'crowcreek stone circle'
Seven generous organizations have committed to donate 21 copies of their thought-provoking and inspirational films to the 21 communities along the Yukon River, and have given us permission to screen these films publicly as part of our spring event (we are still working to get permission from warner bros for 11th hour film). I will post the films and organizations here soon. These organizations and the people behind them who have helped me with this deserve a standing ovation and a million thank yous.
I truly believe that these films and the ideas that they contain have the power to inspire / capture the interest of some 13 year old kid in an 80 person village in the interior of Alaska and empower them to become the next Evon Peter, the next Van Jones ... the next Governor of Alaska.
'september rainbow'
At the moment I do not know how specifically it will work, but intuitively I want the Last Frontier Eco Alliance to provide rural youth in these communities with opportunities to learn how to make films, become involved with environmental preservation and community development efforts in an organized way. Or to link the young people in these communities with the resources and national organizations that can help make this happen.
Beyond the 7 films we currently have donated... we have a few other films on a waiting list, so that gives us a great jump start for next year.
'zombie; 3 am blog writer'
Gaining Momentum
I listen to rap and hip hop music, can rhyme fairly well, and believe in its power to act as a tool for social change. In fact a lot of the youth I talked to on the river trip were very interested in hip hop/ rap music. I read this article -- "Hip Hop Ballet" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/arts/dance/06laro.html -- last spring and thought about the parallels between the environmental movement and ballet dancing, how the narrow/ elitist image of ballet and the environmental movement could both be improved upon by thinking out of the box to engage more diverse demographics in terms of their audience. Sometimes when working on this project I believe that I think like a free style rapper in terms of improvisation, collages of ideas and loose associations between subjects...
So a month or so ago my friend C bought me a ticket to this debut peformance of a new contemporary dance company here in Anchorage. The first time I was invited I declined, than the second time I said to myself "why not" and went. It was a great decision. I was impressed by all the beautiful / talented women, the artistic use of light and the dancers control over their body language in relation to each other and their audience. It was proving hard for me to organize a local carrotmob campaign and I got to thinking that a choreographer's touch might help bring some of these ideas to life...
To make a long story short I am joining forces with The Momentum Dance Collective for our event series. Beyond their talent they bring a lot to the table in terms of support, event-planning, ideas and local connections. We have changed the vision a little bit from what I originally had in mind last fall. The 4 city carrotmob competition idea is on hold: as it makes more sense to keep the money local in each city as we start out on this initiative, and because I can't be in 4 places at once.
We are very focused on one primary Anchorage event (with a tentative date of Earth Day, which is April 22). We want to link raising awareness with ACTION, action that will get tangible results... Our goal for this event is to host a carrotmob campaign, engage local artists for entertainment, bring in a keynote Green Jobs speaker and facilitate a dynamic live green jobs forum with public officials. And to raise money that could be used for seed funds for a workforce development program which will give low-income @ risk young people here in Anchorage jobs retrofitting buildings for energy efficiency etc., building a clean energy economy.
There is a great podcast here from the SF mayor Newsom's radio show with Van Jones, Founder of Green For All and David Llorens founder of 1 Block off the Grid: http://cleantechnica.com/2009/01/12/green-jobs-discussed-on-san-francisco-mayors-radio-show/#more-1849 .
Ideally I want a role in designing this local workforce development program and potentially to be involved in running it. I have been thinking a lot about how programs like NOLS and Outward Bound create safe, supportive, high-expectations / high achievement learning environments and how their philosophies could be creatively applied in an urban setting to teach technical skills, as well as soft skills like leadership and communication.
'moosecalf'
In addition to this main event, we are looking at the possibility of three lesser cafe-style events in Fairbanks, Juneau and Whitehorse for later in the summer or fall. These could involve a slideshow that describes the project and our goals, public screenings of a few of the films, and perhaps a dance peformance. These three satellite events will give us an opportunity to make key connections with the local communities in these cities, which will set us up to efficiently launch a 4 city event schedule for 2010.
What we need right now though is some leadership. There is no way around it. I am more than happy to pour all my free-time, energy, heart and soul into this, but to make this event become what it needs to be: we need partnerships. We need money to bring in a Green Jobs Speaker. Commitments from organizations/ corporations and individuals, national or local to join our team. I have every intent to leverage any small amount of support many, many times over. If you want to help or are interested in more details about our plans, please email. This is a phenomenal opportunity to become involved in something meaningful that will make the world a better place!
Mike Jayne and I have signed up for the new http://www.yukon1000.com/ canoe / kayak race under the team name Last Frontier Eco Alliance. We signed up for tandem Kayak (neither of us have a kayak), but might switch to canoe. I think in a kayak we have a shot @ being competitive. Peter Coates is doing a lot of work organizing this. It should be interesting. A couple times on the trip this fall I rowed thru the night in the dark. The first time I was trying to get to a cabin by Indian River and saw a light and began to row toward it... and than ended up crashing into a low-gravel bar. The light turned out to be the LED headlight of one of two Yukon Charley Park rangers camped out on the edge of a low island with their skiff. They were traveling up and down the river, keeping an eye on the moose hunters and buttoning up some of the Cabins for the winter. We talked while I wolfed down a cold can of Raviolli, than I threw my sleeping bag down on the rocks next to the canoe and fell asleep.
The second time I did a long night was on the way to Stephens Village. I got shut down in a snowstorm just a few miles outside of the village of Beaver and had to stay there under the canoe and tarp on a gravel bar for 30 some odd hours, as soon as it cleared I headed down river. here is a shot of the inside of the canoe:
It was a long night and I was dressed in winter gear when started in the morning and again when I got into Stephens village. I stopped at a couple cabins on the way there because I thought it was the village and went up the bank. It was really cold, snow on the ground. There were stars and the water was darker than the trees yet it was hard to tell the difference. I was following the map the women @ the tribal center gave me in Fort Yukon and I knew the river was supposed to bend to the right at about 90 degrees before angling around to the village. I must have rowed the canoe into low gravel bars / the shoreline on the right about 30 times before I finally got to the place where the river's course shifted direction. When I finally reached Stephens Village I was so happy, I grabbed the camera case and my sleeping bag and climbed up a 20 foot bank and began walking down the road in the dark. Their were all kinds of people outside drinking, which was strange as it was the middle of the night. I eventually got directions to the washerteria, where I intended to sleep in the warmth. Surprisingly there were about 30 people from all over Alaska in there: there was a funeral the next day and all the relatives of the deceased had come in from Fairbanks, Kenai etc.. The next morning some women took me in under their wing, told me to get a shower and brought me to breakfast down by the landing... put me to work butchering a moose, chopping wood for the fires, in return for lots of food and great conversation. The kids at the school only had a half-day due to the funeral, and I was able to sneak in a quick presentation around noon, where I talked about Van Jones and Majora Carter and Green For All, the Bioneers, my plans for Alaska and this project... and left them my copy of the 11th Hour.
'akrange'
I really believe in this work and feel completely alive and engaged when working on this. I have complete confidence that this will work and change lives.
This blog should be updated more frequently leading through the spring.
