Campus Life

Sustainability Institute and WPSU co-hosting screening of '100 Years'

Penn State’s Sustainability Institute and WPSU will co-host an online screening of Melinda Janko’s film "100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice," at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Credit: ProvidedAll Rights Reserved.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Sustainability Institute (SI) and WPSU will co-host an online screening of Melinda Janko’s film "100 Years: One Woman’s Fight for Justice," at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 10.

Those interested can register at https://intersections.psu.edu/100-years

The film follows the decades-long activism of Elouise Cobell, treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation, who discovered that for more than 100 years the federal government had mismanaged mineral rights held in trust on behalf of Native Americans, cheating them out of billions of dollars while covering their land with oil and gas wells. In response, Cobell launched the largest class action lawsuit against the U.S. government in history, fighting in the courts and in Congress through multiple sessions and hearings. 

“Cobell’s heroic efforts to find justice for indigenous communities are an inspiring example of the power of individuals to seek systemic change,” said Peter Boger, SI’s assistant director for community engagement. “Her story is a testament to perseverance and once again makes clear that we as a nation still have not reckoned with our continued history of injustice to and appropriation from indigenous peoples.”

The film is screening as part of Women’s History Month and also as a prelude to next month’s Colloquium on the Environment, which will focus on issues of environmental justice. The colloquium keynote address — co-sponsored by SI, the Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Office of Educational Equity, Office of Human Resources, and Office of Diversity and Inclusion — will be delivered by Dr. Robert Bullard, father of the environmental justice movement, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 1, and is open to all with pre-registration.

The film is screening as part of WPSU and SI’s "Intersections: How We Respond" film series, a monthly series of films dedicated to exploring different ways that people respond to sustainability challenges. All films are free and open to the public. Contact Boger at pgb45@psu.edu with any questions.

Last Updated April 15, 2021