Checkpoint #3: Climate Justice is the Legacy of Black Women

 Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqQaeNS9JK4&ab_channel=TheDamageReport

In this video, Heather McTeer Toney discusses an article she wrote for the New York Times about how Black women are leading the climate justice movement, and what cultural and societal components have led to this leadership. Toney attributes Black women’s love and care for climate justice to a heritage of being connected to the land; for centuries, she says, “it’s been a part of who we are.” She also goes on to specify that this is especially true for southern Black women--a history of connection to the land has meant that climate justice has been a very important issue for Black southern communities for centuries. Unfortunately, because of ecoracism and the stereotypes of white “birkenstock-wearing, treehugging” climate activists, the Black community--and Black women in particular-- have not been included

in the greater conversation centered around climate justice.  

Climate justice--and possibly more importantly, climate injustice--is a fundamentally Black feminist issue. A key component of Alice Walker’s definition of womanist is, “Committed to survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female.” (Walker) Womanism is an iteration of Black feminism, specifically focused on the spiritual fulfillment and success of Black women. “We need to see [climate justice] as saving entire communities because we are all going to be impacted by climate,” Toney stated in her interview. Striving for climate justice is, therefore, a womanist and Black feminist issue; without it, the survival and wholeness of entire people (specifically Black people) cannot come to fruition. This is especially true because, according to Dr. Beverly Wright of Dillard University, “[Communities of color] are in double jeopardy from the climate crisis.” (Rysavy) 

When studying issues as wide-sweeping and important as the climate crisis, examining the unequal way that different communities is essential in addressing the subsequent injustice suffered by different communities and individuals. To say, “The climate crisis is threatening the wellbeing of the human race,” would be true. However, it does not acknowledge the fact that Black communities are more likely to live in areas that suffer from increased instances of natural disasters and climate-related diseases. (Rysavy) As laid out in her writing “Mapping the Margins,” Kimberle Crenshaw’s intersectionalism is essential in studying such issues. Just as Crenshaw examined how social and economic factors result in Black women’s disproportionate suffering from domestic abuse, (Crenshaw 1241) an intersectional study of the climate crisis is imperative in any attempt to bring justice and change to Black communities and individuals on the front line of this issue. 

“...while thinking about the far-reaching world of the creative black woman, … often the truest answer to a question that really matters can be found very close,” Alice Walker wrote in her piece, “In Search of Our Mother’s Garden.” (Walker 406) As discussed in this writing, Black women have long been denied access to the same platforms as white women when sharing the Black female experience. These Black women have taken to less traditional avenues to showcase Black excellence and creativity -- including quilting and gardening. Walker’s writing emphasizes the legacy of Black women’s connection with the land, and the way that this connection has kept the “creative spark” of Black women alive throughout generations of oppression. (Walker 408)

Heather McTeer Toney’s position about [southern] Black women and their generational connection to the land is reinforced by the accounts of other Black women like Alice Walker and her accounts of her maternal ancestors. Given this legacy, compounded with the increased risk of Black communities suffering harm from the climate crisis, it is imperative to listen to and include Black women in the discussions about how to bring about climate justice. Without addressing climate injustice from an intersectional lens, we will never be able to adequately bring true justice to such an important issue, nor will we be able enact policies and reform that benefit the most at-risk communities of color. Listening, learning from, and following the leadership of Black women when it comes to the climate crisis is the first step towards justice. 

Works Cited: 

Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 43, no. 6, 1991, pp. 1241–1299. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1229039. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.

Rysavy, Tracy Fernandez. How People of Color Are Working to Combat the Climate Crisis. 2016, www.greenamerica.org/climate-justice-all/people-color-are-front-lines-climate-crisis.

Walker, Alice. Definition of Womanist. 1983

Walker, Alice. In Search of Our Mother's Garden. Women's Press, 2000.