Black Earth, Bright Futures - Climate Justice Alliance

Black Earth, Bright Futures

An Evening of Film, Celebration and Conversation

This screening, presented by the Black Hive and Climate Justice Alliance in collaboration with Tishman Environment and Design Center at the New School, will feature three powerful films that explore the intersections of climate justice, community resilience, and the urgent need for transformative change:

  • ​Grasping at the Roots (dir. Keenan Lacy-Rhodes + Leah Derray, Climate Justice Alliance)
    This documentary is a love letter to the black climate justice movement featuring Climate Justice Alliance member organizations and communities in their own words.

     

  • ​Black Soil Rising: A Family Fight for Land and Justice (dir. Raya Salter, Energy Justice Law and Policy Center)
    This 13 minutes short is set in Conecuh County, Alabama — the state’s largest oil field. The film introduces a fight to defend Black land passed down since enslavement. Framing land loss as both a story of reparations and climate justice, it exposes the environmental injustice of oil and gas extraction across the Gulf South.

     

  • ​Exposing the Unspoken (dir. Rev Michael Malcom, People’s Justice Council)
    This film sheds light on the devastating impacts Southern Company has had on frontline communities in Georgia, Mississippi, and Alabama exposing environmental injustice and amplifying the voices of those too often left unheard.

     

​Together, these films shine a light on community-led solutions, untold histories, and bold visions for a just future. Following the screenings, we will hold space for dialogue and reflection with filmmakers, scholars, and community leaders featured in the film.

​This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome — students, faculty, organizers, neighbors, and anyone committed to imagining a more just and sustainable future.

 

Panelists

Raya Salter

Raya Salter is an international energy and climate thought leader and storyteller. She appears regularly in print and on television/multimedia, including CBS, NBC, Huffpost, the New York Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle among others, as a subject matter expert. She is the producer and Director of the Black Soil Rising film short and is leading her family fight against the oil and gas industry. www.BlackSoilDoc.com. Raya is the Founder and Executive Director of the Energy Justice Law & Policy Center. She is also a member of the New York State Climate Action Council. Raya is an adjunct professor at Cardozo law school, is widely published on matters of energy regulation and the author of “Energy Justice” (2018).

She is an organizational member and co-lead of the M4BL Black Hive and sits on the M4BL Policy Table.

Rev Michael Malcom

The Reverend Michael Malcom is the Executive Director of Alabama Interfaith Power and Light and a licensed and ordained United Church of Christ Minister. Rev Malcom is the former Senior Pastor of Rush Memorial Congregational UCC in Atlanta, GA. He is the founder of The People’s Justice Council which is a 501(c)3 non-profit focusing on environmental justice. Rev Malcom serves as the Environmental Justice Minister for the Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ. He is a board member for the Southeast Climate and Energy Network. He is an award winning Executive Producer, Author, and Commissioned Photographer.
 

You can support the work of the PJC and AL IPL by donating here.

Leah Derray

Leah Derray is a writer/director from Indianapolis, IN. Leah earned an MFA in Film and Television Directing at DePaul University. Leah’s writing often focuses on the Black diasporic community and how mental health, addiction, and climate change shape this world and fictional worlds for Black people. Leah uses her writing to explore stories of the origins of history and to imagine various possibilities for the future. She has a deep fascination for crime movies, afro-surrealism & anti-hero character arcs.

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