I went to the festival to see my good friends at Reach and Teach, who bring my CD, Sun Sun Shine, to festivals and conferences and schools, and to hear Starhawk, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, and Luisah Teish.
I was naming the array of speakers to my Syracuse friend and described
Starhawk and Luisah as our high-profile local witches. I’ll never forget
hearing Starhawk in the seventies, I think, on a panel with Aurora
Levins-Morales and Angela Davis at the Great American Music Hall and
seeing Angela Davis flash that gap-toothed smile and say “If you told me
ten years ago I’d be on a panel with a witch...” She went on to say
that we needed to listen to Starhawk to learn how to prevent movement
burn-out. We still do. Starhawk has a new children’s book out:
I
loved her talk, clear and welcoming, and Bill Ayers and Bernardine
Dohrn were cogent and funny. Watch for videos of their speeches coming
soon on the festival website.
I
was also giving away and trading copies of Sun, Sun Shine to other
environmental songwriters, environmental education folks, rainforest
organizations and sea turtle rescue groups. One of them is See Turtles, which arranges service learning trips to Costa Rica and other places to help guard the turtles from poachers.
The last hour of the festival, Luisah Teish
was on a panel called “I Came, I Shopped, Now What?” She warned that we
need to be careful lest we create another class structure where green
is chic. She also led us in a chant and dance to end the festival on a
festive note. My eyes and ears were full and I was ready to go home.
PS
Save Monday, November 30 for an International Day of Action for Climate Justice.
©2009 by Nancy Schimmel
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
GREEN FESTIVAL TIME AGAIN
