We can imagine collapse - can we imagine renewal?

I love a good post-apocalyptic story. I grew up on movies like Mad Max, BladeRunner, and Soylent Green. When Cli-Fi (Climate Fiction) became a named genre, I was elated to find a host of books curated for my particular weirdness like N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth series, Tatterdemalion by Sylvia Linsteadt, and of course, the life-changing Earthseed series by Octavia Butler. (I confess, I don’t know if this prepares me for a lifetime working on climate justice or if it just gives me a reference point of “Whew, it’s not that bad, yet.”)

Our society loves a good story of survival after collapse, but what about a vision where all beings thrive?

It seems easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine a world without fossil fuels. If we can so creatively imagine collapse, what would it look like if we similarly imagine renewal? What if climate activists embraced the visionary reimaging we see in the abolition movement? How can we reimagine a world with no fossil fuels, where clean energy is a human right and all beings thrive?

These are the questions of our times.

“In order to build the movements capable of transforming our world, we have to do our best to live with one foot in the world we have not yet created…” Aurora Levins Morales

Imagine it's 2050 and we've achieved all of our wildest hopes for climate justice...what does it look like? Do we UUs have a vision of what a just climate future is? Without a clear vision of a world where all can thrive, we run the risk of prioritizing short-term gains, false solutions, legislative goals disconnected from cultural shifts, and distractions that divide our focus.

I invite you to tune into Abolitionist Visions of Climate Justice this Thursday, May 25 at 7ET with Rev. Dr. Sofía Betancourt, Ecowomanist theologian and sole candidate for UUA President*; Dr. Rashid Shaikh, director of science emeritus at the Health Effects Institute in Boston and co-convenor of the UU Ministry for Earth Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Caucus on Climate Justice; and Antoinette Scully, National Organizer for the UU Women's Federation.

Together, these UU leaders will share their own abolitionist vision of climate justice while discussing what it means for UUs to hold these radical visions and what we need to do to realize this flourishing world.

Following the webinar, Side With Love will host workshops to support UUs to host similar visions of climate justice in our own communities. These visions can guide our conversations and shape our work to ensure that our movements are building a thriving future for all.

* NOTE: This event is cosponsored by Side With Love, UU College of Social Justice, UU Ministry for Earth, UUs for Social Justice, and UUs for a Just Economic Community; and is not a campaign event