Lecture
& Panel Discussion with Dr. Jennifer Roberts
“We are each other’s harvest. We are each other’s magnitude and bond.”: Understanding the Racialization of Nature
Dr. Jennifer Roberts is a scholar and activist who focuses understanding environmental racism and health disparities in marginalized populations through an historical lens. She seeks to
identify and dismantle current health injustices though writing, research and engagement with the outdoors.
Host: Undergraduate Student Government
Location: 151 Andre Schenker Lecture Hall (Monteith Building), 341 Mansfield Rd., Storrs
Presentation Abstract
Gwendolyn Brooks, a prolific American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner, concluded her “Paul Robeson” masterpiece, with “we are each other’s harvest, we are each other’s business, we are each other’s magnitude and bond” (Blacks, 1984). Through this poem, Brooks celebrated the life of Robeson, a renaissance man, civil rights activist, nature lover and much more. She petitioned humans through earthly metaphoric language to be part of something bigger than themselves, a message that humans often forget.
The COVID-19 + racism + climate change syndemic has reminded us of this message, the fragility of life, as well as, our interconnected relationship with the natural world. COVID-19 offered a tribute to ecological spaces as humans flocked to parks, trails and other outdoor settings. Unfortunately, multiple eras of structural racism and oppressive policies have stripped away access and wounded the connection between nature and many BIPOC communities. For example, in the 1960s, Humboldt Parkway, an Olmstedian greenspace oasis in Buffalo, NY, surrounded by Black American neighborhoods, was bulldozed over and replaced with a six-lane intrusive highway for easier access to suburbia. Yet, long before this environmental injustice, the moral and spiritual connection with nature was already impaired among generations of Black Americans. This was a troubling concern for W.E.B. DuBois, a preeminent racial and social justice pioneer and underrecognized naturalist; he asked “Why do not those who are scarred in the world's battle and hurt by its hardness travel to these places [Grand Canyon] of beauty and drown themselves in the utter joy of life?” (Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil, 1920). Perhaps DuBois pondered this harsh reality while sitting in Robeson’s garden (W.E.B. DuBois, 1958).
This presentation will critically examine these issues, including greenspace gaps, land based trauma, park privilege, and how nature inequities are patterned by race and place in the United States. An insider’s look (speaker born and raised in Buffalo, NY) to the environmental and social injustices of Humboldt Parkway will also be discussed. Through an understanding and a call for addressing these transgressions and failures, the role of earth’s gifts, including its ability to heal, restore and inspire, will also be recognized and honored.
Suggested Readings
Blood on the Leaves –
https://earthincolor.co/featured-voices/blood-on-the-leaves/
From Environmental Racism to Environmental Reparation: The Story of One American City –