Also in attendance was Douglas Goldman (president of the Goldman Environmental Foundation), Musimbi Kanyoro (president and CEO of the Global Fund for Women), and Huey Johnson (founder of Green Belt Movement International).

Speakers remembered her luminous smile, fearless advocacy for the environment, smart strategic actions, and tireless spirit.

Stephen Mills, the director of the Green Belt Movement, U.S.,  said that Maathai was ahead of her time — fighting for the environment, women’s empowerment, against corruption, and for community development — all in “one smiling package.”

Al Gore reminded the audience that the best way to honor her vision is to sustain her beloved cause — the Green Belt Movement — which to date has planted nearly 5 billion trees in Kenya and beyond.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Kenyan Environmental Justice Leader Wangari Maathai, who is featured in the film Taking Root, offers a few words to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s message of community service.

Video produced by: Lisa Merton and Alan Dater

To honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his commitment to service, ITVS is proud to partner with Points of Light Institute, Campus Compact, and Campus Kitchens to host more than 100 free Community Cinema screenings across the country this week.

The MLK Community Cinema screenings will feature Independent Lens favorites such as The Calling, Deep Down, Garbage Dreams, Taking Root, and A Village Called Versailles. Each screening will feature an opportunity to participate in a volunteer project related to the themes highlighted in each of the films.

I am so excited to bring Community Cinema to Whole Foods Market Briarcliff in Atlanta, GA. After serving one year with AmeriCorps and having the privilege to work with ITVS and Community Cinema, I hoped that my move from the non-profit sector to Whole Foods would provide me with an outlet for my passion for community and volunteerism.

While in Boston with AmeriCorps, our film screenings went from having no more than ten attendees to well over 100 attendees once we partnered with ITVS. The excitement and passion that came with this success was overwhelming. ITVS’s films ignite conversations and bring people of all cross-sections together to meet and discover ways to improve the community. It is an amazing and inspiring thing to be a part of.

Moving back to Atlanta, I could not have been any luckier to transfer to a store where the leadership has great passion for food, community and local farmers and producers. This passion can be seen throughout the store where local farmers and vendors are highlighted, discussed in our educational classes and featured in front of the store with a garden that is thriving with tomatoes, eggplants, cucumbers, jalapeños and pepper plants. The message is clear––we are not only here to provide wonderful food, but also provide a space where community members can learn about where their food comes from, how to cook it and how they can get more involved.

I was thrilled when given the opportunity to bring Community Cinema to Whole Foods Market. This is just one of many steps we have taken and will continue to do to be a positive force in our neighborhood.

Our first film screening TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai will be at 8:00 PM, Thursday July 2, at Whole Foods Market in Briarcliff, GA. Beginning at 6:00 PM, food will be served hot off the grill and information will be available from Oakhurst Community Garden, Georgia Organics and Farmer D.

I hope to see you there.

- Amy Wheeler
Whole Foods Market

For more information and to sign up please email:
amy.wheeler@wholefoods.com

The Ithaca Community Cinema screening of TAKING ROOT.

TAKING ROOT music composer Samite of Uganda with the one of the Kamau sisters of Kenya.

S.T.A.M.P.’s Guerrilla Griots Human Rights Media Arts Center is one of over 50 venues throughout the United States who participate in a free, monthly screening series in partnership with ITVS and PBS. Community Cinema is a monthly screening series which creates accessible opportunities for civic engagement and public education around important social issues.

To bring in Spring, Community Cinema featured TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai. TAKING ROOT tells the dramatic story of Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai whose simple act of planting trees grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights and defend democracy––a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration. On March 20, over 100 people from the greater Ithaca area packed a small screening room downtown to watch the film; listen to the inspiration of TAKING ROOT musical composer Samite of Uganda; learn from two sisters from Kenya who participated in the Green Belt Movement; and share local, fair-trade and organic fare courtesy of GreenStar Community Projects.

The post-screening community discussion focused on Samite’s inspiration to create the music featured in TAKING ROOT, in addition to the challenges he faced in being an Ugandan who only briefly lived in Kenya and was not fluent in the native language. “Never give up,” he repeated constantly regarding all the magical moments that helped him surpass the hurdles in creating his first film score. He remarked that he was “truly inspired” by the film and the work of Wangari Maathai with whom he is friends.

The Kamau sisters spoke passionately about their involvement in the Green Belt Movement, and the power of the people to make change. Guerrilla Griots is all about challenging the status quo, so we were in excellent company to celebrate the Spring Equinox–the energetic embodiment of change! Refreshments for the evening (both pre/post screening) were provided courtesy of GreenStar Cooperative Market’s not-for-profit Community Projects initiative.

Elizabeth Karabinakis coordinated local, fair-trade and organic fare for all to enjoy––with the support of Ithaca Bakery, Moosewood Restaurant and the following family farms: Cayuga Pure Organics, Finger Lakes Farmstead, Kenyan Highland, Littletree Orchards, Lively Run Goat Dairy, Organic Valley Northeast, Remembrance Farm and Silver Queen Farm.

Read more about this event and others on the Guerrilla Griots blog >>

Classroom activities and homework assignments examine how environmental issues such as deforestation are intricately linked to many other social issues, and how organizations such as the Green Belt Movement mobilize citizens to take action.

Standards aligned lesson plans are directed toward grades 9 through 12, and college students for use in the following subject areas: social studies, environmental studies, political science, women’s studies, international studies, world history, government and civics.

Watch video modules and download lesson plans >>

Filmmaker Stacy Peralta discusses his film CRIPS AND BLOODS: Made in America, airing on Independent Lens.
Read more >>

“Kamikaze translates as ‘divine wind,’ and was a made-up word meant to conjure mythic status. The stories are sad, the war propaganda outrageous, and the message emphatically anti-war.”
Read more >>

“Like reading a book, [Community Cinema] films expand your mind so you want to learn more. There’s a chance to share with others and hear different perspectives. It’s like belonging to a book club, but it’s a movie club.”
Read more >>

An audio interview with Justine Nagan and Gordon Quinn of Kartemquin Films about their Independent Lens film MILKING THE RHINO.
Listen to the interview >>

The evening started with a dance performance by students of Heritage Works, a local performing arts studio. Ranging in age from 7 to 17 years old, the group played drums, danced and sang African rhythms.

After viewing the film, Rebecca Salminen Witt, president of The Greening of Detroit, a conservation group, took the stage to answered questions about what can be done and is being done in the city of Detroit to combat urban decay. She talked about performing free soil tests, the struggle to save Belle Isle and the opportunity to volunteer at tree plantings.

David Gakure, education specialist at the Detroit Zoo, also spoke and shared stories about growing up in Kenya, where he watched as his mother plant trees because of what she had learned from Dr. Maathai. His impassioned story inspired others to share, including a attendee originally from Nairobi, about the exploitation of natural resources.

Want to find upcoming screenings in your area? Community Cinema selections are screened in more than 50 locations throughout the United States. Check out the schedule and find Community Cinema in your neighborhood >>

Maggie Wright, panelist; Humboldt State University student and catering assistant; Hermine Amoussou, event organizer, panelist and caterer extraordinaire; and an audience member, originally from Kenya, whose mother attended school with Wangari Maathai.

Attendees of last night's screening in Eureka, CA, enjoy a delicious African dinner prepared by Hermine Amoussou.

Last night, a large crowd packed the Morris Graves Museum of Art in Eureka, CA, for the Community Cinema screening of TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai, co-presented by KEET-TV, the Humboldt Arts Council and Humboldt State University Library.

The evening began with a delicious African dinner prepared by one of the panelists and organizers, Hermine Amoussou, with the dedicated and well-organized assistance of her Humboldt State African studies students.

While attendees dined and viewed gallery exhibits––including an exhibit of photos taken by children in an orphanage in Benin––tables were set up with information about conservation efforts and ways to get involved provided by Roots and Shoots, an organization that strives to create a better world, and Six Rivers National Forest, which encompasses 957,590 National Forest acres in Northwestern California.

Well-fed, the crowd was eager to see TAKING ROOT and seemed to be thoroughly engaged by the film. The screening was followed by a discussion facilitated by Dr. Noah Zerbe, assistant professor of politics at Humboldt State University; Hermine Amoussou, lecturer of anthropology at Humboldt State University and College of the Redwoods (originally from Benin); Melanie Williams, lecturer of politics at Humboldt State University; Nancy Gibson, deputy forest supervisor at Six Rivers National Forest; and Maggie Wright, real estate broker (originally from Kenya).

The crowd was eager to ask questions. Below is a sample of the dialogue from the lively Q&A:

How is the current situation in East Africa?
In Kenya, the infrastructure has gone bad––roads are bad and the security is questionable. Historically, during the presidency of Jomo Kenyatta, he gave away lands to his cronies, so the situation for the people who don’t own land is particularly bad and there is a lot of corruption.

What does earth-based politics look like? What if we spent our energy seeking a different political spectrum? The image I’m thinking about is the soldiers holding guns in one hand and a plant in the other from the movie.
In order to continue our existence, we have to do our part in small ways: teaching our children to recycle, and to respect our nature. Small things can lead to big change. We should also spread the message by word of mouth, too. We need to have an important dialogue about what we care about. Lately, I’ve been very encouraged by reading recent letters to the editors about sustainability and preserving our ecology here on the North coast (i.e. Richardson Grove Highway 101 expansion, etc). We need to take more time for dialogue!

In the movie, Wangari Maathai says “good things come from the mountains” and that rang true with me. Back in 1900, 60% of U.S. was rural. In 2000, 80% of people live in metropolitan areas. Our children are spending too much time with media (TV/Internet etc), and they are spending far less time interacting with nature. How can we help our children connect with our natural world?
Local Forest Service Office started a program called “Kids in the Woods” sponsoring dozens of partnership projects all over the country to get kids outdoors, up close and personal with nature. Our local Eureka Zoo’s Roots and Shoots group has been working toward its parent group, the Jane Goodall Institute’s goal of planting trees in the U.S. Our choices need to reflect the future generations.
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During last night’s discussion, many people commented about the film’s impact on them. One person remarked, “I was struck deeply by Wangari Maathai’s courage. She challenged part of her own culture while maintaining her culture.” While another attendee was struck by the message of conservation and the importance of education “Nature is orderly. You can learn a lot from science and nature and we need to teach our kids, too.”

TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Maathai premieres April 14 at 10:00 PM on Independent Lens on PBS (check local listings)

Find Community Cinema events near you >>

Kenyan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Dr. Wangari Maathai’s simple act grew into a nationwide movement to safeguard the environment, protect human rights and defend democracy––a movement for which this charismatic woman became an iconic inspiration.

In this exclusive interview, Wangari discusses the upcoming Independent Lens program TAKING ROOT: The Vision of Wangari Mathaai and her commitment to environmental, social and economic justice.

Download the interview on iTunes for free
(TRT: 15 minutes) >>