Welcome to Truth and Reckoning, a podcast from CELDF — the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund. CELDF partners with people and communities to establish local self-governance necessary for living harmoniously within the boundaries of ecology.

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In this episode, we speak with Robert Shetterly.

Today’s show is an interview between CELDF’s executive director, Kai Huschke, and Robert Shetterly.

Robert Shetterly was born in 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio, graduated from Harvard College with a degree in English Literature. But while he was there he also took some courses in drawing which changed the direction of his creative life. He was active in Civil Rights and in the Anti-Vietnam War movement, and as you’ll hear in this interview, he became an artist.

Robert is now best known for his portrait series called “Americans Who Tell the Truth.” The project begun in response to U.S. government actions following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City, specifically the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Shetterly undertook the project as a way to deal with his own grief and anger by painting Americans who inspired him. He initially intended to paint only 50 portraits, but by 2025 there are now some 280 portraits in the series. Portions of the series tour widely across the United States, being shown in schools, museums, libraries, galleries and other public spaces.

These portraits have been traveling around the country since 2003. Venues have included everything from university museums and grade school libraries to sandwich shops, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine in New York City, and the Superior Court in San Francisco. To date, the exhibits have visited 38 states. In 2005, Dutton published a book of the portraits by the same name. In 2006, the book won the top award of the International Reading Association for Intermediate non-fiction. New Village Press in New York City is published a series of themed books on the portraits. Each volume contains 50 portraits. The series includes Portraits of Racial Justice (2021), Portraits of Earth Justice (2022), and Portraits of Peace Makers (2024).

The portraits have given Shetterly an opportunity to speak with children and adults all over this country about the necessity of dissent in a democracy, the obligations of citizenship, sustainability, US history, and how democracy cannot function if politicians don’t tell the truth, if the media don’t report it, and if the people don’t demand it.

Robert also wrote the introduction to the latest book that we published here at CELDF, a collection of essays called “Can You Handle the Truth.” You can purchase that book on our website.

The video version of this podcast can be viewed here:

Links and Resources

* American Who Tell the Truth

* Truth Tellers, a documentary film about Robert’s work

About the Truth and Reckoning Podcast

In this show, we learn from front-line organizers and communities fighting against environmental destruction. We explore different perspectives and innovative strategies for movement building, the potency and potential of rights of nature, and effective action in defense of our communities. And, we share inspiring stories of people working towards right relationship with the land and each other. The show is hosted by CELDF Community Resistance and Resilience Program Co-Director Max Wilbert.

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About CELDF — Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund

CELDF is a nationwide community of organizers, lawyers, and partners who educate, agitate, and organize to confront systemic injustice and restore humanity’s reciprocal relationship with the Earth. For over 30 years, we’ve helped communities resist corporate exploitation, reject regulatory false promises, and assert their right to self-govern through systems grounded in ecological balance and collective power.

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