EVENT LINK: https://bit.ly/waterprotectors3

Thursday, July 13, 2023

12:30 PM-2:00 PM HT

3:30 PM-5:00 PM PT

4:30 PM-6:00 PM MT

5:30 PM-7:00 PM CT

6:30 PM-8:00 PM ET

ABOUT PANEL 3 : TOGETHER, WE RISE

From Hawaiʻi to Standing Rock, front line water protectors are confronted with common patterns and water destroyers that jeopardize our livelihoods. We will expose these patterns and crises systemically rooted in U.S. imperialism, racism, and call for our response to also be systemic. Join us, to confront these layers of violence, and Together, We Rise.

ABOUT WATER PROTECTORS RISING PANEL SERIES

Water Protectors Rising started as a multi-part virtual panel series, and we are honored to put forth the Together, We Rise panel, exploring the interconnected fight of water protectors everywhere. From Red Hill to Flint to Vieques, we know what our communities need to keep us safe. Join us as we learn from organizers, advocates, and experts as they share their experiences, victories, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way. By linking arms with these communities and sharing knowledge with one another, we aim to build a stronger, more unified water justice movement.

FEATURING

Moderators:

Wayne Tanaka (Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi):

Wayne Chung Tanaka is the executive director of the Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi, which for many years has led legal, political, and grassroots campaigns to address the threat posed by the U.S. Navyʻs Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility. Mr. Tanaka previously served as the Public Policy Manager for the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, where he oversaw efforts focused on improving the conditions of Native Hawaiians through environmental protection, cultural and linguistic perpetuation, access to healthcare, affordable housing, education, criminal justice reform, and other relevant subject matter areas. He is an engineer and licensed attorney, and has published articles and book chapters on konohiki fishing rights, Papahānaumokuākea, nearshore fisheries management, indigenous food sovereignty, and the intersection of race and politics in Hawaiʻi, among other topics.

Natali Segovia (Water Protector Legal Collective):

Natali Segovia is an international human rights attorney of Quechua descent, who currently serves as the Legal Director of the Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC). WPLC is an Indigenous-led legal nonprofit that grew out of the #NoDAPL resistance at Standing Rock, and provides legal support and advocacy for Indigenous Peoples and Original Nations, the Earth, and climate justice movements. Natali's work focuses on the protection of the Earth and defense of those facing prosecution and repression for their resistance work and activism. Natali’s international work has focused on addressing human rights violations as a result of extractive industry and mass development projects, including the impact of extraction on Indigenous Peoples through forced displacement, desecration of sacred lands, and contamination of traditional homelands.

Panelists:

Noel Shaw - Hawaiʻi

Noel Kaleikalaunuokaʻoiaʻiʻo Shaw is a mother, attorney, guidance counselor, and Native rights activist from Hawai’i. Having completed her formal education in Indian Country- acquiring her Juris Doctor from Lewis & Clark Law School with an emphasis in Indian Law and a bachelors in Applied Indigenous Studies and Political Science from Northern Arizona University- Noel holds a deep reverence for all relations who live under U.S. settler and colonial occupation. Upon returning home to Oʻahu in 2020 and a month after having her third child in 2021- she was put to work organizing to address the U.S. Navy induced Red Hill water crisis. A member of Hui Aloha ‘Āina o Honolulu, Oʻahu Water Protectors, and Ka Aumanu o Mānoa, Noel aligns the responsibilities of raising her beautiful children with the work required for justice, community building, and the stewardship necessary to protect our most vital resources for generations to come.

Nick Estes - Minnesota

Nick Estes is an enrolled member of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and is an Assistant Professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. He studies colonialism and global Indigenous histories, focusing on decolonization, oral history, U.S. imperialism, environmental justice, anti-capitalism, and the Oceti Sakowin. Estes is the author of the award-winning book Our History Is the Future: Standing Rock Versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance (2019), which places the Indigenous-led movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline into historical context. Estes co-hosts the Red Nation podcast and is the lead editor of Red Media, an Indigenous-run non-profit media organization that publishes books, videos, and podcasts. Estes is also a member of the Oceti Sakowin Writers Society (formerly Oak Lake Writers Society), a network of Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota writers committed to defend and advance Oceti Sakowin sovereignty, cultures, and histories.

Jamie Williams - Red Hill

Jamie Williams is a Coast Guard spouse and former resident of Army housing at Kapūkaki, also known as Red Hill. In the Fall of 2021, 93,000 residents of military housing were exposed to contaminated water caused by a fuel spill at the Red Hill bulk fuel storage facility. Inspired by Hawaiʻi community members who welcomed her with open arms, she has been an outspoken advocate for military transparency and environmental justice,participating in numerous interviews and hearings, and organizing with groups such as Shut Down Red Hill Mutual Aid to help other affected individuals and families navigate the ongoing water crisis.

Dr. Akiemi Glenn - Hawaiʻi

Dr. Glenn is the founder and executive director of the Pōpolo Project. She holds an MA and PhD in linguistics from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa and a BA in linguistics from New York University. Akiemi is a scholar and community worker who specializes in studying culture and facilitating community change on large and small scales. A filmmaker, artist, and cultural practitioner with genealogical ties to the forest and coastal areas currently known as North Carolina and Virginia, her research, curation, and work in Indigenous language revitalization and in community-based culture education centers the experience of diaspora and the potential of radical connection for profound change.