Exciting book reading group, 3/26, 4/9, 5/7

[Alessa Johns]

By Ooti Almendariz

 

Seeds of Justice Reading and Reflection Group

Spring 2024

The Seeds of Justice learning community started in 2021 as a project of the Episcopal Church of St. Martin to study the backgrounds for establishing land-based ministry in Yolo County; that is, an approach to ministry that considers the land, including its history, uses, original inhabitants, ecosystem health, and environmental threats, to be a key component of the church’s mission. To learn about these subjects, we have in the past two years hosted lively conversations with Native Californian cultural practitioners, historians, and professors: Diana Almendariz, Melissa Moreno, Melinda Adams, Beth Rose Middleton Manning, John Liu, and Alan Taylor.

 

This year, we are partnering with YoloSol, a cultural arts and ecology collective, and the Yolo Interfaith Alliance for Climate Justice to reflect on the book Know We Are Here, edited by Terria Smith, a tribal member of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians. M. Kat Anderson, author of Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California's Natural Resources, calls this book: “An essential resource to learn about the many trials and triumphs of the indigenous people of California who rise to revitalize their cultures, tell their true histories, and honor their ancestors through retelling stories that keep them remembered in these landscapes. Their love of the land, their culture and the pride in their history shine through.” 

 

We will meet three times, once a month on Tuesdays from 6:30-8pm at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, to reflect on how these stories shape our understanding of the Native Californian past, shed light on our current climate crisis, and might suggest pathways to a restorative future for the web of life here in the Yolo bioregion. (You can borrow or purchase a copy of the book from the Church of St. Martin, order from one of our local bookstores, or purchase it online, preferably directly from Heyday Books https://heydaybooks.com/catalog/know-we-are-here.) Discussions will focus on three sections of the book, one of which we would ask you to read before each in-person meeting:

 

March 26 - Histories of Resistance 

April 9 - Place, Nature, and Wellness 

May 7 - Solidarity 

 

Please RSVP St. Martin’s (in...@churchofstmartin.org) if you are interested in participating.

Sponsored in part by the City of Davis Arts and Cultural Affairs Program and Episcopal Community Services. We look forward to sharing reflections about these readings!