Join us for a screening and discussion of the critically-acclaimed and thought-provoking documentary Milking the Rhino, which offers a complex and intimate portrait of rural Africans at the forefront of community-based conservation.
Africa is emerging from a history of "white man conservation" that displaced indigenous people, banned subsistence hunting, and fueled resentment. Now, a revolution in grassroots wildlife conservation is turning poachers into protectors. But change doesn’t come easy and Milking the Rhino reveals the high stakes obstacles facing community conservation today.
A post-screening discussion will reflect on what Americans can learn from community conservation and organizing in Africa.
This discussion will feature:
- Elizabeth Chadri, Program Officer, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
- Jane Kimondo, Program Director, Crossroads Fund (moderator)
- David E. Simpson, Director of Milking the Rhino
- James Thindwa, Executive Director, Jobs with Justice
This program is free and open to the public. Reservations are required and can be made online, by email at events@prairie.org, or by calling 312.422.5580.
About the panelists
Elizabeth Chadri is a Program Officer in the Conservation & Sustainable Development area of Global Security & Sustainability (GSS) at The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. She is responsible for grant making in Africa. Chadri served as the first Manager of the African Wildlife Foundation’s (AWF) White River Conservation Centre in South Africa from 2000 to 2002. Prior to that she was the Director in Training, Institutional Development, and Education at AWF from 1997 to 2000. Chadri worked at AWF from 1994 until her latest appointment as Head of the Kampala Conservation Centre. She has extensive experience managing institutional development projects and capacity building programs in East, Central, and Southern Africa. Prior to joining AWF, Chadri was a Program Officer at the Wildlife Clubs of Kenya and a biology teacher. Chadri is a Kenyan citizen and has a M.Sc. in Training and Human Resource Management from Leicester University in the United Kingdom and a Master of Education degree from Kenyatta University, Kenya. Her undergraduate degree is in Zoology from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
Jane Kimondo is a Program Director at Crossroads Foundation. She previously worked with the Chicago Foundation for Women, where she worked in their program department for four years. She holds two Master’s Degrees in Organizational Development and Human Resources and a Certificate in Advanced Study in Philanthropy & Non-Profit Sector from Loyola University Chicago. Jane has extensive international and nonprofit experience in both Chicago and her native country, Kenya.
David E. Simpson, Director of Milking the Rhino, also co-produced and directed When Billy Broke His Head, a documentary about disability culture that won the Sundance Film Festival’s "Freedom of Expression Award." He recently co-produced and edited Forgiving Dr. Mengele, about an Auschwitz survivor’s controversial campaign of forgiveness, and directed Refrigerator Mothers, about a generation of mothers who raised autistic children under the shadow of professionally-promoted mother-blame. David also edits long-form documentaries. His credit includes Kartemequin Films’ recent Terra Incognita: Mapping Stem Cell Research, which aired on PBS’ Independent Lens; the PBS/Kartemquin series The New Americans; the Emmy-nominated NOVA: Mysterious Crash of Flight 201; Frontline/Marian Marzynski’s Shtetl (grand prix, Cinema du Reel); Kartemquin Films’ 5 Girls and Vietnam Long Time Coming; and an episode of The People’s Century for BBC/PBS.
James Thindwa is the Executive Director of Chicago Jobs with Justice, a coalition of labor, community, religious, civic, student, and policy organizations whose mission is to safeguard the right of workers to organize and to help build stable and sustainable communities. Recently, Thindwa and others coordinated a Chicago Forum on Zimbabwe, a public meeting on the human rights situation there. Previously, he was a lead organizer with Metro Seniors in Action, a city-wide coalition of organizations that advocate for seniors’ interests, including health care, mass transit, prescription drugs, safety and more. He was also a consumer rights activist with Ohio Citizen Action and Citizen’s Action Coalition of Indiana. Thindwa was a leader in the student anti-apartheid movement in 1970s and 80s and is originally from Zimbabwe.
Before screening the film, we invite you to visit the DuSable Museum’s Distant Echoes: Black Farmers in America exhibit on display now until May 17th.
This event is presented in collaboration with The Public Square, DuSable Museum of African American History, Kartemquin Films, Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture at The University of Chicago, the Civic Knowledge Project at The University of Chicago, The Program on Global Environment at The University of Chicago and The United Kenyans of Chicago.
The DuSable Museum of African American History free Sunday programming is sponsored by Bank of America.
For more information, call 312.422.5580.