Nobel Peace Prize, Human Flower Project, and Green Cities, Brown Folks

In the last Tree Walk Wednesday post, I highlighted the upcoming California ReLeaf conference, but failed to include the November 14 Ella Baker Center discussion panel Green Cities, Brown Folks. The panel, as in previous years, will advocate for the role of people of color in the urban environmental movement. The event will be held at the Lake Merritt United Methodist Church, 1330 Lakeshore Avenue, Oakland, between 6 and 8 p.m., with a reception starting at 5:30 p.m. RSVP to Maka at maka@ellabakercenter.org or 510-428-3939 x247. Speaking of people of color and the environmental movement, Wangari Muta Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 for her project, the Green Belt Movement. This year's Peace Prize awardees are Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Al Gore is decidedly not a person of color, but his elevation of the effects of climate change in the popular imagination and in policy circles has positive implications for cities (increasingly populated by persons of color) and developing countries (predominantly populated by persons of color). Last, but not least, an essay I wrote about the reproduction of street trees has been accepted and posted on the Human Flower Project website! Support our work and that of Human Flower Project; read the essay and make comments.