6:30 p.m.: Tables with project art and resources open
7 p.m: Program begins

Reception to follow

ADMISSION:
Admission is free.

RSVP

All attendees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or to have had a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the start of this event. Verification must be provided at the event check-in. Face masks will be required for all attendees, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Masks should be worn at all times when individuals are not actively consuming food or beverage. Additionally, all guests must complete the Trojan Check health screening on the day of their visit to campus. Trojan Check verification must be presented at the event check-in.

DESCRIPTION:
Where can we find the strength and inspiration to halt our planet’s climate emergency, the existential crisis of our era? Look no further than South Los Angeles, where communities are fighting back against industrial abuses of the environment and their health, livelihood, and rights.

Presented by an alliance of USC students, artists, local community organizers, and youth activist leaders, this special evening of art, storytelling, and conversation will uplift and celebrate the fight for environmental justice in Los Angeles, including University Park. Speakers will include environmental justice activist Nalleli Cobo, USC graduate and student activist Tianna Shaw-Wakeman, and Jill Johnston of USC’s Division of Environmental Health.

In addition, the USC Arts & Climate Collective of student artists and creators and Colin Maclay, executive director of the Annenberg Innovation Lab, will showcase short films, podcasts, and visual art that explore local and national stories of sustainability and environmental justice.

Tables with project art and resources for taking action, including how USC students can apply for funding from the Arts & Climate Collective, will be presented before the event and at the reception to follow.

Bios:

Nalleli Cobo is the first youth leader in the People Not Pozos campaign, a leading activist in Standing Together Against Neighborhood Drilling, L.A., and a member of the South Los Angeles Youth Coalition, which sued the City on civil rights grounds of disparate impacts. She is the youngest recipient of the Anagnos Culture of Liberation Award and considered among “the world’s most influential people in climate policy” by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics.

Jill Johnston serves as director of community engagement in the Division of Environmental Health at USC. Her research focuses on addressing unequal exposures to harmful contaminants that affect the health of working poor communities and communities of color. She previously worked as a community organizer on issues of environmental and economic justice in South Texas.

Colin Maclay is a research professor of communication and executive director of USC’s Annenberg Innovation Lab, which is tasked with exploring the interaction of society’s wicked problems—and opportunities—through media, technology, and culture. He revels in connecting diverse people and ideas and helping them to track and shape the interaction of technology and society.

Tianna Shaw-Wakeman graduated as USC’s first Black University Valedictorian in 2021. As a student, she committed herself to helping USC become more sustainable by spearheading the No Plastic Straws in Dining Halls movement, directing the environmental activism group ECore, acting as the lead organizer for the USC 2019 Climate Strike, and co-founding DivestSC, which led to USC’s commitment to full divestment from fossil fuels. Tianna was also a member of L.A. Mayor Garcetti’s Youth Council on Climate Action.

Presented by USC Arts in Action, part of Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative, and the USC Arts & Climate Collective. Co-sponsored by the USC Fisher Museum of Art and the Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies.

Art: Gwenan Walker (USC Arts & Climate Collective)