As She Rises

In the southern valleys of California, lies a desert oasis known as the Salton Sea. The inland sea is picturesque— from afar. Up close, the beauty begins to fade. The sea is a result of diverting the Colorado River to the Imperial Valley for agriculture, and it’s filled with fertilizer, pesticides, and salt. Decades of drought have caused the sea to evaporate at a rapid pace, exposing the lakebed, unearthing toxins, and endangering nearby communities.

Adriana Torres Ceja and Olivia Rodriguez Mendez are both residents of the Eastern Coachella Valley and graduates of the Youth Leadership Institute. They have seen firsthand the negative impacts of the shrinking sea. Adriana reads a poem she wrote about the Salton Sea, and Olivia talks about the documentary she helped make to ensure her community’s voices are heard while the future of the sea remains uncertain.

For more:

• Watch Estamos Aquí
• Support the Youth Leadership Institute

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As She Rises is a Wonder Media Network production. Follow Wonder Media Network on Instagram and Twitter.

The most visited stretch of beach in Hawai’i should be underwater. Instead, it’s kept afloat by over thirty thousand tons of sand-- sand that drifts out to sea every 5 to 10 years before it's replaced yet again. Before the Ala Wai canal drained the watershed, Waikiki sustained a native population of over a million, and fed and nurtured its diverse wildlife in a self-sustaining system. Today, king tides are trying to reclaim Waikiki.

“This is not the end of civilization, but a return to one. Only the water insisting on what it should always have, spreading its liniment over infected wounds. Only the water rising above us, reteaching us wealth, and remembering its name.”

In this episode, we visit the man-made beach of Waikiki. Poet Brandy Nālani McDougall reads from her collection “The Salt-Wind, Ka Makani Paʻakai” and tells us of Hawai’i before the Ala Wai. Frankie Koethe, community outreach liaison for the Ko’olau Mountains Watershed Partnership, explains the intricacies of the Waikiki watershed and the dangers it faces in an era of urbanization.

Take Action:

• You can find more of Brandy’s poetry and writing on Bookshop.org
• You can support the Ko’olau Mountains Watershed Partnership and sign up to volunteer at koolauwatershed.org
• Join efforts to put pressure on world leaders, at COP26 and beyond:
  • Support SheChangesClimate, which is trying to get more women in top-level leadership at COP26 and other delegations around the world.
  • Check out Greenpeace’s campaign: you can get involved with a local volunteer group in the UK or sign the Greenpeace petition.

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In 1961, Norma and Mel Gabler were a quiet couple living in Longview, Texas. One day, they noticed some factual errors in one of their sons’ textbooks. What began as a small complaint morphed into a multi-decade crusade to shape what children of Texas ​​— and therefore the country — read in their textbooks. In an election year with raging debates around education, this audio documentary charts how Texas dictated American education over the last sixty years and examines how the fight over our children's classroom has only intensified today.

WMN on Twitter: @wmnmedia

Grace Lynch on Twitter: @gracelynch08

In New Orleans, there is a time before the storm, and a time after. How does one keep up with change in a state losing a football field’s worth of land every hour and a half? On a street where a neighbor’s porch is built 12 feet off the ground?

Take Action:

• The Gulf Coast Center for Law and Policy advances structural shifts toward ecological equity and climate justice in Gulf South communities of color on the frontline of climate change. You can donate to or volunteer with the GCCLP and Colette’s work at GCCLP.org.
• Join the efforts of the Gulf South for a Green New Deal at GulfSouth2GND.org. Find regional movements and events at GulfSouth4GND.org/regional-actions.
• Support Jerika’s poetry and book, “Swole,” at FuturePoem.com.
• Join efforts to put pressure on world leaders, at COP26 and beyond:
  • Support SheChangesClimate, which is trying to get more women in top-level leadership at COP26 and other delegations around the world.
  • Check out Greenpeace’s campaign: you can get involved with a local volunteer group in the UK or sign the Greenpeace petition.
• Donate to local aid groups organizing for Hurricane Ida and COVID-19 relief for the city of New Orleans and surrounding communities:
• Imagine Water Works advocates for "living with water" and works at the intersections of reducing risk from flooding, pollution, and natural hazards, prioritizing those who are systemically forgotten or pushed to the margins.
• Our Voice Nuestra Voz (#BlackAndBrownGetDown Community Defense Fund) organizes parents to expand quality educational access for students in New Orleans.
• House of Tulip is a community land trust creating housing solutions for trans and gender non conforming people in Louisiana:
• Bvlbancha Collective is an Indigenous mutual aid collective working in and for Bvlbancha, the original Chahta name for New Orleans.
• New Orleans Musicians' Clinic provides comprehensive medical care and social services to local musicians, performing artists, cultural workers, and tradition bearers.
• United Houma Nation Relief supports the efforts and general daily operations of the United Houma Nation.

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This land has always been on fire. But the destructive power of these flames is new. There was a time before, and there is a time ahead, when fire clears the way for new growth in the foothills. “So many particular precious, irreplaceable lives that despite ourselves, we're inhaling.”

In this episode, we visit the land currently known as Northern California. Molly Fisk, inaugural poet laureate of Nevada County, California, recalls the devastation of the Camp Fire and the trepidation that follows rebuilding in the scorched tracks of a wildfire. Margo Robbins, Yurok Tribal member and executive director of the Cultural Fire Management Council, explains the ecosystem’s intricate connection to fire and the role prescribed burns played in this area’s past, present, and future.

Take Action:

• You can find more of Molly’s writing at mollyfisk.com. California Fire & Water, an anthology project helping kids across California write poems about the climate crisis, is out now.
• Support Margo’s work at the Cultural Fire Management Council at CulturalFire.org.
• Join efforts to put pressure on world leaders, at COP26 and beyond:
  • Support SheChangesClimate, which is trying to get more women in top-level leadership at COP26 and other delegations around the world.
  • Check out Greenpeace’s campaign: you can get involved with a local volunteer group in the UK or sign the Greenpeace petition.

Follow Wonder Media Network:

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• Twitter