Black Earth Podcast

Season 2 is complete!

In this episode, the Black Earth team, Marion and Anesu, reflect on their highlights and lessons from Season 2. We reflect on how our relationships with nature are evolving, the importance of radical imagination and re-defining community. We also discuss what active hope means in a world undergoing immense change and crises.

Thank you for being part of our amazing listener community from more than 110 countries! See you in Season 3, which will bloom early 2024. In the meantime, you can listen to our other episodes, stay updated by subscribing to our podcast wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts and connect with us on Instagram and LinkedIn @blackearthpodcast.

Episode timestamps
00:00 - Welcome to our final episode

02:26 - How our relationship with nature is changing

13:00 - Our reflections on Season 2 

19:32 - How Valerie’s episode inspired Marion to reframe her definition of community

28:25 - How Evie’s episode has inspired Anesu to practice imagination daily 

31:26  - The importance of reclaiming radical imagination
38:35 - Active hope in a world of immense change and crises

01:01:00 - How to support Black Earth Outro

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast

In our final conversation of Season 2, Environmentalism Reimagined, we meet with Atwooki, creator of Yuniya.

Named after her grandmother, Yuniya is a storytelling platform using African mythology to educate children, parents and caregivers about climate change and Earth care.

Join us in this inspirational conversation as we explore how African mythology and storytelling is making climate action and ‘joyful activism’ more relatable, empowering and culturally relevant.

Through reclaiming African knowledge and building relationships across generations, Yuniya is bringing conversations on climate change, out from policy spaces and street protests into homes and community centres, where they belong. 

This is an episode of active hope, enjoy!

Episode time stamps 

00:00 - Intro to episode

02:52 - Atwooki’s relationship with nature 

06:23 - How a conversation with her son, led Atwooki to create Yuniya

15:11 - What Yuniya do

20:04 - The life-changing impact of Yuniya on children, parents and caregivers
23:31 - How Yuniya has empowered a boy to lead a campaign to change the world map

28:35 - The importance of community education spaces in black liberation movements

30:38 - Marion shares a framework to define what growth looks like in social change 

34:05 - Lessons on how we can engage children on climate change and joyful activism in an empowering way

39:48 - How to support black parents and caregivers of black children to feel empowered in Earth care

46:51 - Why the binary of ‘individual action versus systemic change’ limits our possibilities to engage everybody

52:16 - Atwooki’s recommendations to policy-makers 

54:31 - How to support Atwooki and Yuniya 

01:01:00 - How to support Black Earth

Support Atwooki and Yuniya 

Yuniya - https://yuniya.com/pages/home  

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast

Song credits

The Kora music in this episode is courtesy of Malamin and Yuniya platform

Resource mentioned in the episode

A framework on measuring impact in social change (Scaling Up, Scaling Out, Scaling Deep) by Michele-lee Moore, Darcy Riddell, and Dan Vocisano

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298971574_Scaling_Out_Scaling_Up_Scaling_Deep_Strategies_of_Non-profits_in_Advancing_Systemic_Social_Innovation 

Valerie Novack is an incredible policy researcher working at the intersections of disability justice, emergency management response and inclusive city design.

In today’s episode, we dive deep into disability justice and the connections with Earth care. We explore some core elements of disability justice including rest, sustainability, the ability to learn and interdependence and why they are key to helping us reimagine the environmental movement. 

Valerie also explains why our definition of community should include our more-than-human beings and how that is connected to disability justice.

This episode is not one to be missed! 

Episode timestamps 

00:00 Introduction

03:12 Valerie’s relationship with nature 

06:27 How Valerie got into disability justice 

16:18 What is disability justice

23:40 How rest and sustainability enables disability justice in Earth care

30:02 How the ability to learn enables disability justice in Earth care 

31:37 How interdependence is crucial for disability justice

35:32 How and why ableism shows up in Earth care

39:50 Individual action versus systems change

46:18 Why our definition of community should include our relationships with other species 

52:15 How disability justice invites us to live values aligned with Earth care

59:55 Disability and wholeness 

01:07:00 How to support Valerie and Valerie’s work

01:09:00 How to support Black Earth Podcast

Read the disability justice principles by Sins Invalid

https://www.sinsinvalid.org/blog/10-principles-of-disability-justice 

Support Valerie Novack

Valerie on X - https://twitter.com/MADtastically 

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast

Wanjiku 'Wawa' Gatheru is the pioneering Executive Director and Founder of Black Girl Environmentalist. Black Girl Environmentalist is a U.S. organisation dedicated to addressing the leadership pathway and retention issue in the climate movement for Black girls, women and gender-expansive people in the United States.

In this inspiring episode, we explore the mission and vision of Black Girl Environmentalist and its impact in the world. Wawa and I discuss important elements to help you create an empowering, mission-aligned and impactful career in the environmental justice movement. As the rising and returning generation of environmentalists, we also take time to re-member and honor the contributions of our African American elders to the modern environmental justice movement.

Evie is a writer, a domestic abuse survivor and specialist, and the founder of Peaks of Colour. Peaks of Colour is a nature-for-healing community group by and for people of colour in England.

In this powerful episode, Evie and I reflect on their experiences as a domestic abuse survivor and specialist and their journey of healing through reconnecting with nature.

We explore abolitionist visions for earth care through Peaks of Colour group. 

We discuss important elements for abolitionist Earth care including pleasure, community and land justice. 

Evie shares more details on their upcoming book, Radical Rest, and why it is important for anyone committed to Earth care.

Trigger warning: Today's episode contains some serious themes, including Evie's experiences of surviving domestic violence, intimate partner violence, and white supremacy terrorism.

Episode timestamps

0:00 Introducing Evie

03:02 Evie’s relationship with nature 

7:55 Evie’s experiences of surviving domestic violence and intimate partner violence

15:20 Evie’s experiences of healing themselves and working in the Violence against Women and Girls sector

25:34 Peaks of Colour and what abolitionist earth care means

39:45 The importance of embodied practice for trauma survivors and why it’s important to lead with what feels good

48:09 How black people can create safety from racialised violence whilst outdoors with nature

57:21 Evie’s upcoming book on ‘Radical Rest’ and why it’s time for soft life in black womanhood

1:07:00 How to support Evie

1:10:00 How to support Black Earth

Support Evie Muir

Support Peaks of Colour - https://www.peaksofcolour.org/ 

Support Evie Muir - https://eviemuir.com/ 

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast 

Derval Barzey is the creator of the Climate Conscious podcast, which amplifies the Caribbean perspective on climate change and sustainable development. She's also a leader and expert on the just energy transition in the Caribbean.

In today's episode, we explore what it means to build a homegrown movement in the Caribbean that fosters sustainable development, empowers all people, and ensures meaningful progress on climate justice.

We discuss what a just energy transition looks like in the Caribbean as well as Derval’s motivation for setting up the Caribbean Women for Climate Justice conferences.

Derval also shares with us impactful ways the Caribbean diaspora can contribute to homegrown climate justice in the region.

Episode timestamps

00:00 - Introduction to Derval

03:01 - Derval’s relationship with nature

05:32 - Derval’s appreciation for nature in urban and rural spaces

07:32 - Why Derval chose to work in the energy sector 

11:53 - What a just energy transition means

15:02 - Why equity matters in the just energy transition and what it looks like

25:04 - Why Derval set up the Caribbean Women for Climate Justice conference 

33:50 - What homegrown sustainable development looks like in the Caribbean

46:22 - Solutions and pathways for homegrown sustainable development in the Caribbean

49:20 - Effective contributions the diaspora can make to realise climate justice in the Caribbean

55:06 - Derval’s reflections on her podcast, Climate Conscious podcast

58:55 - How you can support Derval

01:00:00 - How you can support Black Earth Podcast

If you liked this episode, check out our other podcast episodes with similar themes

• Hurricanes and climate justice in the Caribbean with Marjahn Finlayson 
• How gorillas and communities can live in harmony with Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

Support Derval Barzey

Listen and subscribe to Climate Conscious Podcast - https://theclimateconscious.buzzsprout.com/ 

Watch and share recordings of the Caribbean Women for Climate Justice Conference #CW4CJ on YouTube

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast 

Indigenous Peoples make up around five percent of humanity’s population and yet they are some of the world’s best stewards of nature. Their  scientific knowledge and ways of living are rooted in a respect for all life on Earth that informs the way they take care of nature. Indigenous Peoples are leading a new revolution in humanity’s relationship with nature. 

In this episode, we meet the inspiring Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. Hindou is an Indigenous leader from the Mbororo peoples of the Sahel region, Africa. She is the Coordinator of the Association of Peul Women and Autochthonous Peoples of Chad (AFPAT) and advocates for Indigenous leadership and knowledge in international nature and climate policy.

Join us as we learn about the central role of African Indigenous women in earth care. We also discuss the impacts of climate injustice on Indigenous peoples around the world and solutions to address climate injustice. Hindou also shares encouraging advice to Indigenous girls, women and communities facing climate injustice.

Episode time stamps

00:00 Welcoming Hindou 

02:43 Hindou’s relationship with nature 

04:38 How belonging to the Mbororo peoples has shaped Hindou’s respect and understanding of nature

08:32 Why Hindou’s best weather app is her grandmother

14:45 The central role of African Indigenous women in community decision-making  

21:18 The impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities and how Indigenous Peoples are responding

30:48 What we and ‘developed nations’ need to do for climate justice

35:36 Hindou’s advice to Indigenous women and girls living with the impacts of climate change

38:36 How you can support Hindou

39:19 How you can support Black Earth

Support Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim

Connect and Follow Hindou on X and Instagram: @hindououmar

Support Association of Peul Women and Autochthonous Peoples of Chad (AFPAT): https://www.afpat.net/ 

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Visit our site and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast

Poppy is a Nigerian-British ecological home grower. Her fundamental belief that we are nature informs her work inspiring and educating millions of people on how to grow food, plants and herbal medicines in their gardens. 

Join us in this inspiring conversation as we explore Poppy’s journey from fashion modelling to gardening, and what it means to grow in harmony with Earth. We also discuss how gardening helps us re-imagine the environmental movement and our relationship with nature. 

Resources mentioned in the conversation

Book: Urban jungle by Ben Wilson

Article on Ecosia blog: ‘Would the conversation about climate change be different if it weren’t in English?’ by Isabella Siemann

Support Poppy Okotcha

Follow: https://www.poppyokotcha.com/ 

Connect with Poppy on Instagram: @poppy.okotcha 

Support Black Earth Podcast

Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 

Subscribe and read episode transcripts: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 

Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast 

Welcome back to Black Earth Podcast!

In Season 2, we are re-imagining the environmental movement. Join me in conversation with the leading voices of our time, as we learn about the ideas, solutions, and collectives led by Black women, that are transforming the way we live, we love, and we act for nature. 

Support Black Earth Podcast
Connect with us on Instagram, LinkedIn and Tiktok: @blackearthpodcast 
Visit our site: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/ 
Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/BlackEarthPodcast 

Season 1 of Black Earth podcast is complete! In this episode, the Black Earth team (Marion and Anesu) reflect on their highlights from Season 1, and what it means to re-member our place and relationship with nature. We are joined by three listeners of the Black Earth Podcast community, Amber, Samia and Marjahn, who also share their highlights.

Thank you for rocking with us and see you in Season 2 which will bloom mid-year 2023. In the meantime, you can stay updated by subscribing to our podcast wherever you listen to your favourite podcasts and connect with us on Instagram, Tiktok and LinkedIn @blackearthpodcast.

Peace!

Episode time stamps

00:00 - Introduction

00:52 - Black Earth Podcast listener - Amber from Texas

01:28 - Our reflections on Amber's feedback - finding community in the environmental movement and being in nature

04:33 - Black Earth Podcast listener - Samia from UK

05:51 - Our reflections on Samia's feedback - climate reparations and reclaiming ideas that have meaning in black communities

13:45 - Profound moments from Season 1

16:43 - The importance of processing black people's deaths in a dignifying way

20:03 - Black Earth Team talk about their relationships with nature

26:56 - Black Earth Podcast guest and listener - Marjahn from Bahamas

29:57 - Our reflections on Marjahn's feedback - centering, affirming, and celebrating our place in nature

37:42 - Season 2 and how you can stay connected with Black Earth Podcast

How you can support and connect with Black Earth 

Subscribe and leave a review on your favourite podcast platform

Connect with us on Instagram, Tiktok, and LinkedIn: @blackearthpodcast

Share our episodes: https://www.blackearthpodcast.com/