Sacred Landscapes of Tigray: With over 50,000 natural, cultural and historical heritages, Ethiopia has some of the world’s richest heritage sites. Notable among these are the sacred landscapes of Tigray which include a large number of chapels, semi-caved churches, caves and caverns, dating from the 5th to 14th centuries and hidden in the folds of the mountains. These sites are a testament to a people and religion that has been practiced for centuries in a landscape that has little changed.
The landscapes provide important services in regulating air and water quality; are a refuge for biodiversity and provide barriers protecting people from natural disasters such as landslides, mudflows, or rockslides. Equally, these sites contain clues to help us better understand the history of the world and the evolution of species. Due to recent conflicts, there are fears that the heritage sites in Tigray and many parts of Ethiopia could be damaged.
Martin Heigan, Nile crocodile, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Sacred Animals: Animals hold religious and symbolic significance in African society and culture. Animals feature prominently in African cosmogonic myths by conveying the sacred power and messages. They play key roles in the identity construction of individuals, clans, and ethnic groups. From the ancient Oyo kingdom in Nigeria, Ashanti kingdom in Ghana to the Dande villages in Zimbabwe, animal metaphors convey the power of the king and royal ancestors.
This interconnection is often a way of emulating attractive characteristics such as the strength; the ability to ward off predators; protective nature; nurturing characteristics and connections to rebirth that some animals have. Drawing on fieldwork among the Ijaws of Oporoma, I (Olalekan Adekola) learned about the spiritual significance of crocodiles (worshiped as spirit beings) as a reason why the killing and/or feeding on crocodiles is forbidden in the community.
Therefore, even if on a destructive mission, the crocodile will be calm hearing the elders salute them as odha (father). Some historical records and psychological theories have suggested these relationships to be reasons why black communities have a positive attitude toward animals. The movie “Black Panther” also symbolises the importance of animals in black history.
Looking over Tanguieta. Rudi Verspoor, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Sacred Forests of Benin: Sacred forests are ubiquitous features of many black communities. The forests often have associated myths and taboos on the use of specific plants and hunting of certain species of animals within the area. As such, these landscapes contribute to forest conservation and are important global biodiversity repositories.
In Benin, there are thousands of sacred forests which have for centuries been preserved and protected by local communities. Studies have documented how sacred forests in Benin make significant contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. They provide refugia for numerous species, providing important benefits such as pollinating insects and birds to the surrounding lands. These sites also have social benefits through inspiring community involvement in conservation, supporting local history and folklore.
In 2012 a formal law was passed giving legal recognition and protection to sacred forests in Benin, recognising them as sites where gods, spirits and ancestors reside. Similar landscapes and practices can be found in many communities in Africa and black communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Black American Urban Landscapes: In many American cities, “the bottom” is a term used to describe black communities within or surrounding larger—visibly segregated—urban areas where Black people were confined to live. In Washington, D.C. there is Foggy Bottom. In Detroit, Michigan, Black Bottom, and in Richmond, Virginia, Shockoe Bottom, among others. While in some instances these names have remained, the Black communities that once lived there have not. Some of these landscapes have been destroyed in the name of ‘urban renewal’ to make way for the construction of more affluent communities.
Yet, these Black landscapes matter because they can tell a lot about the struggles and the victories of blacks in North America. The book, ‘Black Landscapes Matters’ discusses how race, memory, and meaning intersect with urbanisation in America. It acknowledges the widespread erasure of black geographies and cultural landscapes and that the way Black people have built and shaped the American landscapes may never be fully known.
Welcome to the second week of York St John Geography’s Black History Month blog posts, celebrating black landscapes, people, and histories in geography and the environment! This week, we are focusing on black landscapes…
Looking over Tanguieta. Rudi Verspoor, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0.
Rivers in Yoruba belief: The Yoruba people predominantly found in southwestern Nigeria (but also in Benin and Togo) were among the most heavily targeted during the Atlantic slave trade. Today, there is a large concentration of people in Latin America (e.g. Brazil) and the Caribbean (e.g. Cuba) with strong connections with their Yoruba ancestry.
Traditionally, among the Yorubas, rivers hold important natural, cultural and spiritual values. They play a key role in different forms of divine worship and ceremonies. An important fact is the female gendering of the spiritual custodian of river landscapes in Yoruba belief. Oya, goddess of the River Niger, Oshun found east of Ibadan and Ovia at Benin. Susanne Wenger an Austrian-born Nigerian has contributed immensely to protecting the Osun river landscape.
One of the most popular river spirits is Yemoja, regarded as the mother of all deities and has significance in many Yoruba communities in Africa and South America. Yemoja is celebrated by millions of Afro-Brazilians every New Year’s Eve. The Olokun is the ‘owner of the sea’ and the Olosa the Lagoon goddess. Some notable personalities of Yoruba descent/ancestry include David Olusoga, Glenda A. Hatchett and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
MaVynee Betsch (Beach Lady) (1935 –2005) was an American environmental activist who gave up her wealth and her career as an Opera and dedicated herself to protecting the historic ‘American Beach’ which was found by her great grandfather. Before the enactment of the civil right act in 1964, the beach was a place where African Americans go to enjoy “recreation and relaxation without humiliation. However, after the decline in the beaches, MaVynee helped to maintain the beach environment.
Her campaign led to Beach’s highest dune (“NaNa Dune,” part of the tallest dune system of Florida’s Atlantic Coast) to be made an Ecological and Historic Preserve, and the beach added to the National Register of Historic Places, thus giving it protection. In 2005, she was posthumously honoured as an Unsung Hero of Compassion by the Dalai Lama. In 2014, American Beach Museum opened its doors, bringing one of MaVynee’s dreams to life.
Marina Silva was born into poverty but has risen to become Brazil’s (native Amazonian) foremost environmentalist recognised for her advocacy to protect the Amazon rainforest. Marina has been at the forefront of peaceful demonstrations to prevent the annihilation of the Amazon by protecting the rainforest from illegal logging and the expulsion of indigenous communities from their traditional land. Her work has helped establish over a 2-million-hectare reserve managed by traditional communities.
She was also instrumental to the establishment of the ‘Amazon Fund’ – a REDD+ mechanism created to raise money in efforts to prevent, monitor and combat deforestation, as well as to promote the preservation and sustainable use in the Brazilian Amazon. She served as Brazil Minister of the Environment from 2003 to 2008 and was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize for her grassroot environmental activism.
Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995) is a Nigerian writer and television producer who in later life became an environmental activist by campaigning against the Royal Dutch Shell Company and the Nigerian government over the oil pollution of the land and water of his native Ogoniland. At the peak of his non-violent campaign, he was unlawfully arrested, detained, and executed by the Nigerian government with the complicity of Shell.
Rather than dampen the struggle his death raised international awareness of the devastating environmental impacts of oil companies in developing countries. It was Ken Saro Wiwa’s campaign that brought to the global reckoning the environmental degradation taking place in the Niger Delta, one of the world’s largest mangrove ecosystems.
After his death, lawsuits against Shell and other oil companies for the environmental degradation in the Niger delta have been successful in Netherlands and United Kingdom. Thus, making a success of Saro-Wiwa’s push to hold major oil corporations accountable for their operations that violate and degrade the environment. His activism has encouraged the decriminalization of environmental activism in many countries.
Credit: University of Michigan School for Environment & Sustainability
Robert Doyle Bullard is an American academic, environmental activist, a leading campaigner against environmental racism, regarded as the father of environmental justice. He has written several books on the subject and is known for speaking up against environmental racism. His first book ‘Dumping in Dixie’ describes how polluting companies are moved close to Black communities exposing them to higher-than-average levels of pollutants, compromising their health and well-being for generations.
Through his research and advocacy, he has served as a catalyst of environmental justice drawing the attention of decision-makers to the need for economic and political systems that ensure people irrespective of their race live in healthy and safe communities. He has taught at several American universities. He established the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University. In 2018, he was named one of Newsweek’s thirteen “Environmental Leaders of the Century,” and in 2020, he was awarded the UN’s highest environmental honour as a ‘Champion of the Earth’.
For #BlackHistoryMonth, we at YSJ Geography are going to be publishing a blog post every weekday, celebrating black landscapes, people, and histories in geography and the environment!
Follow this blog via our Twitter and Facebook accounts to keep up to date.
Credit: National Park Service (US)
George Washington Carver rose from slavery to become a great American agricultural scientist and a global pioneer in promoting sustainable food production to feed a growing and impoverished population. A notable aspect of his work was with crop rotation (growing a series of different types of crops in the same area across a sequence of growing seasons to increases organic matter in the soil, improve soil structure and reduce soil degradation), encouraging farmers to begin alternating cotton crops with plantings of sweet potatoes or legumes, that subsequently restored nitrogen to their soils while simultaneously increasing cotton yields and providing alternative nutritious crops that are beneficial for human consumption.
He was also notable for developing hundreds of products using the peanut (which weren’t classified as a crop until Carver’s work), sweet potatoes and soybeans. George Washington Carver is celebrated for his significant impact on how farmers serve as stewards and conscientiously utilise the Earth’s natural resources.
