Thursday, October 22, 2009

Tent City to End Foreclosures

Please see the foreclosure documentary I helped to shoot, both long and short versions:
http://www.youtube.com/user/glassbeadian#p/u/11/zQeNyVjHuvQ

In 1929 the view from the White House was Hooverville: a tent city set up by activists and those living outside to make homelessness visible. People were losing their homes and livelihoods then, as many Americans are now.
Here's the word from Minnesota's Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign:
Foreclosure Moratorium Tent Encampment Is Up

The Minnesota Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign is calling for community support to fight the imminent eviction of Leslie Parks from the duplex where she has lived for 21 years. Tents are pitched on her lawn with signs like “10% of homelessness results from foreclosure.” Press conference to be held at Ms. Parks’ at 3749 Park Ave. South in Mpls. tomorrow, Wednesday, October 21st, at 4:30 pm.
The redemption period for the Parks’ residence ends November 20th , 2009. Now is the time for the community to show support for
our Minnesota Five women who are resisting foreclosure.
Foreclosure evictions push people into homelessness. To highlight this crisis, tents will be going up not only in the Parks’ yard but in the yard of Ann Patterson who is in pre-foreclosure, desperately trying for months to negotiate with Wells Fargo to lower her mortgage payments. Both Ann and Leslie work full time. More encampments will go up on college campuses in the area. They will call attention to big financial institutions that get billions of dollars to avoid losses from their bad loans, while victimized homeowners still get thrown out on the street.

Winter is upon us. The current housing crisis is so DEEP that we are urging emergency passage of a foreclosure-moratorium bill that our governor vetoed last spring. This Wednesday we are launching a foreclosure moratorium petition drive throughout the city to let legislators know that ACTION IS NEEDED AT ONCE.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

We can all be Biological Engineers: Bioneers

Northland Sustainable Solutions is hosting many pioneers in earth science at the Bioneers conference this weekend!
I will be there at the Green Wave Energy Architecture booth! Come say hi!
Here's the press release for more info:

October 24 – 25, 2009, U of M, Willey Hall, Minneapolis, MN. This affordable conference welcomes all interested in better understanding issues of environmental and social sustainability, and how we can help shape a healthy and sustainable future for ourselves and future generations. The two day conference highlights inspirational work being done on both the local and national levels and provides opportunity for discussion and networking among individuals concerned with cultivating a sustainable future. The conference includes numerous workshops ranging from green business and youth involvement in sustainability efforts to water rights and environmental restoration, as well as organic food and numerous artistic interludes.

“We are living in era in which an impending sense of global crisis is contrasted with the greatest opportunity humanity has known to heal global divisions and cultivate a new level of respect between the peoples of Earth and between humans and the natural world,” said Oake Gregory, President of Northland Sustainable Solutions. “Ever greater numbers of people across the globe are awakening to the realization that the ways in which we have been living are not sustainable, neither culturally nor environmentally. This realization naturally leads to the question, ‘What can I do?’ We offer the Northland Bioneers Conference as a part of the process of understanding how to answer this question both as individuals and as communities.”

Northland Bioneers Conference organizers engage a wide range of participants and perspectives. It is intended to attract those who want to take personal steps toward being a part of the solutions that guide the world toward global balance and well being for all.

This year’s keynote addresses will be given by Dr. Jonathan Foley, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment and Susan Hubbard, CEO and Co-president of Eureka Recycling. The conference will feature a geographical breakout networking session facilitated by Sean Gosiewski of the Alliance for Sustainability and a panel examining the issue of sustainable population facilitated by David Paxson of World Population Balance.

Some of this year’s national Bioneers plenary speakers include: Andrew Weil M.D. , one of the nation’s foremost authorities on holistic medicine, Michael Pollan , one of the nation’s most influential thinkers on food and agriculture, Joanna Macy, a celebrated Buddhist teacher, eco-philosopher, and activist in the peace, justice, and ecology movements and Jerome Ringo, the president of the Apollo Alliance.

A full list of national plenary presentations and local workshops, speakers and exhibitors can be found on the website www.nbconference.org. More information on the national organization Bioneers can be found at www.bioneers.org.

Northland Sustainable Solutions is a 501(c)3 nonprofit devoted to educating the Twin Cities and surrounding regions on issues of sustainability and inspiring people to follow nature's lead in developing positive solutions and innovative strategies to the most pressing environmental and social issues of our day.