This #BlackBotanistWeek, we’ve found ourselves thinking–as we often do–about the incredible Dr. Wangari Maathai, the Kenyon activist and biologist who founded the Green Belt Movement in her backyard in Kenya in 1971, and made a dramatic impact on reforestation across Africa, and on community forestry and the environmental movement globally. Truly ahead of her time, Dr. Maathai used the lens and model of community-based tree planting to address the intersecting issues of ecological degradation/restoration, environmental justice, non-exploitative development, indigenous land protection, ecofeminism, human rights, economic empowerment, community health, and people-powered democracy.
If you don’t know much about Dr Maathai, here are links to more info about her life and legacy:
- Green Belt Movement – Wangari Maathai Biography
- The Green Belt Movement, and the Story of Wangari Maathai
- Why the World Needs an African Ecofeminist Future
WHILE YOU’RE AT IT, TAKE A MINUTE TO CHECK OUT SOME OF THE ESPECIALLY TREE-FOCUSED #BLACKBOTANISTSWEEK SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS WE’VE BEEN ENJOYING THIS WEEK:
https://twitter.com/T_Marie_Wms/status/1281618843056648193
It's #BlackBotanistsWeek! I'm a plant ecophysiologist, PhD in training and a Science Educator at a forest. I study how trees respond to climate change physiologically! If trees can't adapt or migrate, they could become locally extinct! #botany101 #blackroots #blackbotanicallegacy pic.twitter.com/jQzTe9aepw
— Dr. Angelica Patterson (@ColorfulSciGirl) July 7, 2020
https://twitter.com/ColorfulSciGirl/status/1280939052150259712
For Day 3 of #BlackBotanistsWeek my #BlackPlantLove story is about my paternal grandfather and oak trees. My grandpa passed away when I was 1 year old, but I grew up hearing stories about how he loved working with trees, especially oaks. 1/4 pic.twitter.com/gS0jM5UFgt
— Brandie Quarles (@brandie_q) July 9, 2020
Happy Day2 of #BlackBotanistsWeek!! During my MS at Tulane University, I studied bald cypress tree endophytes! Endophytes are microbes (bacteria/fungi) found inside plants, and they aid in many functions like plant growth and disease resistance #PlantInteractions pic.twitter.com/P3t7MDF6td
— Kaylee Arnold (@Black_Ecologist) July 8, 2020
Roland Maurice Jefferson, the first Black botanist to work at the National Arboretum, played a key role in nurturing U.S.-Japanese relations through the preservation & collection of cherry trees. The cherry trees @NMAAHC are Prunus x yeodensis. #BlackBotanistsWeek pic.twitter.com/of7vYySzio
— Smithsonian Gardens (@SIGardens) July 10, 2020
Today is the first day of #BlackBotanistsWeek and we're highlighting our #BlackRoots through our #BlackBotanicalLegacy. An unsung #Botany101 hero is Antione, a botanical genius who successfully produced a new variety of thin shelled pecan. 1/5 pic.twitter.com/8gs5GbHJuN
— Mαyα L. Allen #BlackBotanistsWeek (@Glossopetalon) July 6, 2020