Breaking Green Ceilings – Details, episodes & analysis

In the second part of a two part series, we will continue talking about The Whale Child, a book written and illustrated by Indigenous authors Keith and Chenoa Egawa. Keith and Chenoa are siblings and enrolled members of the Lummi Indian Nation and of Japanese heritage. 

This book is a reminder of why we are here, why I am here, and why I am doing this work and this podcast. 

In the first part of the episode, we hear more about the role of magic in telling the story and about the inspiration for the book. In the second part of the episode, Keith and Chenoa talk about influences, habits, and advices that helped them in their work and life. 

Magic is a part of life. It is also the potential that we all have that somehow gets limited through conditioning and socialization, especially in modern world. We are able to connect to that magic – if we wish to – through our dreams. It comes from the heart, not the mind. But now, we do not even know what the heart is saying any more. 

We want you to remember you’re important; this is who you are. You can be what you want to be. But what is your goal? Is it to make money? And, is it to make money at the cost of life? It does not matter if you’re a good engineer; if your job is destructive, you’re destroying the Earth. It is important to bring this reality to our children now and prepare them to what is happening and what is going to happen. 

Episode Highlights

• We have stories about whales and orcas. They’re akin. It is not just some kind of idea of magic, but these are parts of our wisdom and understanding over thousands of years.
• If you want to connect with your magic, you have to open something within yourself to remember what is already in you.
• We were inspired to write the story because we saw the power of the birth of our nephew, and what happened during that time. 
• We want all children to remember that they are this precious and this sacred.
• And then the environmental message came too, because of where we are now. We thought of all our children and our nieces and nephew, thinking about all of them and wanting to have that hope for them. That’s how the story came about. It came from a dream that my sister had. 
• There’s a change of jobs that needs to happen. There’s a change in our conciseness that needs to happen. If you’re doing a job, it needs to have some aspects of caring about the Earth, life, and healing.  

Contact information and other Resources:

Keith Egawa is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Creative Writing program and author of the novel Madchild Running. Keith’s extensive work experience in the fields of Child and Family Services and Indian Education Reform has provided him with both inspiration and insight into his subject matter.

Chenoa Egawa holds a BA in International Business and Spanish from the University of Washington. In addition to being a writer, Chenoa is an activist for Indigenous communities and the environment, a ceremonial leader, medicine woman, singer, storyteller, and artist dedicated to bringing healing to our Mother Earth and people of all origins. 

Breaking Green Ceilings:

Website: https://www.breakinggreenceilings.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breaking_green_ceilings/

Follow Keith and Chenoa Egawa: 

Instagram: The Whale Child

Facebook: The Whale Child

Website: http://www.swanclan.com/

E-mail: chenoa egawa

Penguin Random House: The Whale Child

Amazon: The Whale Child

In this first episode of a two-part series, we will be talking about The Whale Child, a book written and illustrated by Indigenous authors Keith and Chenoa Egawa. Keith and Chenoa are siblings and enrolled members of the Lummi Indian Nation, and of Japanese heritage. 

Keith Egawa is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Creative Writing program and author of the novel Madchild Running. Keith’s extensive work experience in the fields of Child and Family Services and Indian Education Reform has provided him with both inspiration and insight into his subject matter.

Chenoa Egawa holds a BA in International Business and Spanish from the University of Washington. In addition to being a writer, Chenoa is an activist for Indigenous communities and the environment, a ceremonial leader, medicine woman, singer, storyteller, and artist dedicated to bringing healing to our Mother Earth and people of all origins. 

The Whale Child is an inspiring book that introduces young readers to the environmental challenges facing the planet through the eyes of Coast Salish characters and authors. It is a story about two children: a young whale and a little girl. Her task is to follow the whale child as he shows her the threats of pollution and global warming to water and thus to all interconnected life and creatures on Earth.  

The book is a reminder of our severed and hurt relationships with nature. We were born with connections to nature. But as we grow older, we get socialized away from nature, which takes us away from our essence, who we really are. 

According to the authors, there is nothing wrong with awareness. We do not need to be afraid. We need to recognize what is going on, and realize that we still have the power to change the situation. Turning our backs and being afraid to look at the truth will not help us to overcome anything. Facing the reality of what is going on, whether it is within or around us, is part of the healing that we all came here to do. And now, perhaps, if we can come together and recognize our common humanity, we can see that together we can make these changes. It is on us to find a way to respect nature wherever we are.

Episode Highlights

• I remember the stories that our great-grandmother would tell us. There was sadness in me because I thought about how those days are gone and these stories are, somehow, disappearing in this new world.
• We wrote The Whale Child honoring the memory and realizing that these things are not gone, that we can remember them at any time. And if we breathe that life back into them, they are waiting for us. 
• All of nature is alive, and the spirits of the stories are not just legends and myths. They are living, breathing, alive hearts of this world in which we live. 
• Every child has a special gift for society as a whole, for our community, and our family to be whole and fully expressed. Each person needs to contribute their unique genius or unique gift that they came to bring to the whole. 
• There is this remembering and forgetting that we go through when we come to this Earth. 
• We have responsibility. We have a voice. And we are taught to use it in a helpful way and a way of being of service
• Let’s be hopeful for our children. Let’s talk to them about what is happening so we can come up with some changes and solutions that can ensure a good life for them, their children, and their grandchildren.
• There are no borders in nature. It is all connected. We are all part of the global ecosystem. 

Contact information and other Resources:

Keith Egawa is a graduate of the University of Washington’s Creative Writing program and the author of the novel Madchild Running (Red Crane Books Inc. 1999). Egawa’s extensive work experience in the fields of Children and Family Services and Indian Education Reform has provided him with both inspiration and insight into his subject matter. Egawa has been awarded several artists’ grants, including the ARTs Up grant through the Seattle Arts Commission, which was used to conduct a series of writing workshops for Native youth in the Seattle area.

Chenoa Egawa is the Coast Salish of the Lummi and S’Kallam Nations of Washington State. She is a ceremonial leader, singer, speaker, environmental activist, and artist dedicated to bringing healing to our Mother Earth, and people of all cultures, backgrounds, and origins through recognition of our shared experiences as human beings. Chenoa has long been active in local and international work for Indigenous peoples, children, and the environment. For over 20 years, she has worked in Washington State schools, creating programs that integrate Native American culture and history, often teaching through songs and storytelling, empowering Native youth, and bringing greater appreciation for cultural diversity to all children in the public school system. Over the past 25 years, she has traveled throughout North, Central, and South America facilitating communication among indigenous peoples with the intent of protecting and preserving cultural heritage, languages, and homelands.

Breaking Green Ceilings:

Website: https://www.breakinggreenceilings.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breaking_green_ceilings/

Follow Keith and Chenoa Egawa: 

E-mail: chenoa egawa

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chenoa.egawa/

Chenoa Egawa website: http://www.swanclan.com/

One would think that food insecurity doesn't exist in one of the richest countries in the world - United Kingdom. Deidre (Dee) Woods who currently lives in London sheds light on the stark disparities that exist in the community she serves. As a food and farming action-ist Dee advocates for good food for all and a just, equitable food system, challenging the systemic barriers that impact marginalized communities and food producers. Having experienced food insecurity herself, Dee found a way to organize community to increase food access and eventually co-founded a food bank in London. Through policy action and decolonizing research and farming methods, Dee is committed to helping families struggling economically, often people of color, including immigrants and refugees. Of Trinidadian heritage, Dee talks about how her experiences of growing up on her father's farm in Trinidad made her passionate about food, farming and connecting to the land. In addition to being a food and farming action-ist, Dee is also an award winning cook!

Follow Dee Woods:

• Twitter: @Didara
• Instagram: @osunschild 
• Facebook: Deirdre Woods

Follow Breaking Green Ceilings:

• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

In this episode we talk about the implications of free trade on African women especially from a food sovereignty perspective. Often free trade agreements are advertised to boost trade between countries, and ultimately encourage and strengthen economic growth in a geographic region. However, this is not the case, especially with African women farmers and small holder farmers who are the back bone of the agriculture sector on the continent. Susan Nacakwa and Leonida Odongo share their experiences of their work in Uganda and Kenya as it relates to helping empower small holder and women farmers to protect and preserve indigenous farming practices that are less harmful to the environment and ensure sustainable yields over the long term. Ultimately, Susan and Leonida want to help their farmers reclaim land to produce local and organic foods that achieve food and seed sovereignty not only in their home countries but also throughout other African countries struggling with similar threats from unfair government policies and corporate interests.

Follow Susan:

Email - susan@grain.org 

Website - https://grain.org/

Follow Leonida:

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/public/Nana-Odongo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nanodo2001

Blog: https://leoconversations715036889.wordpress.com/

Email: leonida@hakinawiriafrika.org

Leonida's Organisation - Haki Nawiri Afrika

Website :https://hakinawiriafrika.org/

Blog: https://hakinawiriafrica.wordpress.com/blog-2/

You Tube : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1ez4ndJ0IDhqU6gQgBEyQ/about

Email: info@hakinawiriafrika.org

This is the second episode of a two part series with three wonderful changemakers - Laura Diaz, Samrat Pathania from Environmental Collective for Environmental Justice or EC-EJ and Isabel Lopez and Raizes Collective. This is  yet another wonderfully informative and descriptive conversation with phenomenal environmental justice activists on what inspired them to create their own movements and how they are collaborating to help strengthen and empower their communities.

Topics Discussed:

• The power of storytelling
• Decolonizing educational curricula as a critical means to teaching environmental justice
• The role of humility in environmental justice work
• The appropriation of environmental justice in academia

Follow Environmental Collective for Environmental Justice (EC-EJ)

• Website: https://www.ec-ej.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edcollectiveforEJ/

Follow Raizes Collective:

• Website: https://www.raizescollective.org/
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/raizescollective/posts

Follow Breaking Green Ceilings:

• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

This is the first episode of a two part series with three wonderful changemakers - Laura Diaz, Samrat Pathania from Environmental Collective for Environmental Justice or EC-EJ and Isabel Lopez and Raizes Collective. This is  yet another wonderfully informative and descriptive conversation with phenomenal environmental justice activists on what inspired them to create their own movements and how they are collaborating to help strengthen and empower their communities.

Topics Discussed:

• How to teach Environmental Justice in the classroom
• How to build stronger communities through artivism
• Using data to demonstrate environmental racism

Follow Environmental Collective for Environmental Justice (EC-EJ)

• Website: https://www.ec-ej.org/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edcollectiveforEJ/

Follow Raizes Collective:

• Website: https://www.raizescollective.org/
• Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/raizescollective/posts

Follow Breaking Green Ceilings:

• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

A queer farmer of color, Edgar Xochitl is the Farm Manager at Hummingbird Farm a collective farm in the Excelsior, San Francisco. Edgar focuses on cross-polinating traditional ecological knowledge.

In this episode we talk about:

1. What is Queer Ecology?
2. What does it mean to decolonize the flower?
3. How to apply principles of queer ecology
4. How to challenges the gender binary mindset?

Follow Edgar:

• IG - @ecoxicano
• Twitter: @ecoxicano

Watch/Learn More:

• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

Why is modern conservation failing? And what can we do to improve its effectiveness?

As a social research consultant,  Leander Lacy notes that traditional approaches are fragmented, not adequately considering the social dimensions of environmental issues. His transformative solutions— rooted in empiricism and critical Human-Nature connectedness, help conservation groups and eco-minded businesses achieve optimal outcomes from conservation action: business growth, stronger community relationships, stakeholder engagement, and increased JEDI (justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion).

In this episode we talk about:

1. On the “selfless” nature of Environmental Preservation
2. On applying Social Science perspectives to address topics in Conservation
3. On integrating Human Dimensions to promote sustainability in conservation

Follow Leander:

• IG - @greenmindpodcast
• Website: https://www.thegreenmindpodcast.com/

Watch/Learn More:

• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

Billy Almon is an Astrobiofuturist. Billy helps people explore solutions to improve human experiences on earth and in space. He is an inventor and immersive storyteller who aims to reach the next generation of inventors, designers, scientists and engineers – showing them how to design the future they wish to see. Billy is also the co-host of Little Giants, a new TV series on Animal Planet that features some of his global explorations of the nature-inspired design process called Biomimicry.

In this episode we talk about:

1. What is biomimicry
2. How can biomimcry be used to reduce human impact on the environment
3. What social justice has to do with the space discovery

Follow Billy:

• IG - @billy_almon
• Website: billyalmon.com

Watch/Learn More:

• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com

Benjamin Von Wong is an award-winning Canadian who's work lies at the intersection of fantasy and photography and combines everyday objects with shocking statistics. It has attracted the attention of corporations, like Starbucks, Dell, and Nike and has generated over 100 million views for causes like ocean plastics, electronic waste, and fashion pollution. Most recently, he was named one of Adweek's 11 content branded masterminds.

In this episode Ben talks about some of his conceptual photography projects where he tried to communicate the shocking impacts of pollution such as Strawpocalypse: a 10-ft sculpture made from 168,000 reclaimed straws to spotlight plastic pollution and the world’s tallest closet to encourage consumers to shop consciously.

He also talks about his podcast Impact Everywhere Podcast and how it's a means to continue amplifying the positive impact of other creatives, entrepreneurs, innovators, changemakers around the world.

Watch/Learn More:

• YouTube - Breaking Green Ceilings Podcast
• IG - @breaking_green_ceilings
• Website: breakinggreenceilings.com