HNUH218V

From the antebellum plantation slave, who used uncultivated land as a place of deliverance, healing and route to freedom, to the Central Park bird watcher, whose green space presence was perceived as a threat to White physical safety, black bodies have a vexed relationship to green space. This course critically examines how systemic racism has shaped the experience, connection, and relationship to nature among Black Americans. Students will conduct in-depth analysis, critical thinking, and discussion on topics ranging from slavery and nature; The Great Migration; and Jim Crow, segregation, and parks; to green space inequity and "Moving While Black" (Treyvon to Ahmaud). While some environments (built, natural, virtual) within the United States have represented the essence of anti-Black racism and indignity, this course will further explore how many Black Americans still regarded nature as a space of freedom, humanity, and spirituality.