“7“i—y "*"'v
NEWS
April 15, 2011
Ellis-Lamidns encourages Guilford students to be Green For All
By Chassidy Crump
Staff Writer
"If you know a young child, someone with asthma, an
older person with trouble breathing, or a person who lives
in an area with poor air quality, you probably know some
one who will be sick within the next year or two," said CEO
of Green For All Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins.
On April 5, Ellis-Lamkins came to Guilford to speak
about Green for All, a national organization dedicated
to improving the lives of all Americans through a green
energy economy. She was the last speaker in the Center for
Principled Problem Solving series on sustainable economic
development.
According to the company website. Green for All works
with business, government, and grassroots communities to
create and implement programs to increase quality jobs and
opportunities within the green industry.
Ellis-Lamkins said she grew up in a community with
the worst air quality in California, populated primarily by
single moms and people of color. Her environmentalism
began when a doctor told her single mom that the family
should move because of Ellis-Lamkins' asthma — not a
feasible option at the time.
"It wasn't helpful to tell us that what we were doing was
wrong without having a solution," said Ellis-Lamkins.
As a result, Ellis-Lamkins wanted to create more practi
cal ways for people to be environmentally friendly that
would "meet them where they are."
"Too often economics is an afterthought for many
engaged in social change efforts," said Director of the
Center for Principled Problem Solving Mark Justad in an
email interview. "This is unfortunate because without sus
tainable economic models our efforts for change can lack
staying power."
Green For All seeks to bridge the gap between economic
and environmental efforts, in order to make sustainability
more practical for more people.
"We aim, in partnership with our allies, to build a green
economy and sustain an infrastructure that closes the gaps
in income, wealth, health, security, and opportunity across
the U.S.," according to the Green for All website.
An important aspect of these goals is spreading aware
ness of green jobs, which are the fastest-growing jobs in the
economy, according to Ellis-Lamkins.
She explained how many people were left out of the hi-
tech movement because they were unaware; she wants to
prevent this from happening again with the green industry.
"The reality is that by the time most people pay attention
to the green economy, it will have passed them by," said
Ellis-Lamkins.
Lamkins encouraged the students to consider a green job
after graduation.
"Yes, I most certainly am interested (in a green job),"
said sophomore Will Singley in an email interview. "That is
going to be my first priority upon leaving college or grad
school."
Lamkins paused to ask the audience what industries
were growing in the economy; after a long pause, a few
people threw out suggestions: waste, biofuels, transporta
tion, construction. Ellis-Lamkins added that water was the
most important industry.
According to theGrio, an NBC site focused on the African
American community, Ellis-Lamkins has already made
progress.
Green For All has succeeded in getting legislation passed
through Obama's Recovery and Reinvestment Act, with
$500 million reserved for green-jobs, among other accom
plishments.
Ellis Lamkins' latest pursuit is Green The Block, a part
nership with Hip Hop Caucus and Green for all, according
to the Green The Block webpage. Green The Block is a
national campaign targeted towards helping low-income
communities, particularly those of color, to change the envi
ronment and economy through green jobs and initiatives.
"We want you to take the inspiration and turn it
into something that transforms people's lives," said Ellis-
Lamkins.
Guilford initiative puts
local youth into motion
By Claire Wardlaw
Staff Writer
With a popular culture swarming
with tween superstars like Justin Bieber,
Rebecca Black, and Jayden Smith it's
hard to deny that many youth today will
jump at any opportunity to perform. A
fledgling student and faculty initiative,
the Guilford Afterschool Arts Program,
seeks to celebrate this reality and inspire
disadvantaged youth in the Greensboro
community to start moving.
GAAP was a shared initiative for
Theatre Studies professors Jack Zerbe
and David Hammond, James Shields
from The Bonner Center for Community
Learning, AmeriCorps, and CPPS.
Targeting a variety of ages from Glen
Haven and Avalon Trace, GAAP is
meant to provide an imaginative outlet
for adolescents from areas without such
resources readily available.
GAAP's first task was enticing
Guilford student applicants that wanted
to contribute their own unique aptitude
to the program's curriculum.
"The Guilford students have made
remarkable discoveries and prompted
some amazing creativity among the
participants," said Hammond, in an
email interview. "The program draws
in its participants with such focuses
as African drumming, music, hip-hop,
slam poetry, and dance — all of which
came from suggestions made by the
Glen Haven youth — despite the gen
eral neglect of society to recognize this
age group's artistic potential."
"We became interested in middle
school students when we learned that
this age group is historically 'under
served' in arts education in the public
schools," said Hammond.
Yet, as this is the first year of the pro
gram, it was a challenge for the collabo
rators to predict the best way to execute
the program without any idea of what
to expect.
"It's basically like we're asking, 'how
do we make fun a program?" said junior
Arthur Wood, an Art and Religious
Studies double major and student col
laborator in GAAP.
Wood recounted stories exhibiting
the eccentricities of the children he's
worked with, most of which highlighted
their instinctive imagination.
"They are screaming individuals,"
Wood said. "I guess we're trying to get
them to want to show who and what
they are."
Yet, the ultimate objective of the pro
gram is to bring all of the lessons and
experiences shared throughout this year
into a final, comprehensive performance
at Guilford College. This will include a
compilation of the various art styles and
improvisational activities that have been
the concentration of the program.
"The instructors — Josh Rodriguez,
Helen Gushue, Ene Ekoja, Sarah-Jaana
Nodell, Arthur Wood, and Jodie Geddes
— have done an incredible job mak
ing something from nothing and have
worked hard to collaborate in solving a
problem that they have had little tools
or training to solve," said Mary Pearl
Monnes, the AmeriCorps VISTA volun
teer who in part designed GAAP, in an
email interview.
GAAP's final performance will be on
Thursday, April 21, at 7:30 p.m.
‘ ^ "f t * * r : . ■■ t w - t f
WGSS CONFERENCE
Guilford College will
host the second annual
Women's, Gender, and
Sexuality Studies Program
Conference.
*
Come Tuesday April 26 from
I - 5 p.m. to the Frank Family
Science Center (off of New
Garden Rd).
*
The conference will begin with a keynote
presentation by Robin James, Assistant
Professor of Philosophy at UNC-Charlotte,
titled: "Critiquing Controlling Images: Black
Feminism In Popular Music."
The program includes a range of student work
comprised of poetry, art, and academic research. Faculty,
staff, & students are all encouraged to participate.
To submit, email earlyhe@guilford.edu.