Thursday March 25, 6:30-8:00PM CT

Environmental racism is rampant in Manitoba. From resource extraction and mining, to mega hydro development, to displacement of communities, to local pollution, Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour are disproportionately impacted by environmental destruction in Manitoba. 

Join us for an evening to hear from powerful community leaders who will share stories of impacts of environmental racism in Manitoba, as well as point to ways we can take action against this injustice. 

Speakers include Dr. Myrle Ballard, Johsa Manzanilla, Drey Smith, and Rita Monias. The discussion will be facilitated by Hazim Ismail.

The event will be on Zoom with automatic closed captioning.

Once you RSVP to this event, you will receive an email with the Zoom information.

If you have any questions or accessibility requests please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Speakers bios:

Dr. Myrle Ballard has a Ph.D. in Natural Resources and Environmental Management. She currently is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Indigenous Scholar in the Faculty of Science at UM. She is an Anishinaabe from Lake St. Martin First Nation. Dr. Ballard has researched and documented the flooding of her traditional homelands at Lake St. Martin First Nation, and will speak on this research and experience.

Johsa Manzanilla (she/her/siya) is a Philippine-born community organizer based in Treaty 1 territory and has been a member of Migrante Manitoba for just over ten years. She is also an artist, using creative expression as a means for activism, and in her writing and performances she focuses on the rights of migrant workers, the experiences of racialized diaspora, and the impact of resource extraction on postcolonial and Indigenous communities.

Drey Smith is a young Ojibwa man from the small community of Hollow Water First Nation, which is located on the east shores of Lake Winnipeg. He is a hunter, fisherman, and land & water defender. He is a descendant of one of the original families in Hollow Water and the founder of Camp Morning Star, which was established on Feb, 16 / 2019 to stop a proposed silica sand mine extraction project that was proposed in the community on their traditional lands and territory. The camp is still going strong today. To anyone who may want to reach him, he says “you can always find me where the wind blows and the water flows.” KA NAAGAMOOT MIIGAN

Rita Frances Monias is from Pimicikamak Cross Lake, and has a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of General Studies, and a Counselling Certificate. Rooting back from 1993, Rita has been very passionate and dedicated towards environmental justice and human rights. Rita Monias was inspired by her father, who was also supported by her mother, who fully encouraged her to pursue going to education to learn more about how the government and corporations were impacting the environment and rights of the community. Rita will speak about the impacts of hydro development on her community.

Hazim (dia/they/them) is a Bugis-Malay, Chinese queer anthropology and discard studies scholar with an MA Anthropology and Collaborative Master’s Specialization in Contemporary East and Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Toronto, a BA Honours in Anthropology from the University of Winnipeg and a Higher National Diploma in Business from Linton University. Dia currently serves on the Planned Parenthood Toronto (PPT) board of directors, as well as Program Officer for Rainbow Railroad. Dia has served on the Sexuality Education Resource Centre (SERC) Manitoba board, as a 2SLBTQI+ Commissioner for Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) Manitoba, and as Project Manager for Water Allies research team. Dia's community advocacy focuses on newcomer, migrant, queer, gender nonconforming BIPOC intersections, melding their own experiences as a former refugee and stateless person with their academic, artistic and professional background. Dia is committed to providing spaces for non-hegemonic decolonial understandings and expressions of genders and sexualities to thrive.