Submitted by SJI Grange

Join Community Rights San Juan Islands at San Juan Island Grange 966, at 152 First St. in Friday Harbor, on Thursday, May 10, for a screening of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s presentation “We the People: Expanding Our Circle of Citizenship.”

The screening will be followed by a roundtable discussion on the topics of community rights and the rights of nature for the Salish Sea. The program will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be preceded by an optional potluck at 5:30 p.m.

Community Rights San Juan Islands has developed a community bill of rights for San Juan County. The group aims to create legal tools to prevent corporate and government entities from causing harm to local natural and human communities. The impetus for a community rights movement in the county arises out of the love and respect the members have for these islands and for the Salish Sea. They recognize that their well-being is tied to the well-being of the natural environment, and yet many currently have little or no power to refuse potentially harmful industrial projects that set their sights on the region. The group is working with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, a front-runner in the national community rights movement and the growing global movement to recognize the rights of nature. The hope is that by creating a community bill of rights, the group will set the foundation for legal protections and assertions that they can build on as specific issues demand.

For info, visit celdf.org/rights or therightsofnature.org.