Yudith Nieto
Yudith Nieto was born in Mexico and grew up in the fence-line refining community of Manchester in Houston, TX. Out of necessity to help protect her community Yudith became a part of the environmental justice movement. Yudith works with Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services and has also collaborated with other environmental, immigration, LGBTQ, and social justice groups. Yudith works with other youth to build an inter-generational movement to learn how the Chican@, Mexican American, and Indigenous cultures are intrinsically linked to the struggle of environmental justice through culture, art, music and poetry.
Presentations from Facing Race 2016
Arts at the Intersection: Artistic Praxis for Racial, Social and Environmental Justice
A participatory and hands-on workshop using a variety of arts to explore personal identity, interpersonal dynamics and systemic analysis at the intersection of racial, social and environmental justice. How can the arts be used a tool for liberation and revolution? How can the creative third space be a space for radical imagination and possibility? A combination of visual art, theater and storytelling will be used for a lively and in-depth look at ourselves, each other and our world. This workshop will use a combination of workshop methodologies, including mandala making, theater of the oppressed, singing, story circles and collective visioning. Through this workshop, participants will both gain resources in the form of ideas for facilitation in their own work, as well as an experiential understanding of how the arts acts as an intersectional movement building vehicle. In addition, workshop participants will have an opportunity to build with each other, and brainstorm strategies of how the arts can be catalyzed as a revolutionary weapon for justice in their own home communities.
Speakers: Jayeesha Dutta, Yudith Nieto, Ann-Meredith WoottonPresentations from Facing Race 2014
Trailers, Tarps and Toxins - Interventions at the Intersection of Disaster Capitalism and Environmental Racism
How do disasters and disaster recovery policy exacerbate racially disparate outcomes? What are community-led policy solutions for advancing equitable recovery? In the context of accelerating climate change and environmental racism, what happens when disaster strikes is a critical front in the fight for racial justice. From hurricanes to tornados to tar sands to industrial accidents, the Gulf South has experienced a high concentration of these disasters. Panelists will share analysis and strategies in response.
Speakers: Monique Harden, Thomas Dardar Jr., Juan Parras, Yudith Nieto