Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage

by Dianne D. Glave

Crossing the ocean on a slave ship, working the land under threat of violence, eluding racists in nighttime chases through moonless fields and woodlands, stumbling across a murder victim hanging from a tree—these are images associated with the African American experience of nature. Over the decades, many African Americans have come to accept that natural areas are dangerous. Unfamiliar with the culture's rich environmental heritage, people overlook the knowledge and skills required at every turn in black thriving in natural settings in ancestral African lands, using and discovering farming techniques to survive during slavery and Reconstruction, and navigating escape routes to freedom, all of which required remarkable outdoor talents and a level of expertise far beyond what's needed to hike or camp in a national forest or park.             In Rooted in the Earth , environmental historian Dianne D. Glave overturns the stereotype that a meaningful attachment to nature and the outdoors is contrary to the black experience. In tracing the history of African Americans' relationship with the environment, emphasizing the unique preservation-conservation aspect of black environmentalism, and using her storytelling skills to re-create black naturalists of the past, Glave reclaims the African American heritage of the land. This book is a groundbreaking, important first step toward getting back into nature, not only for personal growth but for the future of the planet.

Genres: Environment, Nonfiction, Race, Nature, Social Justice, History, Gardening

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[CJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exploring the complicated connection between Black folks and the outdoors, its socio-historical implications, environmental racism, and our largely under-reported relationship with self-directed agriculture, Rooted in the Earth helps one understand the role of nature in the lives of enslaved Black people, and Black people of the post-antebellum era in "America."

Each chapter opens with a brief, fictional, "Roots"-style account of a Black protagonist navigating, resisting, and surviving the harsh waters of the Atlantic Ocean, and the stolen, indigenous land upon which we stand.

Simple, poetic language. A bit heteronormative at times, but an interesting read.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book provides an excellent introduction and overview to the environmental heritage of black Americans, from the Middle Passage to environmental justice movements. It would be ideal for someone just coming to the topic or for high school or undergraduate audiences in literature, history, environmental studies, and more. The "resources" and "further reading" sections at the end of the book provide great places to go further. Dianne Glave is a well-known historian and a crucial figure in reclaiming black environmental connections, similar to Lauret Savoy, Camille Dungy, and Drew Lanham. We need more people writing about these issues!

[sdw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dianne Glave's book argues against a perception of African Americans as anti-environmentalists as she demonstrates the existence of an African American environmental heritage. Her book mostly concerns the U.S. South and does an admirable job in addressing the legacy of slavery. She cites a number of texts literary critics will be familiar with from Alice Walker's In Search of My Mother's Gardens to Jean Toomer's Cane . This is a book appropriate for a general audience or an undergraduate classroom. It is clear from the concluding paragraph in each chapter that part of Glave's point is to encourage more African Americans to reassess and reclaim a forgotten African American environmental ethos.

[Geraldolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

We ( African Americans) have always been environmentalists

This is a must read , especially in recognition of MLK and Black History month. It is a great read for those engaging African American communities in gardening and other environmental issues. Focusing on our history from the rich dirt of Africa to the planting of the garden at our nations capital by Michelle Obama, one can find resolve and inspiration to continue the work of environmental justice and a spiritual reclaiming of our responsibility to be good stewards of the land.

[Clarreese · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the structure: the vignettes and the key takeaways provided. It was rich and super creative way to communicate research.

[Shevon Quijano · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this gem at my local library! The most meaningful parts of this writing for me were the connections that the author made between the relationship of Africans prior to the slave trade and evidence of some of the same principles and techniques use by the enslaved in the Caribbean and United States.

It really is a complicated reconciliation between loving the land and the fruits of your labor while also living with the violence of slavery.

When speaking about a particular lover of the land and nature, enslaved Uncle Louis from Alabama, the author wrote, "It is fitting and contradictory that this nature lover both hunted and befriended the inscrutable owl and imposing hawk." This is odd to me. Can hunters not also be lovers of the land and animals? In many ways I believe that hunters appreciate the delicate lifecycles of animals with more depth than those of us who are far removed from animal observation.

[Crystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read. As I age, I am becoming more interested in African American tradition and culture and that included our connection to the land and universe. I know our ancestors believed, knew and understood that connection...their lifestyle being a testament of such. This book draws on that understanding and gives a thorough account. Glave takes us through time, starting with the African experience and how those practices were and are continuously exploited in a capitalistic society.
I enjoyed reading the last chapters as she described specific people, places and events and those connections. I love when books lead me down "rabbit holes" and this one had me going down several.
I was also impressed with the reference to works of art and literature from some of the best....Clementine Hunter, Zora Neale Hurston, Nat Turner and Harriet Tubman (to name a few.)

[Abby NVM · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book, and I feel like it is such an important topic, but ultimately it fell short. There were many interesting ideas introduced, but nothing was really delved into and the chapter ended before we got into the meat of any particular topic. I would have loved 50 more pages on conservation and preservation as it relates to the black environmental experience, and I also really wanted to know more about the history of environmental education in the Black community, but I did not get that. I really think this book needed to be twice as long to be interesting to me.

[Gretchen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Important topic, very thin research. A focused long-form journalistic piece about a specific example of environmental racism, or some of the vivid fiction Glave cites that paints an image of African-American connections to the land, will get you farther. Her attempt to use the conservation-preservation framework is also clunky, misrepresenting the nature of the disagreement between these camps in the Progressive Era white environmental movement, and adding little to her own piece.

[Jennifer Schnakenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book, but the synthesis of (seemingly thin) academic research, personal experience, and fictional vignettes just didn’t work for me. This is a rich and important topic, but, unfortunately, this book did not do it justice. The penultimate chapter, on environmental justice, is good, but not enough to save the book.

[Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so grateful to the author for writing this book! An excellent resource of primary and secondary source material written by Blacks in America about the environment across the ages. Perfect reading for this 2020 Black History Month. Do yourself the favor!

[Fee Bolden · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an OK book, however the title doesn't necessarily align with it's contents. The title infers that there will be practice in addition to theory, however the book was 100% theory. I learned a few things in regards to history however I do not feel like I absolutely had to read this book.

[Beth Quick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a class and then for a comprehensive exam. This is an easy read, and I mostly enjoyed it. The conversation/preservation dynamic is an important one to understand, and this helped me think about it. This is a good book to prompt questions to fuel further and more in depth research.

[Weckea · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book has many problems, should have been better planned out, and perhaps better editors. I think the scholar was lead in the wrong direction with this one.

[mickey · Rating 4 out of 5]

i wish this book was longer! a lot of really important history that isn't ever taught (and it should be!!). read for school.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative non-fiction chapter starts generously mixed with quotes from other established authors. Eight chapters themed around place - coming to, escaping from, living on, working with, etc.

[Paul Yanchek · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is best read in connection with other works on the history of black eco-theology. On it's own it seems incomplete, but when combined with a broader knowledge base it is excellent.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Using a few chapters of this for my inaugural semester teaching "Black Natures."