A list of readings to combat racism in nature & the outdoors

Readings on climate justice written by Black, Indigenous, or other people of Colour to help us effectively address the climate crisis. 

Black people and people of colour are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. To effectively address the climate crisis, we need to be actively anti-racist and embed an intersectional approach within our work. This is a post created by Eve Georgieva, one of 2050 Climate Group’s Trustees.

Inspired by a Twitter bookclub started by Jessica J. Lee (#AlliesInTheLandscape) I started a small reading club on climate justice, to reflect on how race shapes our outdoors experiences.

This month, we’re reading:

When starting the bookclub, I couldn’t find many of the books written by Black authors about nature available to buy. These books seem much more inaccessible compared to books about outdoors written by white authors.

I have been reading articles and bookmarking many names, lists and websites. So I’ve consolidated all my notes and reading lists below. Maybe some of you would also find this helpful. This is my list to come back to, buy, read and reflect more on climate justice pieces written by Black, Indigenous, or other people of Colour. Questions I’m thinking about with my current readings;

  • When was my first time to read a book about nature/landscape by a Black author? I haven’t read many so why might that be?

  • Which voices shaped my ideas of wonder in nature? What power did they hold & why?

  • What are my experiences of land & belonging in Bulgaria? What am I learning about other people’s experiences?

  • In what ways do expectations of white nature writers differ from those of Black, Indigenous, & other people of colour? How are their stories framed differently?

BOOKS

  • The Rise of the American Conservation Movement: Power, Priviledge and Environmental Protection by Dorceta Taylor

  • The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors by James Edward Mills

  • Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage by Dianne D. Glave

  • Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility by Dorceta Taylor

  • Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney

  • Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy

  • The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World by Lauren Savoy & Alison Deming

  • The Grassling by Elizabeth-Jane Burnett

  • Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry by Camille T. Dungy

  • The Cooking Gene by Michael W. Twitty

  • Birding for Everyone: Encouraging People of Color to Become Birdwatchers by John C. Robinson

  • The Wrong Complexion for Protection: How Government Response to Disasters Endangers African-American Communities by Robert D. Bullard

  • Diary of An Environmentalist by Norris McDonald

  • Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm’s Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land by Leah Penniman

ARTICLES

Lists

Platforms

  • The Willowherb Review — provides a digital platform to celebrate and bolster nature writing by emerging and established writers of colour

  • Zakiya Mecca’s blog — a writer in residence for the Forestry Commission

  • Birdgirl — a blog by 18 year old Mya-Rose Craig who is fighting hard to redress the lack of visible minority ethnic (VME) writers

This list will keep growing.

I will be writing more about my readings and reflections as we progress with our bookclub discussions. Let us know what you’re reflecting, thinking and actioning.

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