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What Trees Tell Us About Racism
Episode 1421st December 2020 • JUST • Rob Shields
00:00:00 00:54:41

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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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