Stories that Move: Where story, data, and place converge to build narrative power

We are living through a moment of active erasure. Climate desks are closing, and media consolidation has narrowed the stories we tell about climate and environmental justice, while the communities most impacted by environmental racism are increasingly absent from the narratives shaping public understanding, policy, and investment. At the same time, environmental justice work is being systematically defunded, distorted, and deprioritized at the federal level, even as climate impacts intensify. As the nation approaches major historical milestones, this is a moment to center the stories of those who have always pushed this country toward justice, often without recognition. Storytelling is one of the few tools a community can carry forward and control, regardless of what gets defunded around it. Stories that Move is a day-long, multi-format Climate Week program bridging storytelling disciplines and sectors: journalism, documentary film, interactive and visual media, and oral history, anchored by a public exhibition and an evening reception celebrating the Environmental Justice Oral History Project's new Mothers of the Movement collection: a landmark storytelling initiative centering the leadership, wisdom, and lived experiences of 27 women in the environmental justice movement. In this series of panels, workshops, open mics, and communal gatherings, hear from some of the leading practitioners of storytelling for social impact as well as several leaders and icons of the Environmental Justice Movement today. The lineup: • 11:00am-11:10am – Opening Remarks and a Grounding for the Day • 11:10am-12:40pm – The Power of Journalism, presented by The Margin — a series of panels with investigative journalists, editors, and photographers on how fact-based reporting exposes injustice and uplifts solutions from the frontlines. • 1:00pm-2:25pm – From Reel to Real: The Power of Documentary Film, curated by EJOHP — a panel discussion on documentary and impact producers on what happens after the credits roll, and how a film earns real-world use, not just views. • 2:45pm-3:55pm – Collective Futures + Climate Hope Open Mic, crafted by the Reimagine Story Lab and Conscious Futures Studio — part panel, part workshop, part open mic, exploring how climate fiction and immersive media move audiences from imagination to action. • 4:15pm-5:30pm – Teaching History to Keep It, curated by EJOHP — our oral history team and academic partners from UNC Chapel Hill on turning oral history into both documentation practice and pedagogy. The day closes the way this work should: in celebration! From 6:00-9:00pm we'll be celebrating the release of the Mothers of the Movement collection through an evening reception and open exhibition viewing for EJOHP's landmark oral history collection honoring the women of the environmental justice movement, told through illustrated exhibits, StoryMaps, and a print magazine. Illustrator Micael Nunez joins EJOHP founder Cameron Oglesby for remarks; copies of the magazine will be available along with a book signing by Queen Quet Marquetta L. Goodwine, and at 7:30 PM, several of the collection's own narrators take the mic to close the night in their own words. This is not just an event. It's proof that community-owned storytelling is as central to impact as policy and direct action. Presented in partnership with The Margin, Nonprofit Quarterly, The Reimagine Story Lab, Conscious Futures Studio, Rachel's Network, Root to Flourish Collective, and the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition. Speakers include representatives from Girl Plus Environment, The YEARS Project, The Doc Society, Earth Alliance, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. To register and view our full speaker line-up, check out our Luma calendar here: https://luma.com/ejohp-climate-week-2026 View the full Mothers of the Movement storytelling collection here: https://ejohp.com/mothers-of-environmental-justice/