This is my last week as editor in chief with the Environmental Justice Journalism Initiative. I will be starting a job shortly as a Baltimore County reporter for the Baltimore Banner.

I could not be prouder of all we have accomplished at EJJI in the last three years. We started out as educators for the Henry Hall Fellowship at the National Aquarium, which as far as I am concerned is the gold standard for marine education. Then, through our friends at the League of Conservation Voters, I had a seat at the table moderating the Democratic debate on environmental issues. I joined colleagues from WYPR, the NAACP, and Maryland Matters. It was such fun and important work. I made lifelong friends that evening.

I enjoyed working with The Community School in Remington and bringing the Gunston School to our marina and around South Baltimore for an environmental injustice tour, as well as educating several politicians, funders, and journalism students about the inequities around our city. I participated in several networking calls to help our interns and young people I teach land jobs at nonprofits. It’s been great fun to watch their careers launch. 

I remain grateful to all of our supporters and friends for helping us make Eroding History, a film at the intersection of historic racism and climate change on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The film is going on PBS.org in April, and it will also run on Maryland Public Television. To date, we have screened it with panel discussions more than two dozen times. Here is a list of the places we have shown it, and if I forgot you, I am sorry, but there have been a lot:

• Senator Theatre, Loyola Environmental Film Series, Baltimore, MD
• Chesapeake Bay Program Biennial, Charlottesville, VA
• Textile Arts course, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
• History and English course, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
• Multiple courses and public screening, University of Maine, Orono, ME
• Public screening and teaching, UMBC, MD
• Public screening, University of Baltimore, MD
• Chesapeake Semester, Washington College, Chestertown, MD
• Chesapeake Conservancy, Annapolis, MD
• Baltimore Heritage, Baltimore, MD
• Choose Clean Water Conference, Harrisburg, PA
• Berkeley Springs International Water Festival, Berkeley Springs, WV
• Nature City Forum, Linthicum, MD
• World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC
• Environmental Defense Fund, Washington, DC
• Fusion Film Festival, Baltimore, MD
• Chesapeake International Film Festival, Easton, MD
• Maryland Historic Trust, Crownsville, MD
• Johns Hopkins University (twice), Baltimore, MD
• Natural History Society of Maryland, Overlea, MD
• Martin Luther King Library, Washington, DC
• Reginald Lewis Museum, Baltimore, MD
• The Park School (for the Maryland Lynching Project), Baltimore, MD
• Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology, Baltimore, MD
• Dorchester Center for the Arts, Alpha Genesis community screening, Cambridge, MD
• Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Baltimore, MD
• Loyola environmental justice seminar, Baltimore, MD

We are fielding requests now to screen the film for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the College of Southern Maryland, the Creative Alliance, and the Smithsonian!

Eroding History was a labor of love for me, director André Chung, and co-producer and co-writer Sean Yoes. EJJI produced it and gave us a platform to promote the story and tell it. Organizing all of the screenings was a fun endeavor because I got to learn about so many great organizations and universities and what they are trying to do to improve the world. 

I know my partners are going to continue to push for policymakers to be aware of the inequities in land conservation and management in the face of climate change. They, as well as the wonderful people in our film, are excellent advocates for solutions to these issues. 

Nothing is impossible if you believe you can do it. I am so lucky I got to build this organization and work with young talent, including the wonderful Jessica Diaz and Laura Quigley, as well as interns Ava Wasik, Ja’Bria Oliver, and Lilly Howard, as well as filmmaker Jalysa Mayo. I am so impressed with and proud of all of them, and look forward to watching their careers soar.

Finally, I want to thank Donzell Brown for taking this bold leap with me all those years ago. EJJI, and its mission, will always have a place in my heart.

Sincerely,

Rona Kobell