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Book Discussion – Silent Spring OR The Serviceberry OR Braiding Sweetgrass(hybrid)

May 22 @ 10:00 am - 11:00 am

Join the discussion!  The bi-monthly CCHC book group selected three books.

Silent Spring

Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring altered the course of history. The outcry that followed its publication in 1962 forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world. As Carson reminds us, “In nature, nothing exists alone.”

Carson’s courageously defended her truths in the face of a ruthless assault form the chemical industry following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death.

— adapted from Amazon.com

“Wonder and humility are just some of the gifts of Silent Spring. They remind us that we, like all other living creatures, are part of the vast ecosystems of the earth of the earth…this is a book to relish: not for the dark side of human nature, but for the promise of life’s possibility.” —from the Introduction

 

The Serviceberry

As Indigenous scientist Robin Wall Kimmerer harvests serviceberries alongside the birds, she considers the ethic of reciprocity that lies at the heart of the gift economy. How, she asks, can we learn from Indigenous wisdom and the plant world to reimagine what we value most? Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources, and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love. As Kimmerer explains, “Serviceberries show us another model, one based upon reciprocity, where wealth comes from the quality of your relationships, not from the illusion of self-sufficiency.”   – from Amazon.com

Robin Wall Kimmerer is donating her advance payments from this book as a reciprocal gift, back to the land, for land protection, restoration, and justice.

 

Braided Sweetgrass

Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings―asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass―offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices. In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.   – from Amazon.com

 

This is a hybrid discussion. Onsite participants meet at Chester County History Center. A Zoom link will be provided to virtual participants a few days in advance.

Register Here!

Registration is Pay as You Wish. All donations support the mission of CCHC and are greatly appreciated.

 

Details

Date:
May 22
Time:
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Event Tags:
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