Join us for three days of panel discussions and performances to promote preservation of the land, people, and cultures of Louisiana.
The second annual Losing Louisiana virtual gathering, “Power is With Us: Indigenous, Ancestral, and Cultural Solution-Making,” will take place November 17-19 on our Facebook and YouTube channel
This year’s theme is a testimony to the power of people, a spotlight on the work of some of Louisiana’s most impactful community leaders, and a call to collective action to fight the rapid destruction of our natural environment. Over the span of three days, we invite you to join our panelists in sharing Ancestral Wisdom and Local History, examining Current Conditions, and doing some Planning for the Future.
Daily Schedule
Wednesday, November 17: Ancestral Wisdom and Local History
One of our guiding principles is Sankofa, a Ghanaian term that encourages us to look to the lessons of our past to inform our future. On day one of Losing Louisiana: Power is With Us, artists and panelists will share ancestral wisdom regarding care for Louisiana’s land and people and discuss the history of the effects of colonization on Indigenous people and culture. We encourage you to employ the wisdom shared in your daily practices. How can you better care for the land around you? How can you better support Louisiana’s Indigenous communities?
Detailed Schedule:
Film Screening: Excerpt of Monique Verdin’s My Louisiana Love
Live at the Farm, Virtual Visit to a Farm with Michael Richard II (Recirculating Farms Coalition/Growing Local NOLA) and Jamilah Peters-Muhammad (Ashé Cultural Arts Center)
Virtual Performance and discussion featuring Maroon Messengers Marcus Akinlana, Sula Spirit, and Xavier Molina
Ancestral Wisdom and Local History Panel Discussion featuring Dr. Jeffery Darensbourg (Atakapa-Ishak Nation Tribal Councilperson), Monique Harden, (Deep South Center for Environmental Justice), Edward Sarabia (Shaman and Medicine Man, Tlingit Tribal Nation), Angela Chalk (Healthy Community Services at Water Wise Gulf South), Cherice Harrison-Nelson (Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame), and Chief August Creppel (United Houma Nation)
Thursday, November 18: Current Conditions
On day two of Losing Louisiana: Power is With Us, we take a deeper look at some of the immediate issues we are facing. Artists and panelists will examine the role of industry and government in our current environmental and health crises and offer ways community can organize against the gross injustices occurring for the sake of capitalist greed.
Detailed Schedule:
Virtual Performance: Jarrell Hamilton’s Rain Down
New Orleans Clean Energy Panel Discussion featuring Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes (Ashé Cultural Arts Center), Cherelle Blazer (Sierra Club), Flagboy Giz (Wild Tchoupitoulas), Arséne DeLay (singer/songwriter), Oliver Thomas (City Council Candidate), and Bart Everson (Xavier University)
Film Screening: Excerpt of Junebug Productions’ Homecoming Project: Water featuring free feral and Kesha McKey
Current Conditions Panel Discussion featuring Pastor Greg Manning (Justice and Beyond, Greater New Orleans Interfaith Climate Coalition), Monique Harden (Deep South Center for Environmental Justice), and Pat Bryant (Justice and Beyond/Coalition Against Death Alley)
Friday, November 19: Planning for the Future
On day three, we’ll close out with an eye to the future and a moment of healing. We’ll explore land reclamation, intergenerational climate justice activism, barriers to climate health, and short-term and long-term climate action steps to empower our communities to create the change they want to see in the world.
Detailed Schedule:
Ashé Cafe featuring Sage Michael Pellet at Lincoln Beach
Virtual Performance: Sunni Patterson’s “My Mother’s House is a River”
Virtual Presentation featuring Activists from Lamu, Kenya
Planning for the Future Panel Discussion featuring Cherelle Blazer (Sierra Club) and Sage Michael Pellet (Gulf South for a Green New Deal)
Closing & Healing led by Sula Spirit