Rooted in The Earth: A Book Review

       Rooted in the Earth: 5 Green Thumbs Up

Rooted in the Earth is a grounding book for all readers who are looking to unearth the truth about African American environmental heritage.  Written so eloquently by Dianne D. Glave this book is filled with knowledge and captivates your imagination with a bit of story telling.  Her ability to capture our deepest connections with the environment in all its facets is not surprising as her affinity for the natural world was shaped at an early age which she gently shares in the preface of her book.

A history lesson is on every page yet authored to give acknowledgement to those who are accused of being invisible.  Ms. Glave synthesizes over a century of African American environmentalism in 10 chapters and what may have taken the average person years to dig up.  Her wide eyed perspective covers aquatic and terrestrial efforts, and includes a chapter on religion, conservation, children and women. I appreciate the final chapter Environmental Justice not being the first.  The composition of the book allows for your adoration and pride in the stories she's cultivated and the truths she has harvested. We were not always disconnected and her respect for this field shows that we are not all disconnected.

Author: Diane D. Glave

Her point that African Americans have possessed an environmental and land ethic is clear.  The statements that Blacks don't care about the environment, or that we lack a prioritization of such are false and her thoughtful research supports such.  Her gathered knowledge captures what we in the Black community know all to well. When someone speaks for you and about you they probably don't know what they are talking about.  Ms. Glave articulates more than what happened when but also gives insight to how people of color connect with nature over time and how deeply rooted our culture is to the earth and its resources.

This book is an ideal read for anyone who is interested in understanding African American communities beyond that of Environmental Justice and Food Deserts.  It is an excellent book for advanced high school students as well as undergraduate and graduate levels in philosophy, recreation, history, ecology and African American studies.  Her stories at the beginning of every chapter are narratives that lets your imagination usher you into the reality on the following pages.  The photos are timeless and I found myself wanting to see more of who we use to be when we were living in a world where our families, health, livestock and homes were rooted in the earth themselves.  There aren't many books like this written to give account to the diversity of our efforts beyond the discussion of slavery and agriculture. For that anyone who wants the truth....Diane D. Glave just gave it to you.

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Under Water and Over It

I am far too familiar with what too much precipitation means for a city whose storm water management is incapable of handling intense rainfall events.  But some more than others have to deal with the reality of what that actually means.  Here in Chicago people expect us to have a healthy relationship with water because we have the Great Lakes but too much of a good thing can still be bad for you.

The recent flooding in Detroit, Michigan brought up some memories and experiences of my own. Unlike Detroit, Chicago proper per my recollection has never seen such a disaster that shut down multiple freeways and flooding resulting in the loss of life.  Some things came to mind as I began reading the stories about the history of Chicago and how our water system both sewage and storm came to be as we experience it now.  The outdated systems have resulted in floods over the years and I am one of the people that lost EVERYTHING in the storm of 2011 where myself and my three kids were living in a garden apartment.

I feel as though as an urbanite I have to address this entry to those whom are rebuilding cities and let them know that there are consequences to the inadequate design of these systems that impact all people but really creates anxiety for the cities poorest.  While those who live along the Des Plaines deal with this as a consequence of living near a water way, those of us who assume we are living in the safety of the boundaries of the city away from water don't expect it to flood us out of our homes.

As we think about water, infrastructure, flooding, equity we must be mindful of all the players in the game. While I have my own private thoughts on policy makers I will say that amidst the conversations of water issues and climate change in the Black community not one...NOT ONE conversation has included a piece on policy and elected officials that hold our communities in high regard.  With the upcoming races in Cook County I would strongly suggest locals to look into who is running for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and what their positions are relative to the issues of water and people of color....of course not just our communities but looking at what the ideal candidate for managing water policies for our entire city actually is.

Yes our communities are under water and yes we are over it.  When I was thinking about flooding of segregated communities and whose hit hardest and what recovery looks like I began to feel sick.  The reality of poverty is lack of resources and preparedness. Then I considered simple things such as flooding for me is no big deal because I can swim. When I read the accounts of people stranded and at risk of losing their lives in the water. Data shows that minorities are more at risk for drowning, as well as children within minority communities.

The data below is from a Special Report on Minority Drowning

So not only are we being flooded from our homes in severe events for me I'm not only considering the loss of real estate and material things but fundamentally what this also means for Blacks if too much water were to hit too fast how much more likely it will be for us to survive considering being prepared through swimming or at least life vests.  To realize that up to 75% of Black women in this survey reported they can't swim was mind blowing. I am a competitive swimmer, life guard, WSI and I played water polo I am an aquaholic. I hope we as a community begin to recognize that while we can not say that one event is climate change but that there are some interesting relationships between access, race, class, income and peoples abilities to survive any weather or climate related event.

Let us hope our society begins to think with a survival lens of wanting all our residents regardless of culture, income or age can be protected through a thoughtful approach to building better cities and better access to live in them.

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