WE ACT Presents Earth Day Book Talk with Dr. Dorceta Taylor

In partnership with The Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, WE ACT will host the Earth Day Book Talk on «Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection» with Dr. Dorceta Taylor who will present her new book The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Privilege, and Environmental Protection. The book is published by Duke University Press. Dr. Taylor is James E. Crowfoot Collegiate Chair, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and Professor of Environmental Sociology at the University of Michigan.

8:30 – 9:00 AM — Breakfast with Dr. Taylor
9:00 – 11:00 AM — Presentation and Discussion

Dr. Taylor’s most recent work has focused on the lack of diversity within the environmental movement, as published in her Green 2.0 report, which draws on data provided by «191 environmental non-profits, 74 government environmental agencies, and 28 leading environmental grant-making foundations to investigate their gender and racial diversity composition.»

Results found that only 12-16% of their staff are people of color, despite being disproportionately impacted by most environmental and climate-related issues.

«In writing this book I was most touched by Harriett Tubman’s ferocity and commitment to a cause. I have a vision of her lying in the woods on nights before the raided a slave plantation to free slaves and guide them to victory. Her spirituality allowed her to commune with and draw strength from God and nature. Her solitary forays into the woods provided the knowledge and wisdom she needed to guide runaway slaves to freedom. Her story instructs us to understand our environment, stay connected to it, but also use it to dismantle oppression.» —Dr. Dorceta Taylor