Climbing Poetree Perform

Multimedia artists Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman, the duo behind Climbing PoeTree, present their original spoken word poetry.

“I wonder if the sun debates dawn
some mornings
not wanting to rise
out of bed
from under the down-feather horizon

if the sky grows tired
of being everywhere at once
adapting to the mood
swings of the weather…”

This performance was given at the 2013 Bioneers Annual Conference.

Find out more about Alixa Garcia and Naima Penniman and how you can engage with their campaigns and efforts by visiting Climbing PoeTree.

Ecological Design: Janine Benyus, Jason McLennan and David McConville

Janine Benyus, Jason McLennan, and David McConville describe how our lives are related to nature and ecological design. These speeches (of which clips are shown) took place at the 2013 Bioneers Annual Conference.

“The universe matters, because we are the universe mattering.” -David McConville

 

Billy Parish – 100% Clean Energy for and by the People | Bioneers

This leading young change-maker turned entrepreneur is showing how, in this generation, we can shift from fossil fuels to a world 100% powered by clean energy, and we can do it in a way that makes all of us richer, healthier and happier. The only way it will happen is if we get involved and take power into our own hands. Solar Mosaic, the company he co-founded, is employing revolutionary crowdfunding techniques to democratize investment opportunities and spread distributed energy.

This speech was presented at the 2013 Bioneers National Conference in San Rafael, CA.

 

Joshua Fouts – The Emerging Imagination

Visionary media innovator Joshua Fouts calls this time “The Imagination Age.” From sudden revolutions in the Middle East to “unimaginable” natural and human made technological and economic disasters, our world is in a state of radical transformation and readjustment. At the same time, powerful new media are emerging that could presage a hopeful new global culture and economy. Joshua illuminates how extraordinary new tools — virtual worlds, games and the worldwide web — can leverage global cultural empowerment and educational reform, amplified by creativity, collaboration, art and music.

This speech was presented at the 2011 Bioneers National Conference.

Lynne Twist, Atossa Soltani & Franco Viteri With a Message From the Amazon | Bioneers

Lynne Twist, Co-founder of The Pachamama Alliance, Atossa Soltani, the Executive Director of Amazon Watch, and Franco Viteri, President of the Governing Body of Indigenous Nationalities of the Ecuadorian Amazon (GONAE), share the situation of the Ecuadorian Amazon and the indigenous people who inhabit it.

“Four percent of the population are the guardians of eighty percent of the world’s biodiversity. And that is no coincidence.” -Atossa Soltani

 

Joanna Macy on Choosing Life

Joanna Macy, recipient of the 2013 Bioneers Lifetime Contribution Award, discusses the joy of life. This speech was given at the 2013 Bioneers Annual Conference.

“We are one planet people, and we can only be one planet people if we honor all of our differences.”

 

Eve Ensler – V to the 10th

Can art and activism help unravel the cultural underpinnings of violence against women? In this presentation, Eve Ensler speaks on the importance of translating powerful private stories into unstoppable public movements. In 1998, Eve co-founded V Day, a movement to end violence against women and girls around the world.

This presentation was given at the 2007 Annual Bioneers Conference, and is part of the Everywoman’s Leadership Collection, Vol. 1.

 

Mallika Dutt – Changing the Frame

To realize our full potential and co-create new directions for our planet, we need to change the frame. Media, arts and culture provide powerful tools for public dialogue. Mallika Dutt shares her organization Breakthrough’s journey of transforming hearts and minds to build cultures that respect dignity for all.

This talk was given at the 2010 Bioneers Annual Conference and is part of the Everywoman’s Leadership Collection, Vol. 1.

 

Mari Margil – Who Speaks for the Trees? | Bioneers

Attorney Mari Margil chronicles the game-changing work to recognize the Rights of Nature in law. Whereas now nature is considered property subject to private property law, the Rights of Nature legal framework enshrines the right of nature “to exist, persist and thrive.” Margil invokes the Dr. Seuss classic, The Lorax, who asks, “Who will speak for the trees?”

This talk was presented at the 2009 Bioneers Annual Conference.

 

J.L. Chestnut – Betting the Farm

“Fighting on behalf of women, on behalf of minority people of color, fighting on behalf of the environment and the planet are all one big battle. It is all about a struggle for the soul of America.”

The number of Black Farmers has declined dramatically in the last 100 years and the USDA’s racist lending practices hastened that decline. J.L. Chestnut, the chief attorney for the Black Farmers class-action discrimination lawsuit against the USDA, won the largest civil rights settlement in U.S. history, opening the door for restitution for Native American, women and Hispanic farmers.Fighting on behalf of women, on behalf of minority people of color, fighting on behalf of the environment and the planet are all one big battle. It is all about a struggle for the soul of America. - J.L. Chestnut Share on X

This talk took place at the 2001 Annual Bioneers Conference.

Jess Rimington on the CWL | Bioneers

Jess Rimington, Cultivating Women’s Leadership training alumna and Executive Director on One World Youth, describes her experience with the trainings.