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Events Archive

 

Majora Carter electrifies KIW Gala 2007

"America has five percent of the world's population, and 25 percent of what?"

Majora Carter posed this question to the expectant audience of more than 300 attending the Third Annual Keeping It Wild Gala on Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007 at the Georgia Freight Depot.

"Waste" and "pollution," several people piped up.

But the audience was chilled when the MacArthur Foundation "Genius Award" winner and founder of Sustainable South Bronx, responded,

"We have 25 percent of the world's incarcerated."

Ms. Carter went on to link  the problems of inequity and injustice in our society to the root causes of poverty and environmental degradation.
She spoke passionately of the urgency to transform polluted and contaminated neighborhoods into safe and healthy places for citizens to live and work, citing her personal transformation from an aspiring writer to an environmental advocate. Coupled with her resulting accomplishments, she amply illustrated the theme of the Gala, "Protecting Your Environment: The Power of One."

Susan Kidd, former SVP of the Georgia Conservancy, moved the program flawlessly as Mistress of Ceremonies after having worked tirelessly as the Chair of the Host Committee. KIW Executive Director, Kathryn Kolb, presented a brilliant overview of the program's aims and objectives.

In keeping with previous KIW events the audience represented the diversity of the region ethnically, racially, and culturally. The Gala continued the tradition of being the great arena where conservationists, environmentalists and supporters gather informally to share their commitment to protecting our environment in a relaxed and congenial atmosphere. Participants spoke of the inspiration they derived from participating KIW hikes in the North Georgia Mountains; canoe trips on the Ocmulgee River through the wildlands of Central Georgia, snorkeling in the Conasauga River and the "Ecology of the City" urban hike led by Quinton Bass. Wayne Jenkins, Executive Director of Georgia ForestWatch gave impassioned comments on the need for individuals to become more involved in protecting our forests and wildlands.

Closing the affair, KIW Steering Committee Chair Frank Peterman appealed to members of the audience to contact their federally elected officials to support increasing the Land and Water Conservation Fund as a primary method to save forests and wildlands.

 

African Americans and the Environment: Stewardship and Sustainability - April 2007

On April 19, 2007, Radio talk show host Valerie Jackson moderated a town-hall style panel discussion on Global Warming and other environmental challenges, featuring national environmental leaders: Jerome Ringo, Chairman of the Board, National Wildlife Federation, Charles Jordan, Chairman of the Board, The Conservation Fund, Nia Robinson, Director, Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative, and Reverend Gerald Durley, Providence Missionary Baptist Church. This special event was held at the MLK Chapel at Morehouse College on April 19, 2007. Click here for pictures from this event.

Photography Exhibition

Last summer, the Wilderness Society proudly hosted "Southern Wildlands: Exceptional Remnants of the Great Eastern Forest." This exhibit featured 24 large color photographs by Kathryn Kolb of southeastern wilderness and other wildlands, with several images of virgin old growth forest from a variety of ecosystems.

These photographs were on display at Fernbank Museumof Natural History in Atlanta, July 9 through September 18, 2005.

Included in the exhibit were images from The Wilderness Society's Publication "Why Wilderness? What the Last Remaining Wild Lands of the Southern Appalachians Mean to the People of the Southeast." Interview from "Why Wilderness?" and other quotations from historical and contemporary authors as well as general information about specific forest environmentsaccompanied the photographs from Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. From  
close-up TrilliumVaseyi to                                            
monolithic old growth buckeye to
abstract reflections in mountain streams, Kolb's artful style characterizes this distinguished collection of images.                                                                  

 

 

 

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