Ep. 180: Is the Green Movement Still Too White?

This week, grousing over Greta. Even though millions recently took to the streets as part of world-wide Climate Strikes, the media still seems to reserve most of its spotlight for the teenage Swedish activist Greta Thunberg. And yet, not everyone's a fan: from Maxime Bernier to Vladimir Putin, she seems to irk white cis male politicians in particular. But the idolatry of Thunberg has also received pushback from parts of Native Twitter, frustrated at how she seemingly gets all the accolades while Indigenous youth and youth of colour toil in relative obscurity. On this week's live-audience edition of MEDIA INDIGENA—recorded in Edmonton as part of LitFest's 'Author Pods' event series—we get into these Greta grumbles as a springboard into a larger discussion about allyship, white saviourism and the pros and cons of personifying and celebrifying a people's movement. On stage with host/producer Rick Harp were Ken Williams, an assistant professor with the department of drama at the University of Alberta, and U of A associate professor of Native Studies, Kim TallBear. // Our theme is 'nesting' by birocratic.