The Elephant in the Battery: Unlearning Racism Book Club and Conversation Series
October 18 @ 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Please register using this link!
This event will take place on October 18, 2023 at 10am PT, 11am MT, 12pm CT, and 1pm ET.
This event is open to everyone; feel free to invite a friend!
The Unlearning Racism Book Club and Conversation Series is a space for supporting one another in the essential and ongoing work of dismantling racism in our lived spaces. It is coordinated by Robin Straughan, Evelyn Wight, and Kim Slack.
For our next Unlearning Racism conversation, we will be exploring the social impacts of battery technology and the pressing need to move away from fossil fuels while considering unintended environmental justice issues. Our guides for this exploration will be a podcast and a magazine article.
Podcast: We invite you to listen to the June 1, 2023 Throughline episode – The Ghost in Your Phone (52 min). This episode shines a light on what it takes to extract the cobalt that is required for our phones, computers, and the batteries used in electric vehicles.
Article: To Save the Planet, Should We Really Be Moving Slower? by Bill McKibben; New Yorker, July 5, 2023 (12-page PDF). This article discusses the vital importance of lowering our carbon footprints to help fight the climate crisis and the impacts of various actions. It challenges us to think about how we can live with less, enjoy living more, and reduce harm to the most vulnerable species (including ours).
*Note: This article is behind a pay wall. We can share a copy with you if needed upon RSVP.
Photo credit: JUNIOR KANNAH/AFP via Getty Images