Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru Inspires at MLK Celebration
Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru Inspires at MLK Celebration
sliddell@colgate.edu
Colgate University’s 17th annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Week, Jan. 23–Feb. 1, kicked off with a keynote address by Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru, a Rhodes Scholar and environmental justice activist. The event, organized by the ALANA Cultural Center and the Office of the Dean of the College, set the tone for a week of reflection, engagement, and exploration of the theme Shaping Equitable Communities and Sustainable, Just Environments. Gatheru, the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE), has spent the last decade advocating at the intersection of equity and sustainability. Her work highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and women. In her keynote speech, Gatheru spoke to the principles of justice, action, and inclusivity that King championed. “Her leadership and vision have set the tone for 10 days of action, reflection, and community building,” said Esther Rosbrook, director of the ALANA Cultural Center. The evening concluded with a jazz performance from Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister Mark Shiner, Assistant Professor of Music Brian Stark, and jazz piano teacher Richard Montalbano. The following day, Gatheru led an Environmental Studies Brown Bag discussion, engaging a packed room of students, faculty, and staff in a conversation about systemic inequalities and environmental challenges. She emphasized the need for greater representation in the climate movement, explaining, “The climate crisis isn’t just an ecological issue — it’s also a leadership crisis, a narrative crisis, and a crisis of connection.” Gatheru pointed out that while people of color make up nearly 40% of the U.S. population, they account for only 12–16% of the green workforce. Even more concerning, she noted, is that Black women have the lowest retention rate of any demographic in this space. Gatheru shared the story behind BGE, an organization she founded in 2020 after hosting a Zoom call where more than 100 Black women environmentalists came together to share their experiences. “That was the birth of the idea for BGE,” she recalled. “I realized there were actually a lot of us, and we needed a space to connect and thrive.” Throughout her Brown Bag talk, Gatheru stressed the importance of community in addressing burnout and overcoming systemic barriers in the environmental sector. “Burnout is an issue in all social impact fields, but when you add racial disparities on top of that, it’s easy to see why Black women leave these spaces so often,” she explained. “That’s why community is crucial — community care is the answer.” Gatheru challenged attendees to reflect on what it truly means to shape equitable communities and sustainable, just environments. “It means placing people at the center of the climate movement. It means acknowledging that environmental justice is social justice.” She encouraged students to recognize their role in the movement and to understand that their voices matter. She left the audience with a thought-provoking question: What’s something giving you hope today? Her own answer: solar grazing — a practice where sheep help maintain vegetation in solar farms, benefiting both agriculture and renewable energy. “Solutions come from unexpected places when people just start talking,” she said, urging students to engage in environmental justice work with new energy, curiosity, and collaboration. The MLK Week Celebration continued with more events designed to engage the Colgate community in meaningful dialogue and action. These included gatherings like an interfaith dinner and dialogue and a Sense of Belonging Listening Session, a special Jummah service focused on King’s legacy, and mindfulness sessions to honor his teachings on peace and justice. One highlight was the Day of Service, where volunteers partnered with organizations in Utica to honor King’s vision of community action. Colgate community members came together to work on local service projects through Cornerstone Church and Hope Chapel. To conclude the week, Colgate hosted the fourth annual Social Justice Summit, led by student leaders from the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium. This daylong series of workshops helps students to explore the intersection of social justice and sustainability and provides them with the tools to create positive change in their communities. “The 2025 MLK Celebration is all about action and impact,” says Rosbrook. “With sustainability at the heart of our 10-day series, together we are shaping equitable communities and fostering sustainable environments — not just for today but for our future.”
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Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru, a Rhodes Scholar, founder of Black Girl Environmentalist and advocate for environmental justice shares her insights on creating equitable and sustainable environments. (Photo by Mike Roy)
Colgate University’s 17th annual celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Week, Jan. 23–Feb. 1, kicked off with a keynote address by Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru, a Rhodes Scholar and environmental justice activist. The event, organized by the ALANA Cultural Center and the Office of the Dean of the College, set the tone for a week of reflection, engagement, and exploration of the theme Shaping Equitable Communities and Sustainable, Just Environments.
Gatheru, the founder of Black Girl Environmentalist (BGE), has spent the last decade advocating at the intersection of equity and sustainability. Her work highlights the disproportionate impact of climate change on communities of color and women.
In her keynote speech, Gatheru spoke to the principles of justice, action, and inclusivity that King championed. “Her leadership and vision have set the tone for 10 days of action, reflection, and community building,” said Esther Rosbrook, director of the ALANA Cultural Center. The evening concluded with a jazz performance from Chaplain and Catholic Campus Minister Mark Shiner, Assistant Professor of Music Brian Stark, and jazz piano teacher Richard Montalbano.
The following day, Gatheru led an Environmental Studies Brown Bag discussion, engaging a packed room of students, faculty, and staff in a conversation about systemic inequalities and environmental challenges.
She emphasized the need for greater representation in the climate movement, explaining, “The climate crisis isn’t just an ecological issue — it’s also a leadership crisis, a narrative crisis, and a crisis of connection.” Gatheru pointed out that while people of color make up nearly 40% of the U.S. population, they account for only 12–16% of the green workforce. Even more concerning, she noted, is that Black women have the lowest retention rate of any demographic in this space.
Gatheru shared the story behind BGE, an organization she founded in 2020 after hosting a Zoom call where more than 100 Black women environmentalists came together to share their experiences. “That was the birth of the idea for BGE,” she recalled. “I realized there were actually a lot of us, and we needed a space to connect and thrive.”
Throughout her Brown Bag talk, Gatheru stressed the importance of community in addressing burnout and overcoming systemic barriers in the environmental sector. “Burnout is an issue in all social impact fields, but when you add racial disparities on top of that, it’s easy to see why Black women leave these spaces so often,” she explained. “That’s why community is crucial — community care is the answer.”
Gatheru challenged attendees to reflect on what it truly means to shape equitable communities and sustainable, just environments. “It means placing people at the center of the climate movement. It means acknowledging that environmental justice is social justice.” She encouraged students to recognize their role in the movement and to understand that their voices matter.
She left the audience with a thought-provoking question: What’s something giving you hope today? Her own answer: solar grazing — a practice where sheep help maintain vegetation in solar farms, benefiting both agriculture and renewable energy. “Solutions come from unexpected places when people just start talking,” she said, urging students to engage in environmental justice work with new energy, curiosity, and collaboration.
The MLK Week Celebration continued with more events designed to engage the Colgate community in meaningful dialogue and action. These included gatherings like an interfaith dinner and dialogue and a Sense of Belonging Listening Session, a special Jummah service focused on King’s legacy, and mindfulness sessions to honor his teachings on peace and justice.
One highlight was the Day of Service, where volunteers partnered with organizations in Utica to honor King’s vision of community action. Colgate community members came together to work on local service projects through Cornerstone Church and Hope Chapel.
To conclude the week, Colgate hosted the fourth annual Social Justice Summit, led by student leaders from the New York Six Liberal Arts Consortium. This daylong series of workshops helps students to explore the intersection of social justice and sustainability and provides them with the tools to create positive change in their communities.
“The 2025 MLK Celebration is all about action and impact,” says Rosbrook. “With sustainability at the heart of our 10-day series, together we are shaping equitable communities and fostering sustainable environments — not just for today but for our future.”
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- Contemporary Textile Artists Featured at Colgate Picker Art GalleryContemporary Textile Artists Featured at Colgate Picker Art Gallery Contributing Writer Colgate University’s Picker Art Gallery will open its spring exhibition A Thought Is A Thread: Contemporary Artists Reworking Textile Traditions on Feb. 20 at 4:30 p.m. with a public reception. The history of textiles is intimately tied to the development of human societies. Weaving is at the same time one of the earliest human technological advancements, the foundation upon which modern industrial nations were built, and the basis for the computing revolution. Metaphors using the language of textiles are prevalent in everyday idiomatic English: we follow threads on social media; storytellers weave tales or spin fantastic yarns; friend groups might be close-knit; and we might tie ourselves in knots trying to navigate complex situations. 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The staggered openings (see “Related Events”) culminate in a gallery crawl on Feb. 21 when Colgate and Hamilton communities are invited to spend a convivial evening of music, art-making activities, and workshops at Clifford Gallery, the Longyear Museum of Anthropology, Picker Art Gallery, and the brand new Fabulation Lab in Bernstein Hall. Thought Is A Thread: Contemporary Artists Reworking Textile Traditions is generously supported by The Friends of Picker Art Gallery. Find out more information about the exhibitions and upcoming programming, and follow the museum on Facebook and Instagram @pagcolgate. Related Events ***Please refer to the Colgate Events Calendar and the Picker Art Gallery website for updated information about programs and events at the museum*** Feb. 6, 2025 Exhibition opening: Unraveled: Labor and Meaning behind Weaving 5–6:30 p.m., Longyear Museum of Anthropology (Alumni Hall, 2nd floor) This student-curated exhibition explores the incredible amount of labor and skill that goes into creating woven art. Join for refreshments, music, and art-making activities. Feb. 12, 2025 Exhibition opening and panel discussion: For alliances with the beaver people 4:30 p.m., panel discussion at 5 p.m., Clifford Gallery For alliances with the beaver people exhibits recent work by Suzanne Husky that deals with the history and future of regenerative relations with watersheds and beavers in particular. Featuring panelists Mike Loranty, Neil Patterson, and Patti Smith. Co-sponsored by Colgate Arts Council, University Studies, Environmental Studies, Film and Media Studies, Biology, Romance Languages and Literature, Geography, and History. Feb. 20, 2025 Exhibition opening: A Thought Is A Thread: Contemporary Artists Reworking Textile Traditions 4:30–6 p.m., Picker Art Gallery, (Dana Arts Center, 2nd floor) A Thought Is A Thread brings together works by leading artists who investigate what textiles can still reveal about people and their relationships to each other, to themselves, and to language, land, and the future. Join for refreshments, music, and remarks by exhibiting artist Joy Ray. Feb. 21, 2025 Colgate Gallery Crawl 5–8 p.m., Dana Arts Center - Picker Art Gallery and Dana 305, Alumni Hall - Longyear Museum of Anthropology and Alumni 212 (PCON Lounge), Little Hall - Clifford Gallery - Bernstein Hall, Fabulation Lab (Bernstein 103) Join us for the Colgate Gallery Crawl. This program, inspired by Colgate’s commitment to Arts, Creativity, and Innovation, represents a collaboration between University Museums, Clifford Gallery, and LGBTQ+ initiatives. Visitors are invited to make their way through our campus gallery and museum spaces to celebrate textiles, fiber arts, and the people who make them. Fiber art crafting activities will be available at each gallery. About Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University is a teaching and collecting museum that engages local and global communities through innovative exhibitions, interdisciplinary research, dynamic outreach, and meaningful experiences with art across cultures, time, and media. The museum’s permanent collection includes nearly 11,000 objects, among them approximately 8,000 works of art on paper, 1,400 photographs, 900 paintings, and 300 sculptures, primarily from the twentieth century. It is located on the Colgate University campus, off Lally Lane, on the second floor of the Paul Rudolph–designed Dana Arts Center. Picker Art Gallery is open Tuesdays–Fridays, 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Sundays, noon–5 p.m., and during special events. Picker is currently closed on Mondays, Saturdays, and major holidays. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit colgate.edu/picker or call 315-228-7634. Arts Picker Art Gallery News and Updates Faculty & Staff Joy Ray (American, b. 1967), consensual past, 2024, thrift store denim, twine, fabric, paint, chalk. Text from “Monochrome Memories” by Paul Grainge, “The Simple Truth: The Monochrome in Modern Art” by Simon Morley, and “Psychological Dimensions of Mystery” by JP Varani. 49 x 36 x 4 in (124.5 x 91.4 x 10.1 cm). Photo: Ruben Diaz
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