LOS ANGELES, CA — Hip Hop Caucus will host two signature activations during this year’s LA Climate Week. On Saturday, April 11, 2026, the Caucus will host a first of its kind Climate Comedy Workshop and a Climate Comedy Showcase. The workshop will take place from Noon – 4 pm PT, followed by the showcase from 5 – 6 PM PT. On Monday, April 13, 2026, the Caucus will host a screening and fireside chat of the short film, “Black Soil Rising.” The screening and fireside chat will take place from 6 – 9 pm PT. Both events will be hosted at Hip Hop Caucus’ Downtown Los Angeles Studio, 817 S Los Angeles Street in the Fashion District. 

“Comedy offers young people—who may not yet possess the economic or institutional influence to spark climate change—a potent tool,” says  Max Boykoff, Co-Director of Inside the Greenhouse and Professor in the Environmental Studies department at the University of Colorado Boulder. “They can utilize humor to highlight contradictions, hypocrisy, incongruities, worries, and concerns, as well as express ambitions and aspirations for positive and sustainable transformations within their adult lives.”

“We did a workshop like this in New Orleans last summer, so I can tell you from experience, get ready for a fun and energizing experience,” says Beth Osnes, Co-Director of Inside The Greenhouse and Professor of Theatre and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado. “This workshop is designed for peer to near peer mentorship in which professional comedians encourage and support young aspiring comedians in finding the funny while communicating climate challenges and solutions.”

In conjunction with the 2026 LA Climate Week focus of designing our climate future together, these events focus on empowering audiences to leverage creative storytelling to discuss climate issues and build on continued community, connection, and conversation amongst artists, creatives, thought leaders, and change makers engaged in climate and environmental justice. 

“Climate impacts the economy: if energy prices go up in the summer, so does my bill,” says Brittany Bell Surratt, Comedian and Hip Hop Caucus Senior Director of Storytelling & Communications . “The power of comedy lies in its ability to elevate climate issues, while simultaneously finding the humor in how it affects our daily lives.”

Saturday, April 11, 2026, Noon – 4 pm PT

Climate Comedy Workshop 

Framed as an education program that uses humor as a tool for climate storytelling, civic engagement, and intergenerational learning, the Climate Workshop will empower college-aged participants to make complex climate concepts accessible, engaging, and locally relevant through humor. Participants will workshop their ideas, working with other artists, creatives, and activists, to create a comedy set that they will then have an opportunity to perform during the Climate Comedy Showcase later in the evening. 

Registration: Participants will need to register for the workshop. The deadline for registering for the Comedy Workshop is April 6, 2026. 

Please note: The workshop is free and open to young adults ages 18-25 .

Saturday,  April 11, 2026, 5 – 6 pm PT

Climate Comedy: The Showcase

Hip Hop Caucus, Inside The Greenhouse, and SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education present a youth-led climate comedy show.

Hosted by Brittany Bell Surratt, this showcase blends humor, truth, and climate justice, creating a space for young people to take the center stage and speak on climate and racial justice in ways that are bold, creative, and funny. Through comedy, participants will challenge perspectives, share lived experiences, and reimagine what climate storytelling can look like.

The evening will feature performances from youth comedians from the afternoon’s workshop, along with special sets from Comedians Esteban Gast, Rasheeda Crocket, Kaycee Conlee, and Brittany Bell Surratt. Participants will be evaluated by a panel of judges across criteria including humor, creativity, stage presence, and the ability to illuminate issues of climate and justice. The top three winners will have the opportunity to win a cash prize.

RSVP: Attendees are encouraged to RSVP as seating for the showcase will be limited. The event is free and open to the public. 

Monday, April 13, 2026, 6 – 9 pm PT

Black Soil Rising | Film Screening and Fireside Chat

The Energy Justice Law and Policy Center (EJLPC), in collaboration with Black in Environment (co-lead and local host partner), will host a Black Climate Week gathering centered on storytelling, land justice, and community connection. Designed as part of the broader LA Climate Week ecosystem, the screening and fireside chat will intentionally create space for Black-led narrative, strategy, and relationship-building. 

The evening will feature a screening of “Black Soil Rising,” a short film examining Black land, land loss, and the impacts of fossil fuel extraction; a facilitated conversation with the film’s director Raya Salter Esq., NAACP Director of the Center for Environmental and Climate Justice Abre’ Conner, and Hip Hop Caucus Director of Storytelling & Communications Brittany Bell Suratt will follow the screening. The program will transition into an EcoVibe mixer, a curated cultural and community space that blends music, visual storytelling, and intentional gathering. The event is sponsored by M4BL The Black Hive.

RSVP: Attendees are encouraged to RSVP for the event. The event is free and open to the public. 

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About Hip Hop Caucus 

Formed in 2004, Hip Hop Caucus is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that leverages Hip Hop culture to encourage young people to participate in the democratic process. Through a collaborative leadership network, Hip Hop Caucus addresses core issues affecting underserved communities. Hip Hop Caucus programs and campaigns support solution-driven community organizing led by today’s young leaders.

About Inside the Greenhouse

Inside the Greenhouse at University of Colorado Boulder works to deepen our understanding of how issues associated with climate change are/can be communicated, by creating artifacts through interactive theatre, film, fine art, performance art, television programming, and appraising as well as extracting effective methods for multimodal climate communication.

About the SPIKE Center for Sustainability Education

The SPIKE Center serves as an accelerator for sustainability education at University of Colorado Boulder, seeking to grow opportunities for students to incorporate sustainability into their education, support faculty in their teaching of sustainability, grow experiential learning, and improve outcomes for students.

About the Energy Justice Law and Policy Center

The Energy Justice Law & Policy Center, or EJLPC, is a nonprofit energy justice law and policy firm and think tank. Our mission is to work with local communities to address harms caused by energy systems while catalyzing a just clean power transition. We are committed to providing legal and policy support to underserved communities to ensure their voices are heard in infrastructure decision-making processes.

About Black In Environment

Black In Environment is a fiscally sponsored project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), a registered 501(c)(3) organization, and is building community for Black people in environmental spaces and highlighting the scholarship, activism and engagement of Black environmentalists globally.

About the Black Hive

The Black Hive is at the heart of the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) climate and environmental justice (CEJ) efforts. We are a cohort of Black CEJ experts who use our collective experience and knowledge to assess how climate change and ecological destruction impact Black communities in the U.S. and across the Global Black Diaspora. Together, we organize for cleaner, better, and safer futures for Black lives.