Return to Source: An Earth Day Celebration
Tuesday, April 22, 2025 | 5 p.m.
James Chapel, Union Theological Seminary
Program
Opening Remarks from Karenna Gore
Welcome from UTS President Serene Jones
Onondaga Women’s Singing Society
The Onondaga Women’s Singing Society plays a vital role in supporting community members of the Onondaga Nation in times of need. As a mutual aid group, they often come together to offer comfort, solidarity, and cultural strength.
Dr. Gavin Schmidt
Director, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS); Faculty, Center for Climate Systems Research, Columbia University
Tattercoats
Ned Joyner (Communications and Education Associate at CEE) and Charlotte Wager Miller play folk, roots and traditional music of the American songbook.
Arbert Santana Ballroom Freedom School: Ballroom Climate Justice Project
A collaboration with the Clean Energy Leadership Institute. Michael Roberson, Rev. Ken Alston, Jr, Kadavion Taylor.
Jacqueline Patterson
Founder and Executive Director of the Chisholm Legacy Project: A Resource Hub for Black Frontline Climate Justice Leadership. Former Senior Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program.
New York City Labor Chorus
The New York City Labor Chorus brings labor’s message, sharing the importance of unions in the struggle for social, economic and environmental justice and encouraging solidarity among working people everywhere.
Music Director, Jana Ballard; Accompanist, Dennis A. Nelson
10 Years of Service: Honoring CEE Advisory Board Co-Chairs
Honoring former Advisory Board Co-Chairs Ken Kitatani, Thia Reggio, Betty Lyons, Gregory Simpson, Kusumita Pedersen, Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Frederick Davie.
Dr. Lyla June Johnston
Musician, Native foods researcher and internationally recognized performance poet of Diné (Navajo) and Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) lineages.
Cetiliztli Nauhcampa Danza Mexica
(set-li-si naw-kam-pa danza meshika)
Honoring Mother Earth through ceremonial dances and prayers, an Indigenous practice originating from the Mexica (me-shi-ka) people of Central Mexico. Remarks from CEE Senior Fellow Veronica Raya.
Sung together with the NYC Labor Chorus:
Blessed Is Our Planet Earth (to the tune of God Bless America)
Blessed is our planet Earth,
Sailing ‘round the sun,
With oxygen and water
And an atmosphere second to none.
Photosynthesis we adore you,
You provide us food to eat.
Blessed is our planet Earth,
And mighty sweet.
Blessed is our Mother Earth,
Home to humanity,
And fellow creatures, aplenty, with wondrous variety.
There are mammals, there are reptiles,
There are insects, and microbes,
Blessed is our planet Earth,
More than we know.
Blessed is our planet Earth,
Our only home.
Thirty Four Years by Tom Karlson:
Thirty four years of singing
Songs of labor, civil rights, women’s rights
Songs to fight the horrors of war
Nuclear war, drone war, all war
Singing to save mother earth
Songs from gospel
Songs for marching, the picket line
Sweet songs of labor and love
Over three decades of battling injustice with song
The New York City Labor Chorus
Speakers
Tom Goldtooth is the executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network, working for the rights of Indigenous Peoples, rights of Mother Earth and for environmental and economic justice. Goldtooth has built an organization of 250 Indigenous communities focused on climate justice, energy, toxics, water, globalization and trade, and sustainable development. Tom is Diné (Navajo) of the Dibé izhiní clan and Dakota Bdewakantonwan Hunka from Minnesota.