Announcing the 17th Annual Environmental Justice Conference!

The Coalition Against Environmental Racism (CAER) is proud to announce its 17^th Annual Grassroots Environmental Justice Conference on Saturday April 7th, 2012. No registration is required. Please join us for a great weekend of free food and free knowledge at the University of Oregon (EMU Fir Room (Keynotes and Artistic Panel)  and River Rooms (all other events))!!

Here is the schedule:

11:00 EJ workshop led by CAER                               River Rooms

12:00 Lunch Keynote: Breeze Harper                Fir Room

1:30 Free Time/Games/Networking                      River Room

2:00 Local Eugene Panel                                        River Room

3:00 NW Dirty Energy Panel                                    River Room

4:00 Food Justice Panel                                          River Room

5:00 Free Time/Games/Networking                    River Room

5:30 Dinner Keynote: Michelle Williams          Fir Room

7:00 EJ Art Workshop: Favianna Rodrguez      Fir Room

Our lunch keynote, Breeze Harper, is an accomplished scholar on issues of black feminisms, critical race theory, and food politics. She has also edited the volume Sistah Vegan: Black Female Vegans Speak about Food, Identity, Health, and Society. This volume, as well her presentation, explores food politics, identity, sexuality, heath, womanism, feminism, decolonization, anti-racism, eco-sustainability, and animal rights through the lens of the black female vegan experience in the USA.

For our dinner keynote, we are hosting Michelle Roberts. She is affiliated with the Advocates for Environmental Human Rights and has provided technical assistance and advocacy support to communities regarding the impacts of toxins on human health and the environment. In addition, she is a spoken word artist who created Arts Slam @SsAMS, a community-based arts program. She has co-authored reports on environmental justice issues and her advocacy work is featured in television, print news, and magazines.

Finally, CAER will be hosting an Environmental Justice artistic workshop as part of the conference with renowned Oakland-based Chicana artist Favianna Rodriquez. Her composites reflect literal and imaginative migration, global community, and interdependence. Her subjects vary, including immigrant day laborers in the US, mothers of disappeared women in Juárez, Mexico, and herself. Through her work we witness the changing US metropolis and new dispora in the arts.