Long before European colonization, the region that is now Chicago was home to several Native tribes. Although marginalized by centuries of conquest, these communities are still here, working to preserve, protect, and share a heritage that can offer pathways through the current crisis. Our third session of Climate and the City will be hosted by Xavier Colon and Samantha Arechiga, activists and organizers with North Lawndale's Indigenous cultural center and garden Semillas y Raices. Their presentation will explore their holistic approach to societal change and communal resilience, which includes restorative justice practice, Indigenous urban environmental restoration through urban agriculture and education, BIPOC youth and trauma responses to climate change, and Indigenous futurism.
Climate and the City is a multi-week series of TED-style conversations focusing on how Chicago is responding locally to the global climate crisis, despite relentless climate anxiety and despair. We look forward to introducing you to local thinkers, activists, and policy-makers who go beyond offering grim forecasts and can help point us towards ideas that have the potential to make a difference, in Chicago and beyond. Recordings will be made available on the Chicago Studies website after each event.