Book Launch for Mona Shomali’s Water Mamas
About this Groundfloor Gathering
Join us to celebrate the launch of Groundfloor member Mona Shomali’s new book WATER MAMAS!
This event is free and open to the public.
The Amazon is dying. What price is too high to save it?
In a not-so-distant future, the Earth's lungs are failing. A United Nations representative, Afa, finds herself deep in the parched heart of the Amazon, facing the ultimate ethical dilemma. Her mission: secure consent from indigenous tribes to start a rain seeding program. Rain cloud technology promises to reverse the ravages of climate change, to breathe life back into the global rainforests.
But here, in the ancient heart of their lands, consent is not merely a formality; it's enshrined in human rights law. Her initial confidence crumbles in Guyana, where the very idea of man-made rain strikes at the core of Indigenous mythology and spirituality. It’s a clash of worlds—Western science versus ancestral wisdom—with the fate of the global climate hanging precariously in the balance.
Amidst this complex crisis, Afa's journey becomes intensely personal. Navigating the pressures of her career and the complexities of an unexpected romance, she is forced to confront what she truly believes is right for her own life.
This is more than a story of technology versus tradition. It’s a gripping exploration of climate crisis, social justice, and the profound power of belief. Follow Mona Shomali as she masterfully weaves together her expertise in Indigenous Human Rights and Environmental Science, challenging us to consider what it means to make the "right" decision when the world is teetering on the edge.
Author bio: Mona Shomali is an Iranian American author and artist driven by a singular purpose: to explore how we navigate competing morals and worldviews. Her unique background, steeped in Indigenous Human Rights and Environmental Science, informs her brush and her prose.
Mona's journey, into the heart of the Amazon, started with her pivotal research work on the Sarayacu vs. Ecuador case in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She worked on behalf of the Sarayacu tribe who was suing the state of Ecuador for illegally allowing drilling on their ancestral land without consent. Having lived and worked with tribes in Guyana and Brazil, Mona has dedicated her career to teaching and sharing the crucial juxtapositions and cultural challenges inherent in Western environmentalism.
As an adjunct faculty member at The New School, Pace, and NYU, her courses were focused on Indigenous human rights, resource conflicts in the Amazon, International environmental governance, and environmental justice. She also taught ecology at the New York Botanical Garden.
Now based in Oakland, California, Mona's figurative paintings, like those in her "Invisible Stains" collection (including Water Mamas's cover art), embody her commitment to these vital global conversations.
To read more of Mona’s writing, visit her substack at https://substack.com/@monashomali or visit her website: monashomali.com.
This event is free and open to the public.
The Amazon is dying. What price is too high to save it?
In a not-so-distant future, the Earth's lungs are failing. A United Nations representative, Afa, finds herself deep in the parched heart of the Amazon, facing the ultimate ethical dilemma. Her mission: secure consent from indigenous tribes to start a rain seeding program. Rain cloud technology promises to reverse the ravages of climate change, to breathe life back into the global rainforests.
But here, in the ancient heart of their lands, consent is not merely a formality; it's enshrined in human rights law. Her initial confidence crumbles in Guyana, where the very idea of man-made rain strikes at the core of Indigenous mythology and spirituality. It’s a clash of worlds—Western science versus ancestral wisdom—with the fate of the global climate hanging precariously in the balance.
Amidst this complex crisis, Afa's journey becomes intensely personal. Navigating the pressures of her career and the complexities of an unexpected romance, she is forced to confront what she truly believes is right for her own life.
This is more than a story of technology versus tradition. It’s a gripping exploration of climate crisis, social justice, and the profound power of belief. Follow Mona Shomali as she masterfully weaves together her expertise in Indigenous Human Rights and Environmental Science, challenging us to consider what it means to make the "right" decision when the world is teetering on the edge.
Author bio: Mona Shomali is an Iranian American author and artist driven by a singular purpose: to explore how we navigate competing morals and worldviews. Her unique background, steeped in Indigenous Human Rights and Environmental Science, informs her brush and her prose.
Mona's journey, into the heart of the Amazon, started with her pivotal research work on the Sarayacu vs. Ecuador case in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. She worked on behalf of the Sarayacu tribe who was suing the state of Ecuador for illegally allowing drilling on their ancestral land without consent. Having lived and worked with tribes in Guyana and Brazil, Mona has dedicated her career to teaching and sharing the crucial juxtapositions and cultural challenges inherent in Western environmentalism.
As an adjunct faculty member at The New School, Pace, and NYU, her courses were focused on Indigenous human rights, resource conflicts in the Amazon, International environmental governance, and environmental justice. She also taught ecology at the New York Botanical Garden.
Now based in Oakland, California, Mona's figurative paintings, like those in her "Invisible Stains" collection (including Water Mamas's cover art), embody her commitment to these vital global conversations.
To read more of Mona’s writing, visit her substack at https://substack.com/@monashomali or visit her website: monashomali.com.
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