Black Planetary Ecology: Diamonds in the Cave

Today, we were lucky enough to have a conversation with a scholar, public intellectual, and activist who happens to be one of our favorite human beings on the planet – Dr. Claudia Ford. We began by asking Claudia to explain the relation between Planetary Consciousness and Blackness. From there, she talked about the intersection of Black ecology and Afro-pessimism. This led to a discussion of her new book project and her term Black “Grandmother Epistemology”, which unfolded into conversations on balance, flexibility, life, individualism, fear, and rebirth. Dr. Claudia Ford has done wonderful work on all of this season’s themes – the role of emotion in social justice work, ideas around transformation and revolution, and uplifting ways of being and knowing that are marginalized in our white supremacist, patriarchal, capitalist world. Named here: “Introduction to Environmental Studies: Interdisciplinary Readings”; “The Triple Pandemic: Revolt is the Only Option”; “Black to Nature: Pastoral Return and African American Culture by Stephanie K. Dunning”; “The Gift of Touch”; “Pain Pollen: The Twisted Ethnobotanical Roots of Cotton, Black Haw and Ground Hemlock”; and “Watering the Gardens of the Grandmother of Plants”.