshop ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Luma-Kitchen-Panels_Lokko-1-2.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210812T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210812T190000 DTSTAMP:20230213T193816Z CREATED:20210726T143758Z LAST-MODIFIED:20230213T193816Z UID:10001016-1628784000-1628794800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Black August DESCRIPTION:Open to all\, this Black August event is a time to remember Black revolutionaries\, organize around principles of unity and self-sacrifice\, and educate ourselves around critical resistance for Black people. Black August was initially conceptualized around the murder of George Jackson in 1971. \n\n\n\nOrganized and led by Hope Health Healing Collective of Youth Sanctuary\, with Uptown Summer 2021! \n\n\n\nPlease check the Black August NY web site for other Black August events! \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBLACK AUGUST 2020 (Luz Marquez Benbow) URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/black-august/ ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/1115364254_1280x720.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210725T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210725T203000 DTSTAMP:20210725T181844Z CREATED:20210712T184607Z LAST-MODIFIED:20210725T181844Z UID:10001015-1627239600-1627245000@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Our Soil Community Meeting DESCRIPTION:REGISTER HERE\n\n\n\n\nLead poisoning is a serious health threat in many cities\, including Troy\, but there is a lot we can do to prevent it. At this community meeting\, you will learn about how soil can be a source of lead exposure – and you will have a chance to shape a study of soil contamination in North Central Troy! This meeting is open to anyone interested in environmental justice and a healthy city for the residents of Troy. \n\n\n\nWe will be hosting the Our Soil Community Event through NATURE Lab at the Sanctuary for Independent Media.  At this time\, the meeting will be online\, via Zoom\, however we will also be sharing it on YouTube afterward to make it easier to access for the greater community. \n\n\n\nWe strongly encourage you to invite family\, friends and neighbors to attend – as this community focused meeting will be introducing neighborhood residents and the broader Troy community to the issue of heavy metals in urban soils\, and ways to reduce exposure to lead and arsenic found in urban soils. \n\n\n\nParticipating fellows will have an opportunity to speak during the meeting to share with their community why they are participating in the Our Soil project\, we will have interactive activities to not only spark conversations around the concerns of the community\, but also to help inspire appreciation for healthy soils and hope about our future relationships with soil. You can learn more about Our Soil by visiting our project page HERE \n\n\n\nAgenda : \n\n\n\nIntroduction to the Sanctuary and NATURE Lab Introduction to Our Soil – purpose\, goals\, plans Introduction of Soil Justice Fellows and how their efforts will help the community Overview of North Central environmental history and why we find lead and arsenic hereGroup interactive activities and brainstorming sessionsCulminating discussion about how improving the health of soils has direct health benefits for us\, giving some practical ideas about what everyone can do to reduce exposures to contaminated soils and improve the quality of the soils around them. Sampling instructions for Soil Justice Fellows\n\n\n\nTO JOIN/REGISTER FOR THE MEETING : \n\n\n\nTopic: Our Soil MeetingTime: Jul 25\, 2021 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) \n\n\n\nJoin Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/82095722569 \n\n\n\nMeeting ID: 820 9572 2569One tap mobile+19292056099\,\,82095722569# US (New York)+13126266799\,\,82095722569# US (Chicago) \n\n\n\nDial by your location        +1 929 205 6099 US (New York)        +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)        +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC)        +1 669 900 6833 US (San Jose)        +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)        +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston)Meeting ID: 820 9572 2569Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdaPdauixa URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/oursoil/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Screen-Shot-2021-06-16-at-7.16.37-PM.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T203000 DTSTAMP:20250212T183332Z CREATED:20210518T024546Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250212T183332Z UID:10001221-1624820400-1624825800@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:Chris Hedges: "American Sadism" DESCRIPTION:Chris Hedges returns to the Sanctuary for a virtual talk about the times in which we live. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSadism now defines nearly every cultural\, social and political experience in the United States. It is expressed in the greed of an oligarchic elite that has seen its wealth increase during the pandemic by $1.1 trillion while the country has suffered the sharpest rise in its poverty rate in more than 50 years.  It is expressed in extra-judicial killings by police in cities such as Minneapolis. It is expressed in our complicity in Israel’s wholesale killing of unarmed Palestinians\, the humanitarian crisis engendered by the war in Yemen and our reigns of terror in Afghanistan\, Iraq and Syria. It is expressed in the torture in our prisons and black sites. It is expressed in the separation of children from their undocumented parents\, where they are held as if they were dogs in a kennel. \n\n\n\nThe historian Johan Huizinga\, writing about the twilight of the middle ages\, argued that as things fall apart sadism is embraced as a way to cope with the hostility of an indifferent universe. No longer bound to a common purpose\, a ruptured society retreats into the cult of the self. It celebrates\, as do corporations on Wall Street or mass culture through reality television shows\, the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm\, grandiosity and self-importance; a need for constant stimulation; a penchant for lying\, deception and manipulation; and the incapacity for remorse or guilt. Get what you can\, as fast as you can\, before someone else gets it. This is the state of nature\, the “war of all against all\,” Thomas Hobbes saw as the consequence of social collapse\, a world in which life becomes “solitary\, poor\, nasty\, brutish\, and short.” And this sadism\, as Friedrich Nietzsche understood\, fuels a perverted\, sadistic pleasure. \n\n\n\nCheck out Chris Hedges’ “The Politics of Cultural Despair\,” recorded on October 18\, 2020 at The Sanctuary for Independent Media! URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/chris-hedges-american-sadism/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States CATEGORIES:Speaker ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Chris_Hedges_glasses_in_hand_DSC06838-4-2-scaled.jpg END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20210627T133000 DTSTAMP:20250327T032221Z CREATED:20210511T144437Z LAST-MODIFIED:20250327T032221Z UID:10001219-1624795200-1624800600@www.mediasanctuary.org SUMMARY:NATURE Lab Opening Celebration with Dr. Jennifer Willet and special guests DESCRIPTION:From the streets of Troy\, NY to community science labs around the globe\, join our NATURE Lab Opening Celebration!  \n\n\n\nJoin us for the grand virtual opening of NATURE Lab! From around the world\, bio artists\, scientists and ecologists will inaugurate our new community science laboratory. Featuring a virtual talk/performance by Dr. Jennifer Willet\, bio artist from INCUBATOR Lab in Windsor\, Canada\, along with special guests including Dr. Catherine Febria from Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research in Windsor\, Marta de Menezes from Cultivamos Cultura in Portugal\, and more! \n\n\n\nDirectly after this event\, witness our Water Justice Lab youth fellows\, in collaboration with Riverkeeper\, test community collected water samples of our nearby Hudson River! \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\nDr. Jennifer Willet\n\n\n\nDr. Jennifer Willet is a Canada Research Chair in Art\, Science\, and Ecology and an Associate Professor in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Windsor (Canada.) Willet is an internationally successful artist and curator in the emerging field of bioart. Her work explores notions of representation and body in relation to evolving biotechnologies with an emphasis on ecological metaphors.  She taught in the Studio Arts Department at Concordia University in Montreal Canada from 2000-2007\, and completed her PhD in the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program at the same institution.  Willet also taught “Bioart: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences” for The Art and Genomics Centre at The University of Leiden in The Netherlands in 2008.  In 2009 she opened the first bioart lab in Canada called INCUBATOR: Hybrid Laboratory at the Intersection of Art\, Science\, and Ecology.  www.incubatorartlab.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSPECIAL GUESTS\n\n\n\nDr. Catherine Febria\n\n\n\nDr. Catherine Febria is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair and Assistant Professor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) & Dept. of Integrative Biology at the University of Windsor. She is co-Director of the GLIER Organic Analysis & Nutrients Laboratory\, a central research facility.  She is Associate Director of FishCAST\, an NSERC CREATE graduate student training program. Her research focuses on the ecology and restoration of small streams and wetlands\, and their role in contributing to ecosystem health in the Laurentian Great Lakes. She remains actively involved as an alumni Fellow with the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES)\, as Co-Chair of the International Science Advisory Panel for New Zealand’s Biological Heritage National Science Challenge\, and has served as Coordinating Editor with the journal Restoration Ecology since 2017. She held a postdoctoral role at the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory (2010-2013) and most recently relocated her research back to the Great Lakes Region of Canada from the University of Canterbury in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is co-founder of the Kindness in Science global initiative\, and contributes actively to actions\, scholarship & mentorship to support justice\, equity\, diversity & inclusion in academia. Twitter: @ecofebria \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMarta de Menezes\n\n\n\nMarta de Menezes is a Portuguese artist with a degree in Fine Arts by the University in Lisbon\, a MSt in History of Art and Visual Culture by the University of Oxford\, and a PhD candidate at the University of Leiden. She has been exploring the intersection between Art and Biology\, working in research laboratories demonstrating that new biological technologies can be used as new art medium. In 1999 de Menezes created her first biological artwork (Nature?) by modifying the wing patterns of live butterflies. Since then\, she has used diverse biological techniques including functional MRI of the brain to create portraits where the mind can be visualised (Functional Portraits\, 2002); fluorescent DNA probes to create micro-sculptures in human cell nuclei (nucleArt\, 2002); sculptures made of proteins (Proteic Portrait\, 2002-2007)\, DNA (Innercloud\, 2003; The Family\, 2004) or incorporating live neurons (Tree of Knowledge\, 2005) or bacteria (Decon\, 2007). Her work has been presented internationally in exhibitions\, articles and lectures. She is currently the artistic director of Ectopia\, an experimental art laboratory in Lisbon\, and Director of Cultivamos Cultura in the South of Portugal. http://martademenezes.com \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPaul Vanouse\n\n\n\nPaul Vanouse is an artist working in Emerging Media forms. Radical interdisciplinarity and impassioned amateurism guide his practice. Since the early 1990s his artwork has addressed complex issues raised by varied new techno-sciences using these very techno-sciences as a medium.  His artworks have included data collection devices that examine the ramifications of polling and categorization\, genetic experiments that undermine scientific constructions of race and identity\, and temporary organizations that playfully critique institutionalization and corporatization. These “Operational Fictions” are hybrid entities–simultaneously real things and fanciful representations–intended to resonate in the equally hyper-real context of the contemporary electronic landscape. Paul Vanouse is the founder and director of Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts. Coalesce Lab is a hybrid studio laboratory facility dedicated to enabling hands-on creative engagement with the tools and technologies of the life sciences. https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce.html Website: http://paulvanouse.com/ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nProf. Joel Ong\n\n\n\nProfessor Joel Ong is a media artist whose works connect scientific and artistic approaches to the environment\, particularly with respect to sound and physical space.  Professor Ong’s work explores the way objects and spaces can function as repositories of ‘frozen sound’\, and in elucidating these\, he is interested in creating what systems theorist Jack Burnham (1968) refers to as “art (that) does not reside in material entities\, but in relations between people and between people and the components of their environment”. A serial collaborator\, Professor Ong is invested in the broader scope of Art-Science collaborations and is engaged constantly in the discourses and processes that facilitate viewing these two polemical disciplines on similar ground. Joel Ong is the Director\, Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology. Based in the School of the Arts\, Media\, Performance & Design (AMPD) at York University\, Sensorium is a research centre for creative inquiry and experimentation at the intersection of the media arts\, performance\, and digital culture. As a site for co-creation and shared critical reflection\, Sensorium serves as a catalyst for examining how diverse media platforms enable multi-sensory perception and embodied experience\, along with new modes of social engagement. Bridging disciplines and diverse communities\, Sensorium researchers\, artists\, and scientists explore networked connections between people\, sentient environments\, and ecologies of place. https://sensorium.ampd.yorku.ca/joel-ong/ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBeth Tuck\, M.S.\n\n\n\nBeth Tuck (she/her) is the Executive Director at Genspace. Previously\, she was a genomics education specialist at the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) where she worked on enhancing K-16 genomic literacy\, education\, and community engagement. Her work included designing curricular resources\, engaging students and teachers in hands-on genomics activities\, supporting teacher professional development\, and training scientists in public engagement skills. Her graduate research at Washington University in St. Louis focused on the genetics and molecular mechanisms of neurological and neuromuscular disorders. Genspace is the world’s first community biology lab — a place where people of all backgrounds can learn\, create\, and grow with the life sciences. Since 2009\, we have served the greater New York area by providing hands-on STEAM education programs for youth and adults\, cultural and outreach events for the public\, and a membership program to support New York’s community of creatives\, researchers\, and entrepreneurs. Our programs demystify scientific processes\, provide a platform for innovation\, and cultivate the next generation of life sciences leaders in emerging global technologies\, such as biotechnology\, neuroscience\, epidemiology\, genomics\, and many more. https://www.genspace.org/ \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nVictoria Vesna\, Ph.D.\n\n\n\nVictoria Vesna\, Ph.D.\, is an Artist and Professor at the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts and Director of the Art|Sci Center at the School of the Arts (North campus) and California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) (South campus). Although she was trained early on as a painter (Faculty of Fine arts\, University of Belgrade\, 1984)\, her curious mind took her on an exploratory path that resulted in work can be defined as experimental creative research residing between disciplines and technologies. With her installations she investigates how communication technologies affect collective behavior and perceptions of identity shift in relation to scientific innovation (PhD\, CAiiA_STAR\, University of Wales\, 2000). Her work involves long-term collaborations with composers\, nano-scientists\, neuroscientists\, evolutionary biologists and she brings this experience to students. Victoria Vesna is the founder and director of Art|Sci of UCLA. The Art|Sci Center focuses on collaborative projects that address social\, ethical and environmental issues related to scientific innovations. “To pursue\, facilitate and promote research and programs that demonstrate the potential of media arts and science collaborations.” We are part of a world-wide network of artists and scientists who are interested in philosophical dialogue as well as working together on artistic or applied projects. http://artsci.ucla.edu/ Website : https://www.victoriavesna.com/ URL:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/nature-lab-opening-celebration-with-dr-jennifer-willet-and-special-guests/ LOCATION:The Sanctuary\, 3361 6th Ave\, Troy\, 12180\, United States ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.mediasanctuary.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/willet_main.jpg END:VEVENT 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 END:VCALENDAR