Events

Event Description

Anti-Black Racism, Violence, and Black Ecologies

The relationship between violence, Black communities, and Black ecologies is complex and deeply rooted. In the United States, the connections between the racial force and violence of the state and natural environments are so pronounced that race itself has, in a sense, been inscribed into the very earth. Historical and contemporary examples such as the Flint water crisis, the legacy of modern-day lynchings, the period in the 1970s and 80s when The Bronx was burning, even the haunting imagery found in Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” all illustrate how Blackness and state violence have become interwoven within the distortion and degradation of environments inhabited by Black communities. The imperative is clear: if Black ecologies exist and Black lives truly matter, then they must be defended.