Reclaiming Our Future

What is the importance of intersectionality in climate activism, and what does it mean to see yourself represented in the movement?

The climate crisis movement is not always intersectional, especially in terms of whose voices have the privilege to be prioritised. This two-part event offers a safe space for people who are marginalised due to their race in the UK (i.e – Black, South Asian, East Asian, Arab, Latinx and Middle Eastern), to come together for unfiltered discussion, reflection and interrogation.

The evening begins with ‘How the Climate Crisis Affects Me’, a lecture and honest discussion hosted by British-Nigerian actor and activist Fehinti Balogun. He will explore how the climate crisis has affected him and his family directly, how and why he got involved with Extinction Rebellion and what we can all do whilst living through the climate crisis.

This will be followed by ‘Reverse Berlin Conference’ a workshop led by artist Jacob V Joyce that takes its inspiration from the 1884 Berlin Conference in which the African Continent was divided up by European colonisers planning to extract its resources. Jacob invites participants to work onto a large map of Europe in order to build a 3D re-imagined landscape that resists the interwoven structures of resource extraction and white supremacy.

This workshop provides a critical space for reimagining industries, borders and cultural norms of the continent’s Nation States. Participants will redefine and assert visions of sustainability and accountability into the landscape of Europe’s potential future.

Reclaiming Our Future will provide a safe space for people who are marginalised due to their race in the UK, to interrogate the link between climate change and its colonial history, as well as its continued structural attacks on particular communities. This will do so by readdressing the white supremacist power imbalance and shifting who has the privilege to have their voice heard when discussing the climate crisis.

This event is organised by Milli Bhatia, Charlotte Cole, Tanya Follett, Myah Jeffers, Daniel Kok and Nkhanise Phiri.

For those who do not sit with within these modes of identity, we respectfully ask that you do not attend this event to ensure this space is uncensored, productive and safe without the burden of explaining our grief or experiences.

Part of Open Court: Climate Emergency.
Find out more and see all the events here.