A message from the co-facilitators of the April 28th UUMFE Community Read:

We look forward to seeing you on Zoom next Tuesday, April 28th, at 7:45 EDT/4:45 PDT! You’re invited to join us a few minutes early for our pre-gathering arrival music at 7:40 ET/4:40 PT, selected from Dr. Ayanna’s “WIWGIR?” playlist.

In this section, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson explores ways that our notion of “community” influences how we prepare for climate change. Following are summaries of each chapter and a question to ponder prior to our meeting on April 28.

Chapter Summaries & Discussion Questions

“Disasterology” is Ayana’s interview with emergency management expert Samantha Montano. Montano had been so struck by the level of disaster in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina that she moved there to work for four years. As with many climate disasters, the effects were disproportionately spread across the population – with communities of color less prepared and more impacted. She believes we need to rethink emergency preparedness from an individualistic approach to one that is community based. For instance, coastal residents of Louisiana have begun building up organizations and networks of people with deep knowledge of disaster preparedness and recovery. Relying solely on FEMA will in no way address the problems yet to come. She challenges readers to focus locally on emergency preparedness.

• If you think locally about emergency preparedness, discuss what comes to mind for your local community. What are its vulnerabilities? 
• Has the government adequately prepared citizens for how to respond to a climate disaster? Are there organizations that have taken this on? 
• What about your church home – have you considered ways your church can contribute to climate resiliency if needed? Relatedly, if your community has experienced a climate event in the past, how prepared was your government or local organizations to respond?

In “Diasporas and Home,” Ayana talks with Colette Pichon Battle, a Black lawyer and organizer for a Louisiana organization called Taproot Earth. Taproot Earth seeks to embody the community-based approach to climate justice recommended by Samantha Montano: Engage Black citizens in exploring climate solutions rooted in their own culture and traditions; for example, lifting up indigenous knowledge for how to clean the soil after a flood. She introduces the concept of “justly-sourced renewable energy,” reminding the readers that many of our non-fossil-fuel based energy sources come at the price of extracting components such as lithium and cobalt. She and Ayana debate the dilemma of “managed retreat” from properties with rising water levels as people are often tied to their land for generations.

• Can you imagine your understanding of “home” shifting in the context of the climate crisis? How so?

“Building Indigenous Power” explores the importance of Indigenous sovereignty with Jade Begay, from the peoples of Diné and Tesuque Pueblo in New Mexico. We learn that 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity is managed by Indigenous peoples. Begay describes how they are trying to build Indigenous-led enterprises and land projects so they can reclaim their knowledge systems, using workshops on building adobe houses as an example. She challenges the reader to consider what would happen if a law was passed that required “free, prior, and informed consent” (FPIC) from Indigenous peoples to govern land use and management. She further describes how she envisions the need for people to “stay local” as they adapt to rising temperatures, especially in the American southwest.

• Are there practices, knowledge, and values passed down to you from your ancestors that promote living in harmony with the natural world? 

In “Proto-Farm Communities,” Olalekan Jeyifous uses a photomontage to imagine Ayana Johnson and her New York Black and Brown neighbors in spaces featuring green technologies to produce and disseminate food, seeds, and water. These scenes of resilience and self-sufficiency radiate Black joy.

• What was your reaction to this photomontage and accompanying essay?

To learn more about our 2025-26 Community Read or register to attend, please click here.

Facilitated by: Dr. Anne-Marie McCartan and Cheyenne Herlandstein
Spiritual Grounding by: Chaplain Chelsea McCoy
Tech Support by: Kim Stein