The South by Southwest Ecosocialist Conference will be taking place from Fri. Feb. 20 at 5 pm to Sun. Feb. 22 at the University of North Texas Wooten Hall. It is sponsored by System Change Not Climate Change; the Ecosocialist Coalition, of which Solidarity, the Socialist Party-USA, ISO, DSA, and others are coalition partners. SCNCC currently has chapters in the DFW Metroplex and Houston.

 

Speakers will include Green Party 2012 presidential candidate Jill Stein and ecosocialist author Chris Williams, as well as panel discussions featuring a broad spectrum of Metroplex activists. Panels will include intersectionality between the climate and environmental crises and social and economic justice issues. The conference will also include nonviolent civil disobedience training and a “World Cafe” small group discussion session.

 

Cost is $50 for standard registration, $25 for low income, and $100 for supporters wishing to make an additional donation to support the cause.  Registration deadline is Sun. Feb. 16. The website also provides detailed location info for persons unfamiliar with the UNT campus and a daily schedule for the conference. The facility can accommodate up to 250 attendees, so please register now before it fills up!”

Friday

8:30-9:00 pm

Opening Plenary: Ecosocialism: Economics as Though the Earth, People and Justice Really Matter

Speaker:

Chris Williams, Ph. D., Science Department, Pace University; New York, New York; author of Ecology and Socialism

 

 

Saturday

Registration — 8:00 am to 8:30 am

 

Welcoming — 8:30 am to 9:00 am

Speakers:

Gary Stuard – Chief Organizer, System Change Not Climate Change – Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton 

Olinka Green – African American anti-racism/anti-sexism activist; Dallas, Texas 

 

 

Climate/Environmental and Economic Justice — 9:00 am to 10:30 am

Speakers:

Collette Flanagan – Mothers Against Police Brutality; Dallas, Texas

Priscilla Ybarra, Ph. D – Assistant Professor, Chicana/o Literature and Ecocriticism, Dept. of English at the University of North Texas.  Nina Robinson – Sierra Club 

Kandi Mosset (via Sype) – Indigenous Environmental Network 

Arash Farasat – local fair employment activist for low-income workers 

 

Break — 10:30 am to 10:45 am

 

Ending Fossil Fuels: Making the Shift to Renewables — 10:45 am to 12:00 pm

Speakers:

Ramon Mejia – Veterans for Peace 

Cindy Spoon – Tar Sands Blockade, North Texas Rising Tide 

Jonathan Adams – Denton’s fracking ban campaign, Tar Sands Blockade and North Texas Rising Tide

Break out and report back on ending fossil fuels, 12:00 pm to 12:30 pm

 

Lunch — 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm

 

Climate Disruption and Public Health — 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm

Speakers:

Cherelle Blazer – Dallas Sierra Club, Downwinders at Risk

Kristel Escamilla. – University of North Texas

Scott Crow – Anarchist speaker, author, organizer, political strategist and worker cooperative creator at Rabble Rouser; Austin, Texas

Break out and report back on climate disruption and public health, 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm

 

Break, 3:30 pm to 3:45 pm

 

Changing Jobs: Re-visioning Work in a Post Capitalist World — 3:45 pm to 5:15 pm

Speakers:

Howard Erhman – Assistant Professor; University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC); College of Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences 

Kila Akuno – Cooperation Jackson; Jackson, Mississippi  

Eka Asase Yaa (aka Cresanda Allen) – Sankofa Science Solutions; Dallas, Texas

 

Break out and report back in changing work, 5:15 pm to 5:45 pm

 

Public talk given by Jill Stein, M.D. (American physician specializing in internal medicine,  nominee of the Green Party for President of the United States in 2012 election, candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in the 2002 and the 2010 gubernatorial elections)  – 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Wooten Hall, UNT/Denton

 

 

Sunday

Creating the New Society, Creating the New Politics; Strategies for Building the Ecosocialist Society — 9:00 am to 10:30 am

Speakers:

Jill Stein, M.D. – Green Party U.S.A.; member of the Green Shadow Government

Chris Williams, Ph. D. – Science Department, Pace University; New York, New York

Meg Hargis – Feminist /LGBTQ /anti-racism activist; Dallas, Texas

Dan Sullivan – Lawyer. Founder and chief organizer of the Dallas Left Alliance 

Gary Stuard, LMSW – Founder and Chief Organizer of System Change Not Climate Change – Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton 

 

Break out and report back on new society, new politics, 10:30 am to 11:00 am

 

Track 1: Civil Disobedience Training, 11:15 am to 12:45 pm

Lead Trainer: Scott Crow

 

Track 2: World Cafe, 11:15 am to 12:45 pm

Facilitator: Beau McDermott

 

Lunch (with closing speakers), 1:00 pm to 2:30 pm

Speakers: Chris Williams and Gary Stuard

 

Track 1: World Café, 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Facilitator: Beau McDermott

 

Track 2: Civil Disobedience Training, 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm

Lead Trainer: Scott Crow