Having access to a healthy environment is a human right. The UN Human Rights Council made this important declaration earlier this month, acknowledging the damaging effects of climate change and environmental destruction across the world, particularly on more vulnerable populations. “We must build on this momentum to move beyond the false separation of environmental action and protection of human rights. It is all too clear that neither goal can be achieved without the other,” the Council’s High Commissioner described. We are thrilled with the UN’s decision to prioritize this crisis for our global community, addressing the challenges through the lens of multiple forms of health.
Especially during the pandemic, we have spent much time pondering what the future of Health will look like. Not only have we focused on our physical health, but also on how our approach to all forms of health can affect these changes: cultural, environmental, nutritional, spiritual, psychological, intellectual, and economic. We find it so important to be mindful of this interconnectedness of health on a global and local scale.
Louisville’s upcoming Festival of Faiths, from November 18-21, will be a brilliant example of this interconnected work in action through the lenses of cultural, intellectual, and spiritual health. The Festival theme this year is “Sacred Change: Essential Conversations on Faith and Race” and will examine issues of systemic racism in America and the role of spirituality in healing from the trauma of oppression. The program seeks to “celebrate the unique beauty, power, and strength of the Black faith experiences while facing the profoundly brutal outcomes of genocide, slavery, and 'profit at any cost'.”
Please do join us as renowned speakers and artists from all over America help us to explore pathways to truth, repair, and hope. The Festival will be held at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts and you can find the full program here, purchase tickets here, or join at no cost virtually here.
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