What Trees Tell Us About Racism
Tune in to hear Katie Rose Levin, Executive Director of TreesDurham, talk about how trees are the perfect technology to making us happy, healthy, and wealthy and to bringing economic justice to the world.
0:00 Episode starts
0:43 Personal check-ins start
1:20 Jes talks about being grateful to be alive during this time to see humanity and the waking up
4:01 Jes talks about going to the mountains with her son and mom as an annual retreat
5:37 Rob talks about loving buying his kids holiday presents because this is the age he remembers what presents he had
8:08 Katie Rose Levin, Executive Director of TreesDurham, joins the call
9:08 Rob introduces Katie Rose
11:57 Rob asks Katie Rose why trees
12:07 Katie Rose talks about how trees are the perfect technology to making us happy, healthy, and wealthy and to bring economic justice to the world
16:03 Jes asks Katie Rose where her passion comes from and what led her to this career
16:13 Katie Rose talks about growing up in the middle of nowhere and the woods being a refuge for her
16:38 Katie Rose talks about leading trips down to the Amazon forest during college
17:29 Katie Rose talks about being inspired by women of color in Atlanta who organized to push for better air quality for their children
20:55 Rob asks about the history of Durham’s trees and the roles they have played in perpetuating injustice in the community
22:50 Katie Rose talks about the redlining that happened in Durham in the 40s and how trees were a part of the resources allocated to white communities only
25:50 Interlude
27:47 Jes asks if she had a magic wand how she would solve this problem of environmental injustice at the larger scale that can be modeled in communities across the country
28:05 Katie Rose talks about the importance of valuing the people in front of you and nature being a part of what they deserve as humans
29:05 Katie Rose talks about going to work and bringing your whole person so that you can reflect on how decisions affect yourself and your family and giving that accessibility to everyone
34:58 Rob asks Katie Rose gives her hope that we can make more meaningful change
36:32 Katie Rose talks about having hope because she is surrounded by it
38:06 Jes asks Katie Rose for one thing people can do to push forward and show-up
38:59 Katie Rose talks about little seeds growing into trees of justice
41:52 Katie Rose signs off the conversation
44:58 Rob asks Jes what stood out most to her
46:03 Jes talks about seeing the environmental injustice in a more heavy light and having a new outlook to the relevance and importance of this work
47:40 Rob talks about the importance of seeing the whole justice ecosystem as an ecosystem
52:00 Rob shares the TreesDurham website to follow along with their newsletter and see volunteer opportunities
54:00 Conversation ends
54:02 Outro
54:21 Preview of next episode, a compilation of all of the previous show-up moments
Thank you to DJ Pdogg and Producer Lo Key for our awesome music throughout the show!
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Our hosts:
Jes Averhart, cofounder of Black Wallstreet Homecoming
Rob Shields, executive director of the Recity Network.
Our Producer:
Ben Azevedo, owner of Bear Cave Audio
Our Editor
Chris Pappalardo