As She Rises

Latest Episodes:

The Aquifer May 15, 2023

Show notes

Black Mesa is a high desert, arid, with few streams or rivers aboveground. Water tends to come from above or below: sometimes, as a gentle rain. Other times, a rushing monsoon. Navajo and Hopi people have called it home for thousands of years. Its water reservoirs— a complex system of underground pools called “aquifers”— sustain people, livestock, and agriculture on the plateau. More recently, that scarce resource fed the needs of Peabody Coal, an extractive industry that drained the Mesa dry over the last half century.

Nicole Horseherder helped establish the non-profit Sacred Water Speaks with a clear goal: get Peabody Energy off the aquifer and bring water back to her community. Amber McCrary reads “Monsoon Musings,” a poem she wrote about the moments when heavy rains arrive in her desert homeland.

For more:

Support Nicole’s work with Sacred Water Speaks
Discover more of Amber McCrary’s poetry

As She Rises is a Wonder Media Network production. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram and Twitter.

This season, we’re excited to collaborate with NRDC to drive action to combat the climate crisis and promote solutions to build a just and equitable future for all.

Take Action:

NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. Follow them on Twitter (@NRDC) and Instagram (@NRDC_org) to stay up to date on NRDC’s efforts and how you can get involved.
Support NRDC’s fight to stop the illegal Willow oil drilling project and help end our dependence on fossil fuels at https://on.nrdc.org/3nBiNWK

Learn more about NRDC’s work to protect the Colorado River Basin here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Creek May 08, 2023

Show notes

The Havasupai tribe lives at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, in Supai Village. Just north of the village, a hidden aquifer turns into Havasu Falls, a waterfall that cascades into a pool of blue-green water. This water has sustained the Havasupai people for centuries, nourishing their crops, softening the harsh conditions of the desert, and serving as a place of reverence. But now, the Havasupai tribe’s water source is threatened by uranium mining.

Carletta Tilousi is a member of the Havasupai tribal council’s anti-uranium committee. She explains their 30-year fight against what is now known as the Pinyon Plain Mine. Colleen Kaska, a former Havasupai tribal council member, reads a poem she wrote about the importance of water to her people.

Take Action:

On April 11, 2023 the Havasupai and other Southwest tribes announced their effort to designate the Grand Canyon area as a national monument. They are calling on the federal government to designate this area a permanently protected area, and in doing so, protect it from mining and other threats. You can learn how to support this effort by signing the petition here.

As She Rises is a Wonder Media Network production. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram and Twitter.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Source May 01, 2023

Show notes

Lake Powell is long and thin. It snakes through the red-desert, running southwest through Utah, ending at the top of Arizona. From above, it looks like a human artery. From the inside, it's idyllic. The water is crystalline. Every year, millions of people flock to the lake to fish, canoe, and hike. Today, Lake Powell is around a fifth of its original size. Pools that used to be deep enough to dive into have turned into puddles of mud. And as the water disappears, the forgotten canyon beneath reemerges.

We’re starting our journey just south of Lake Powell, in the Navajo Nation. Over the years, the U.S. government has signed a number of treaties with the Navajo Nation, promising certain amounts of water, and water infrastructure. But, as they struggle to reallocate water in the face of drought, the government still tends to leave indigenous communities out of the conversation.

Poet Kinsale Drake reads her poem, “after Sacred Water,” about how the U.S. government drowned an ecosystem to create a dam that is now shrinking fast. Emma Robbins, director of the Navajo Water Project, explains how her organization ensures households have running water, and that the Navajo Nation has a seat at the table.

For More:

Support Navajo Water Project
Discover more of Kinsale Drake’s poetry

As She Rises is a Wonder Media Network production. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram and Twitter.

This season, we’re excited to collaborate with NRDC to drive action to combat the climate crisis and promote solutions to build a just and equitable future for all.

Take Action:

NRDC uses science, policy, law, and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health, and safeguard nature. Follow them on Twitter (@NRDC) and Instagram (@NRDC_org) to stay up to date on NRDC’s efforts and how you can get involved.
Support NRDC’s fight to stop the illegal Willow oil drilling project and help end our dependence on fossil fuels at https://on.nrdc.org/3nBiNWK
Learn more about NRDC’s work to protect the Colorado River Basin here.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Season 3 Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Premiering May 1 wherever you get your podcasts. As She Rises is back for its third season with a new host: Leah Thomas, founder of The Intersectional Environmentalist. This season, As She Rises is traversing the Colorado River Basin downstream, understanding water through a new lens and centering stories of resilience in the face of the drought.

If you're interested in learning more about the Colorado River Crisis, check out High Country News, a nonprofit, reader-supported publication that has been covering the Western US for more than 50 years. To support their work or for a free trial, go to HCN.org.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Farmland Apr 29, 2022

Show notes

As climate change progresses, more people will be forced from their homes and into exploitative environments. In the United States, this is particularly true of farmworkers.

The climate crisis is, undeniably, a labor issue too.

“like you i woke up in the dark. but i was reaching for animals, trying to beat the heat. like you sunrise usually found me in the middle of doing something. i didn’t call it prayer, but i did believe that if i did it every day we would exist.”

In today’s episode, we hear the poet Alexis Pauline Gumbs read from her book, “DUB”, as she unlearns the separation between her work and that of her great-grandfather’s. She shows us how poetry can help us imagine another way of relating to life on earth.

We then travel to the agricultural fields of Immokalee, Florida. where Lupe Gonzalo is a senior staff member at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. She tells us about her experience working tomato fields, the work she does now fighting for farmworker rights, and the need to unlearn the systems of separation between land, food, and people.

Take Action:

Find more of Alexis Pauline Gumbs’ work at alexispauline.com
To learn more about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers go to ciw-online.org
Follow them on twitter @ciw to learn about upcoming marches and boycotts and take part.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Desert Apr 22, 2022

Show notes

Nestled in the Northwestern corner of present-day New Mexico is the Greater Chaco Region: home to thousands of Diné and Puebloean families. It's also one of the most intense concentrations of oil wells in the country, designated an “energy sacrifice zone” by the Nixon administration in the 1970s. Now, a group of activists who recognize the land’s inherent importance, and who themselves have built lives on and around it, are changing the way this land is leased out—and might preserve this land for good.

“Oh, how I’ve missed you. To think I was away for so long / and you were always there / waiting on the red earth / to hold yourself open / and offer to carry my burden.”

Take Action:

Find more of Laura’s work at LauraTohe.com
Follow and take part in the campaign to protect the Greater Chaco Region at PuebloActionAlliance.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Reef Apr 15, 2022

Show notes

Far out in the waters of the South Pacific are the Samoan Islands. They make up an island paradise, a contested territory, an ecological haven. They might also hold a key in the fight to protect endangered coral reefs.

“steady us mother/ your eye lights the way

your heart moves our blood

your hand steers our boat.”

Welcome to season 2 of As She Rises. In this episode, we visit the islands of Samoa. Poet Caroline Sinavaiana Gabbard reads her poem “Sā Nafanuā” and discusses how language and ancestral stories can guide us in the present. Motusaga Vaeoso, who studies corals with the Coral Reef Advisory Group of American Samoa, tells us about resilient coral species and the important role communities play in sustaining conservation efforts. She reminds us that there is a lot left to fight for.

Take Action:

Read Caroline’s poetry collection, Alchemies of Distance and her other book mohawk/samoa: transmigrations
You can follow Motu’s work through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website. Keep up with the state of Samoa’s coral reefs at americansamoa.noaa.gov.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The River Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Straddling the border between the US and Canada, the Skagit Watershed is a haven for sea creatures. The “Magic Skagit” is in peril: the ways of life it has sustained for the communities along its shores are faltering under years of settler disruption, and upstream, its headwaters originate in a pool of unprotected land threatened by extractive industries. Still, there’s hope in numbers: a cross-border coalition of federal, Tribal, and political leadership on all levels, dedicated to saving the Skagit River.

“You must have cleaned a lot of fish.” I say. // “I think we cleaned out all of Puget Sound…”

Won’t be long before all the fish are gone, then the cannery will go, and all we’ll have is hunger and sorrow.”

This season, we’re excited to collaborate with The Slowdown, hosted by Ada Limón. From American Public Media – and in partnership with The Poetry Foundation – The Slowdown delivers a different way to see the world: through poetry. Listen here.

Take Action:

Follow Rena’s work, and get her new collection of poetry, at RenaPriest.com
Learn more about Amy’s work with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community at Swinomish-nsn.gov
Stay up to date with Washington Wild’s conservation efforts at WAWild.org

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing Season Two Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

As She Rises is back for a second season to celebrate both Earth and Poetry Month. Throughout April, we’re telling the stories of climate progress that give us the hope we need to keep going.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The City Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

“The worst crime I know men have committed is to turn nature into an oppressor.”

In the city, the heat is suffocating: it reverberates off buildings, seeps through the concrete, and bounces off glass back down onto a city of 8.4 million people. New York City is hotter than ever before-- but it’s felt differently from neighborhood to neighborhood. Today, we’re ending our season in the land currently known as New York, where increasing heat exacerbates the risks already felt by communities bearing the brunt of a changing climate.

Jade Lozada, a college student and climate organizer, recites her poem “The Worst Crime,” commissioned for the Natural Resources Defense Council, and explains the dual role heat plays in bringing her closer to home, and making home uninhabitable. Dr. Melissa Barber, co-founder of South Bronx Unite, studies hyper localized heat islands and protests corporate intervention with community-generated solutions to the climate crisis.

Take Action:

Jade’s poem, “The Worst Crime,” was originally published by NRDC.org. You can find her poem, as well as those of three other writers, in this article.
Jade was one of the finalists for Climate Speaks 2020, a climate arts program that is part of The Climate Museum, which aims to spark dialogue and action on the climate crisis. Support Jade’s work, as well as other climate poets, at ClimateSpeaks.org
South Bronx Unite brings together neighborhood residents, community organizations, academic institutions and allies to improve and protect the social, environmental, and economic future of Mott Haven and Port Morris. Support Dr. Barber and South Bronx Unite at SouthBronxUnite.org

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