2020 Talks

People of Color have been marginalized in regards to the production and consumption of, and access to, healthy foods and as a result have far higher rates of food insecurity and of negative health impacts that result from poor nutrition. Three community leaders discuss how they are working to break through the impacts of colonization to develop a community-owned food system that is equitable, profitable and built on respectful relationships.

Co-sponsored by the Guayaki Yerba Mate‘s “Come To Life” initiative.

Every great movement starts with the individual, expands into communities, and then blossoms into the collective. As Ghandi once said “Be The Change” you want to see in the world. At Guayaki our mantra is “Come To Life.” In the spirit of that vitality we’ve gathered a diverse and dynamic group of creative individuals who have birthed their own movements across genres, gender, and ethnicities. In this digital round table discussion, we explore the unique backgrounds of some of music’s most inspiring innovators while they share their visions for a brighter world, and the pragmatic and passionate steps we can take to make those visions a reality.

In the words of the great climate scientist James Hansen “We can’t fix the climate until we fix our democracy.” That does not mean, however, a return to some mythical past, but taking a large step toward democratizing society and organizing governance according to the “original instructions” drawn from the best practices of earlier systems and of our own most compelling visions of the future. The Haudenosaunee (Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy) is one example of effective democratic governance. Franklin Roosevelt’s proposal for a “Second Bill of Rights” (1944) is another, one adapted to industrial democracy. We do not lack for powerful ideas and practical examples, but fulfilling the promise of democracy in our time will require systemic changes that: (a) serve the public good, not the interests of the powerful and wealthy; (b) render the economy subservient to society, not its master; and (c) extend unalienable rights and due process of law to future generations and nature.

Since the founding of the U.S., a core battle has raged between two irreconcilable forces—democracy and plutocracy. Wealth in the U.S. today is over “two times as concentrated as in imperial Rome, which was a slave-and-farmer society.” If billionaires were a nation, they’d be the world’s 3rd largest economy. Today, mammoth monopolies have once again captured the government and rewritten the law to amass the greatest concentrations of wealth and power in American history, but strong anti-trust movements are rising to break up monopolies, change the law, democratize the economy, and institute democratic governance. Along with efforts afoot in Congress, some of the most important and successful initiatives are now happening at local and state levels. Learn about the deeper history of this clash that has led us to today’s plutocracy and about the movements and political strategies now gaining momentum to reclaim democracy and distribute power and wealth building.

Movements for transformative justice and abolition have much to teach us about how to heal from harm and violence and rebuild communities grounded in liberation, justice, care and accountability. These movements have long-held visions of a world where each person and community have the basic rights of health, dignity, safety and belonging, without relying on oppressive state systems and punitive justice. They invite us to imagine what is possible when people can self-determine what justice feels like in their own communities, and practice how to build care, accountability, healing and repair on the individual, interpersonal and collective level. In our current moment, people of all ages are lifting up these movements as we all continue to reckon with some of the broken and violent systems of our society. The work to heal these wounds is not new. There is a rich and deep-rooted social ecosystem upon which new life is growing and iterating.

How can the emerging visions and lessons learned support intergenerational collaborations and young movement leaders in their work today? How can the dreams and lived practices of these movements orient all of us towards more agency and healing in our own lives and the work that we do? What insights can these movements offer us in meeting the current moment of reckoning and rebuilding as well as guide us through uncertain futures?

Many Americans sense that fundamental change is occurring in our country. At one level, the Trump era has undeniably brought intense divisions and trauma, but at a very different, deeper level, in communities nationwide there has been a steady but explosive growth of practical new, transformative and reparative economic, ecological and institution-building initiatives. This outline of a “next political-economic system” is quietly building just below the radar of everyday media awareness, just as what became the New Deal was, in fact, built upon new thinking and experiments developed in state and local “laboratories of democracy” in the decades before Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency. This panel with 4 leaders of The Democracy Collaborative, an R&D laboratory for the democratic economy, presents an overview report from the frontlines of this dynamic movement, which promises to usher in a new era of radical, system-altering change.

Come join the conversation about groundbreaking new developments in the effort to recognize the legal rights of nature, including in Indigenous communities now drafting and adopting such laws. We will discuss why communities and countries around the globe are considering this bold step and why treating nature as a living entity with legal rights can revolutionize life on Earth in a system in which courts can be used to enforce rights of rivers, mountains, and forests. Come listen to stories from communities on the front lines, as they mobilize to build a new environmental law system that actually protects the planet.

In this moment of unraveling, a new generation of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and other people of color leaders are generating creative strategic innovations and interventions to combat extractive economic systems and usher in a Just Transition to a new civilization. In this panel, key figures from some of the most dynamic frontline organizations at the forefront of this movement—Climate Justice Alliance, Movement Generation, and New Economy Coalition—share stories and practices. They discuss how they are working to: cultivate local, loving, living, linked communities; democratize the economy (#WealthBack); restore sovereignty (#LandBack); localize control of wealth (#Reinvest); and restore social and ecological well-being ( #JustTransition).

This conversation explores some of the physical, ethical and spiritual ecosystems of our time and considers their interconnections. How might the connective tissue linking nature’s wisdom, quests for social equity and justice, and reverence for the numinous inspire us to co-creatively re-imagine our communities and landscapes, both human and wild? Savor stories that illuminate such inquires, stories arising from the creative life paths that these women have woven to express their unique callings.

Although the New Deal of the 1930s rescued many from poverty and laid the foundation for a social safety net, it was also deeply flawed in that it excluded Black Americans and people of color from many of its programs. As the vision for a Green New Deal to tackle the climate emergency and restructure our economy has evolved, it is imperative we avoid the errors of the past. The rising calls for a Red New Deal inclusive of Native America and a Blue New Deal for our threatened oceans and coastal communities have arisen. In this truly original and dynamic session, we learn about these emergent, interweaving movements with some of their thought leaders.

The vast biodiversity of our planet is the underlying fabric supporting all life on Earth, but the prognosis is grim: biodiversity rates are continuing to plummet as extinctions of species accelerate. Fortunately, the evidence suggests that there are in fact viable pathways for successful action at a global scale, but only if we mobilize and act decisively and rapidly. In this session, we learn how we can protect and restore 50% of global landscapes while staying below 1.5°C temperature rise in the next few decades. Projects such as the newly launched Global Safety Net provide a roadmap: a bioregional approach combining world-class science, a clear focus on Indigenous rights and stewardship, support for grassroots action, and a vision for transformative philanthropy.

The climate change ship has left the harbor, and what confronts us is the urgent need to accomplish multiple goals simultaneously: reducing and then eliminating greenhouse gas pollution; rapidly scaling up drawdown efforts by returning carbon to the soil; and building the resilience and adaptive capacity in our societal systems to face the multi-pronged crises coming our way. And we must do it all with an equity lens at the center. It’s a tall order, but it’s non-optional. Luckily, there are people and projects all over the country and the world providing effective pathways forward for integrated climate action, using “whole problem” approaches. By leveraging collaboration across multiple sectors, these visionary leaders are outlining revolutionary blueprints for the next wave of essential work we need to do.

Within most Indigenous communities of the Americas (and of the world) the cultural and societal responsibilities of womxn play a crucially important role in maintaining the wellbeing of the community—including the ecosystem. Their intimate relationship to Mother Earth ranges from the exchange of water in the birthing process to the role of decision-making within families and clans to ensure a healthy future for subsequent generations. In these especially challenging times, the coming together of Indigenous womxn in leadership is more critical than ever for all people and all cultures to re-evaluate their responsibilities to respect and protect the sacredness of Mother Earth. Hear three inspiring Indigenous women discuss how matriarchy, the sacred feminine, and Indigenous ways play an important part in their leadership.

The current pandemic has starkly revealed what the most thoughtful experts from a wide range of fields, from public health to environmental justice to ecology, have been telling us for decades: human health is completely interconnected with the health of ecosystems and with social equity. If we continue the intense degradation of wildlife habitats, the perennial emergence of virulent zoonotic diseases is all but inevitable. If we don’t rethink our current food system, we’ll continue to confront problems ranging from deforestation to obesity. If we don’t decarbonize our economy, we’ll confront ever-worsening health and environmental degradation. If we don’t address gross social and environmental injustices and structural racism, pollution-induced illnesses and epidemics will be impossible to contain. How do we rise to the challenge and radically restructure our entire approach to health?

Too many injustices in U.S. history have remained unaddressed and unhealed. During the four years under the Trump administration, this tension has blatantly emerged in the forms of white supremacy, political polarization, and a monumental economic divide. But this moment in time has not been without mass resistance. Historically marginalized people — especially Black, Indigenous, and people of color — are leading the movement toward a democracy that works for everyone.

To exceptionalize the violence endured by black and brown people as unique to the Trump administration is to erase the historical and economic development of America as a nation. The struggle for racial justice has predated this moment in history and will continue beyond Trump. His loss in the 2020 election does not confront the systems that led more than 70 million Americans to vote for him. Understanding this is essential to critically disentangle the monolithic mythos that leads many to absolve us from facing our legacy as a nation.

The regulatory landscape and social attitudes surrounding visionary plants and psychedelic compounds are in rapid and dramatic flux. A great deal of new scientific research has been revealing exciting potential medical uses for these substances, while dynamic, ever growing subcultures explore their use. But with this explosion in new interest come challenges. Will profit-focused investors seek to corner the legal use of psychedelics and monopolize the resulting profits, further marginalizing the Indigenous cultures who discovered these plants millennia ago and developed powerful healing methodologies with them? Will the underground subcultures that explored their use starting in the mid 20th Century also be thrown under the bus by people in suits? Does this marketing and medicalization risk the “de-souling” of the use of sacred substances? Three longtime leading experts on sacred plant use wrestle with these and other questions.

In 2018, leading scientists worldwide projected that we have until 2030 to cut global emissions in half, or risk hitting climate tipping points that may be impossible to stop. That same year, Exxon promised its shareholders that it aims to increase oil and gas sales by 25% by 2030. Obviously the Exxons of the world must fail if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. In this panel, we’ll learn about three astute strategies targeting the oil majors where it hurts— their bottom line and their social license to operate. The goal is an orderly wind-down of the fossil fuel industry within the next twenty years, while creating the political space for a clean energy economy’s rapid spinning-up.

Naima Penniman, an artist, activist, healer, grower and educator committed to planetary health and community resilience, is the co-founder of WILDSEED Community Farm and Healing Village, a Black and Brown-led intentional community focused on ecological collaboration, transformative justice, and intergenerational responsibility. She is also: Program Director at Soul Fire Farm, dedicated to supporting the next generation of B.I.P.O.C. (Black/Indigenous/people of color) farmers; the co-founder/co-artistic director of Climbing PoeTree, an internationally-acclaimed performance duo; a Thai Yoga Massage practitioner; and a member of Harriet’s Apothecary, a collective of Black women-identified healers.

The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Company’s extraordinary energy, brilliant choreography and inspired lyrics have been rocking the house at Bioneers for many years. A program of Destiny Arts Center, an Oakland-based violence prevention/arts education nonprofit, the company is a multicultural group of teens that creates original performance art combining hip-hop, dance, theater, martial arts, song, and rap. It has performed locally and nationally since 1993 and has been the subject of two documentary films. DAYPC’s artistic directors are: Sarah Crowell & Rashidi Omari.

Alfred Howard is an accomplished spoken-word artist, writer, and co-founder of The Redwoods Music, a San Diego record label and collective. He currently pens lyrics for 8 bands, and performs homemade percussion with six. He has written lyrics for over 30 released albums.

As the son of a prolific black female artist, his unique experience of being a black man in a mostly white city, and of suffering from the mysterious illness of Lyme’s Disease, have given him the perspective to write from a place of paradox, humor and humanity.

Alfred grew up a self-proclaimed birdwatching nerd and outsider. In his early 20s he caravanned with musicians across the county before setting roots in San Diego, where he is a leading figure in that city’s musical community. He is the author of 2 books, including The Autobiography of No One.

Rising Appalachia, a renowned musical ensemble founded by Leah Song and Chloe Smith in 2006, and now grown to include David Brown on upright bass and baritone guitar, Biko Casini on world percussion, Arouna Diarra on ngoni and balafon, and Duncan Wickel on fiddle and cello, is rooted in various folk traditions, storytelling, and passionate grassroots activism. The band routinely provides a platform for local causes wherever it plays and frequently incites its fans to gather with it in converting vacant or underused lots into verdant urban orchards and gardens.

Motus Theater‘s mission is to create original theater to facilitate dialogue on the critical issues of our time. By telling “moving stories that move us forward,” Motus Theater uses the power of art to build alliances across diverse segments of our community. Its most recent work is: UndocuAmerica, an autobiographical storytelling project that aims to interrupt dehumanizing portrayals of immigrants by sharing the personal stories of undocumented leaders. The UndocuAmerica Monologues were created in a 17-week collaborative process between Motus Theater’s Artistic Director, Kirsten Wilson, and undocumented community leaders with D.A.C.A. (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).

For several years, we’ve closed out Bioneers’ keynotes with beauty and grace with performances by The Thrive Choir, an Oakland-based singing group affiliated with Thrive East Bay, a purpose-driven community focused on personal and social transformation. They are composed of a diverse group of vocalists, artists, activists, educators, healers, and community organizers directed by musicians Austin Willacy and Kyle Lemle.

“We Shall Be Known” was written by MaMuse (Sarah Nutting and Karisha Longaker), a 12-year old musical duo rooted in folk and gospel traditions who have released 5 albums. The women of MaMuse play a wide range of acoustic instruments and are known for their social engagement, uplifting spirit, haunting harmonies, and deeply resonant, life-affirming lyrics.