Reader for this Time of Reckoning
E C O C I D E · R A C I S M · P A N D E M I C · A U T H O R I T A R I A N I S M
In the wake of recent episodes of racial violence in the U.S., the connections between ecocide, racism, the pandemic and the rise of authoritarianism are increasingly apparent.
In the current work of the CUHF, we consider what this time of reckoning portends and offers in our online Council sessions. One prompt we ask people to consider is:
How do you understand the relationship between
the loss of the polar ice caps and the deaths of unarmed black people at the hands of police
the rise of authoritarianism and the fires that killed one billion animals in Australia
extremes of flooding and drought in the Himalaya, the acidification of the oceans,
and misogyny world-wide
the increasing extinction of birds and insects, and the objectification of people of color?
If, together, you bring these conditions to mind, what do you see?
And in the selections for this Reader, we include reflections from people who, in a variety of ways, speak to how these forces come together.
The readings are in chronological order by publication date.
Alnoor Ladha & Martin Kirk
Seeing Wetiko: On Capitalism, Mind Viruses, and Antidotes for a World in Transition
Heather Cox Richardson
How the South Won
the Civil War
Achille Mbembe
The Universal Right to Breathe
Mary Annaïse Heglar
A Translator for the Climate Crisis, Grief Included
Adam Serwer
The Coronavirus Was an Emergency Until Trump Found Out Who Was Dying
Eric Holthaus
The climate crisis is racist. The answer is anti-racism
Ayana Elizabeth Johnson
I’m a black climate expert. Racism derails our efforts to save the planet.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Greed Does Not Have to Define Our Relationship to Land
Nafeez Ahmed
White Supremacism and the Earth System
Hop Hopkins
Racism Is Killing the Planet
Elizabeth Yeampierre
Unequal Impact: The Deep Links Between Racism and Climate Change
Frederick Hewett
‘Racial Justice Is Climate Justice’: Why The Climate Movement Needs To Be Anti-Racist
Rhiana Gunn-Wright
A Green New Deal architect explains how the protests and climate crisis are connected
Justin Worland
America’s Long Overdue Awakening to Systemic Racism
Jesse Remedios
Where can I learn more about environmental racism?
Sam Grant
How Climate Crisis And Systemic Racism Are Deeply Connected
Fintan O’Toole
The Unpresident and the Unredeemed Promise
Mary Annaïse Heglar
We Don’t Have To Halt Climate Action To Fight Racism
Claudia Rankine
‘Weather’
Cornel West
On US Protests: The Chickens Have Come Home to Roost
Charlotte Du Cann
Sitting with the Trouble
Nina Lakhani & Jonathan Watts
Environmental justice means racial justice, say activists
John Holloway
A Cascade of Angers: My COVID 19 Fantasy
Jeffrey Sachs, Joseph Stiglitz, Mariana Mazzucato & others
Letter from economists: to rebuild our world, we must end the carbon economy
Wade Davis
The Unraveling of America
Mary Evelyn Tucker
Expanding the Spirit of Democracy
Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures
Preparing for the end of the world as we know it
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
A time of fire and smoke: What story are we living?
Terry Tempest Williams
A Burning Testament
Joanna Macy
Entering the Bardo
Mary Annaïse Heglar
The Whole World Is on the Ballot
Abrahm Lustgarten
The Great Climate Migration Has Begun
Post Carbon Institute
The Great Unraveling?
Joan Halifax
Yes, We Can Have Hope
Amanda Gorman
Earthrise
