Featuring Keston Perry, assistant professor of African American studies, political economy, and geography at UCLA

In this talk, Perry explores the urgent need to challenge Euro-American dominance in shaping climate responses—responses that often reinforce the very injustices they claim to solve. Focusing on the Caribbean, he examines how intersecting ecological, political, and economic crises—rooted in colonialism, World War II, and neoliberalism—have reshaped the region’s landscapes and livelihoods.

These crises are not just consequences of history but ongoing social forces that demand new ways of organizing, resisting, and redefining what it means to be human. Perry introduces the concept of reparative ecologies—community-driven efforts, alternative economies, and knowledge systems that resist imperial and capitalist control while envisioning more just and sustainable futures.