HYDRO NOIR

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Afrocosmic Afrofuturism Afro-Ecology Queer-Eco-Politics Afro-celestial beings

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...A Queer-Eco-Politics

Where does ecology, queerness, and blackness intersect? Blackness is queered...Blackness is an ecology. How do I model Blackness as a perpetuator of indigenous queerness and ecology. Black is indigenous, and it is indigently pro-environment , and it is indigently queer, and it is indigently ecological because it is pro-environment... I don’t think I can articulate this through academic language. If, Therefore, However and Because are too temporally linear and do not allow reciprocity and cyclicality to process.  

Ecology can only be articulated through practice. 

See, now, I’d allude to Isabelle Stenger’s, Cosmopolitics, but then I’d be citing yet another academic source--an old white woman, at that--confining my though process to the realm of one-dimensionality, and defeating the purpose of ecology all together. 

What would it look like to cite a leaf? or polluted air? or sand like Agard-Jones? to Listen to Images like Campt? 

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La Plage des Salines, 2008. (c) Vanessa Agard-Jones.

WHAT THE SANDS REMEMBER 

Saint-Pierre and Sainte-Anne sit on opposite shores—both territorially and symbolically—of Martinique, a French territory in the Caribbean Sea. During the nineteenth century, Saint-Pierre was known as the “Sodom” of the Antilles, as a cosmopolitan city where decadence and liberal sexual mores were at the heart of bourgeois and elite culture. In 1902 Mount Pelée, the volcano that sits just above the city, erupted—killing Saint-Pierre's population of over thirty thousand within five seconds. Today, the black, volcanic sand beaches that line the coast remind visitors to Saint-Pierre of the city that once was. Sainte-Anne is a town with a far different reputation. During the 1950s it was known as a refuge for rebels, for people who contested the continued dominance of white and mixed-race elites in the lives of ordinary (mostly black) Martinicans, and was the center of the island's small cultural nationalist movement. Nearly fifty years later, the town retains that reputation—but Sainte-Anne is known for another reason, too, for it is home to one of Martinique's few meeting spaces for men who have sex with men, a secluded section at the end of the commune's most popular beach, Les Salines.

This essay seeks to cross temporal, scalar, and disciplinary boundaries while revisiting tropes of queer invisibility that mark representations of same-sex desire in the Caribbean. Cycling from the world described in the 1901 erotic novel Une nuit d'orgie à Saint-Pierre, Martinique to field notes taken in 2010 among men who frequent Les Salines, this essay unites, in a provisional way, a scattered archive of same-sex desire on the island, while relating these desires critically to place. These archives ask us to reconsider a narrative that insists on movement—away from Martinique, away from the Caribbean, away from the global South—as the grounding force for a radical queer (of color) politics. Instead of privileging diasporic subjectivities, these markers of local presence and emplacement offer an alternative framing of what it means to stay put. They give us access to modes of queer relationality that resist documentation, but are indicative of the kinds of lives that certain subjects live: shot through with ambiguity and grounded in a refusal of fixed identity politics. Sand emerges as a compelling metaphor for this kind of theoretical and ethnographic intervention, as its ability to be diffuse yet still irreducibly material provides a model for one way to understand the memory of same-sex desire and gender transgression. Making use of fragments, then, this essay thinks simultaneously through the sexual politics of memory and landscape, linking queer presence to the sands of both Saint-Pierre and Sainte-Anne.

GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 2012 Volume 18, Number 2-3: 325-346.

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Settler Colonialism Primer

By Laura Hurwitz & Shawn Bourque, Unsettling Klamath River Coyuntura Colonialism and Settler Colonialism Colonialism is a system that occupies and usurps labor/land/resources from one group of …

“Colonialism and Settler Colonialism

Colonialism is a system that occupies and usurps labor/land/resources from one group of people for the benefit of another.  Colonialism is derived from the Latin word Colonia.  According to the Oxford English Dictionary, in the Roman Empire, “Colonia” was a “ farm,” “landed estate,” or “settlement” granted to Roman soldiers in hostile or newly conquered territories.

There are different types of colonial projects.  Exploitation colonialism involves a small amount of colonists whose main objective is to profit from the colonies resources and exploit Indigenous labor, usual exported to the metropole or “mother city” (think of the British in India).  Plantation colonies utilize a mix of exploitation and settler colonialism in different regions and areas.  In settler colonialism land, not labor, is key.  In this system, Indigenous Peoples are literally replaced by settlers. As Patrick Wolfe puts it:

Land is life—or, at least, land is necessary for life. Thus contests for land can be—indeed, often are—contests for life.

Indigenous Peoples are erased through out right genocide, assimilation and interbreeding (including rape).  In this process, racialized categories become important for perpetuating the system (see “Racial Formulation” section below). Settlers are also different from other colonizers in that they are there to stay, unlike in other colonial systems where the colonizer returns to their home country after profiting.  Here, the land itself is the profit. Another important concept in understanding this system is the idea that in settler colonialism, “invasion is a structure not an event.”  This means that settler colonialism is not just a vicious thing of the past, such as the gold rush, but exists as long as settlers are living on appropriated land and thus exists today.”

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8/7/18

I spent a good chunk of my childhood on and off here while my mom tried to finish nursing school...I forgot a lot of things after moving back to the Bronx permanently, including my native tongue. I feel so disconnected from you now but you still hold a special place in my heart. Memories are few and scattered but: • 1. It was here that I first felt my love and spiritual connection to nature and my ancestors. I’d talk to the ghosts of my ancestors buried in the backyard while playing. I’d listen to miscarried children throw water on the banana leaves at midnight. I'd talk to lizards too. I think I was a lizard in my past life... • 2. Uncle Steve(2nd pic) made a swing out of a chunk of wood and rope and hung it up on a branch of the cherry tree. It sat beautifully in front of Auntie’s turquoise house with the tin roof. Me and Bobbi took turns swinging back and forth all day. • 3. I wouldn’t stop sucking my thumb because I missed my mom—a coping mechanism I guess—so Uncle Steve rubbed bitter aloe on it. I’d be so upset with him but cry for him every time I came back to America. • 4. Early mornings we would run away from the chickens that liked to peck at our ankles. • 5. I’d patiently wait as our neighbors hung up their clothes to dry so I could ask their mother if we could go play. • 6. Auntie would send us out to go give sugar to Ms. Dee down the road and we’d come back with mangoes and Bag Juice • 7. It was here that I first came to terms with my queerness—switching husband and wife roles as me and Bobbi played house. And it was here that I had my first kiss with that same girl... • I still have dreams about you. You’re always in the back of my mind and in my heart. I’m proud to be a child of the diaspora, despite the horrors that come with the remnants of slavery. I worry that in the next few years the whole island will disappear because of rising sea levels and violent hurricanes due to global warming. And I worry that I’ll never be financially sound to go back to buy a patch of land so I can garden till I die...I’m sobbing now and I can’t see my keyboard past these tears so imma stop typing now. Happy Independence Day🇯🇲🌴🥥

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Environmental Destruction is the Product of Western Colonialism

Environmental destruction and colonial conquest go hand in hand. 

“Western colonial enterprise in Africa, led to the introduction of certain religious, cultural, political, social, and educational concepts which were not pro-environment, that instead promoted the ideals of materialism, unfettered consumerism and capitalism.”[Agyemang, Botchway, 2014]  Colonization is conquest of the land. As indigenous bodies were assaulted and murdered, so were the lands which they respected, and had spiritual and religious attachments to. Indigenous land was, and still is, stripped of its natural resources and then abandoned once it no longer reigned capital. 

I am baffled when “progressive” liberal environmentalists, who are often white, co-opt indigenous practices, and then repackage them as the new, trendy solution to “saving the Earth”. Minimalism, sustainability, reusable menstrual pads, veganism, vegetarianism, pescatarianism, thrifting, composting, and everything in between has long been practiced in Black and Brown communities. Our ancestors knew how to care for the land and treat it with respect and dignity. They did not see Earth as an object bearing fruit for capital gain, but instead saw it as sacred and respected it. Reciprocity, interdependency and communalism were necessary, not a trendy lifestyle only available for the white liberal elite. 

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Image of Cuban-French, twin sisters Lisa-Kainde and Naomi Diaz(aka Ibeyi), as children.

In their first debut album, self-titled Ibeyi, the sisters sing in harmony as they lend their prayers to the Orishsas: Yemaya, Oshun, Ogun, Xango, Eleggua, Oya and more. In “River”, they call on the waters that represent cleansing, baptism and mobility. They explore death and mourning in “Mama Says”. In their second debut album, Ash, they celebrate life, death and the circle of life in “Deathless”. 

In Yoruba culture, twins, called Ibejí or Ibeyí, are considered sacred blessings. The Yoruba have one of the highest rates of twin births in the world.

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Principles of Environmental Justice

WE, THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, gathered together at this multinational People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit, to begin to build a national and international movement of all peoples of color to fight the destruction and taking of our lands and communities, do hereby re-establish our spiritual interdependence to the sacredness of our Mother Earth; to respect and celebrate each of our cultures, languages and beliefs about the natural world and our roles in healing ourselves; to ensure environmental justice; to promote economic alternatives which would contribute to the development of environmentally safe livelihoods; and, to secure our political, economic and cultural liberation that has been denied for over 500 years of colonization and oppression, resulting in the poisoning of our communities and land and the genocide of our peoples, do affirm and adopt these Principles of Environmental Justice:

1) Environmental Justice affirms the sacredness of Mother Earth, ecological unity and the interdependence of all species, and the right to be free from ecological destruction.

2) Environmental Justice demands that public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples, free from any form of discrimination or bias.

3) Environmental Justice mandates the right to ethical, balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things.

4) Environmental Justice calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction, production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land, water, and food.

5) Environmental Justice affirms the fundamental right to political, economic, cultural and environmental self-determination of all peoples.

6) Environmental Justice demands the cessation of the production of all toxins, hazardous wastes, and radioactive materials, and that all past and current producers be held strictly accountable to the people for detoxification and the containment at the point of production.

7) Environmental Justice demands the right to participate as equal partners at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment, planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation.

8) Environmental Justice affirms the right of all workers to a safe and healthy work environment without being forced to choose between an unsafe livelihood and unemployment. It also affirms the right of those who work at home to be free from environmental hazards.

9) Environmental Justice protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full compensation and reparations for damages as well as quality health care.

10) Environmental Justice considers governmental acts of environmental injustice a violation of international law, the Universal Declaration On Human Rights, and the United Nations Convention on Genocide.

11) Environmental Justice must recognize a special legal and natural relationship of Native Peoples to the U.S. government through treaties, agreements, compacts, and covenants affirming sovereignty and self-determination.

12) Environmental Justice affirms the need for urban and rural ecological policies to clean up and rebuild our cities and rural areas in balance with nature, honoring the cultural integrity of all our communities, and provided fair access for all to the full range of resources.

13) Environmental Justice calls for the strict enforcement of principles of informed consent, and a halt to the testing of experimental reproductive and medical procedures and vaccinations on people of color.

14) Environmental Justice opposes the destructive operations of multi-national corporations.

15) Environmental Justice opposes military occupation, repression and exploitation of lands, peoples and cultures, and other life forms.

16) Environmental Justice calls for the education of present and future generations which emphasizes social and environmental issues, based on our experience and an appreciation of our diverse cultural perspectives.

17) Environmental Justice requires that we, as individuals, make personal and consumer choices to consume as little of Mother Earth's resources and to produce as little waste as possible; and make the conscious decision to challenge and reprioritize our lifestyles to ensure the health of the natural world for present and future generations.

Delegates to the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit held on October 24-27, 1991, in Washington DC, drafted and adopted 17 principles of Environmental Justice. Since then, The Principles have served as a defining document for the growing grassroots movement for environmental justice.

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Introduction

Since the start of the environmentalism movement of the 60s, the health of Earth has been a topic of discussion throughout political history. We see the reduce, reuse & recycle symbol all over, hear talks about global warming, and stand by as rare species go extinct. But what we don’t hear about is how environmentalism can impact our everyday lives as humans and how it intersects directly with class, gender, race and disability status. The environmentalism conversation is often limited to environments that are considered far removed from everyday human life (ie. National parks, aquatic and wildlife). These reductive conversations ignore the fact that these so-called ‘far removed’ environments are intricately connected to our immediate environments. And, in this process, we ignore the vulnerability of our immediate environments to global warming and pollution.

It is in our immediate surroundings that we first encounter an ‘environment’. Our political identities-- gender, race, class, disability status, sexuality, and gender identity-- that determine whether or not we can have access to a healthy environment. The amount of accessibility we have to good air quality, healthy food, public transportation, public spaces, jobs, education, and healthcare are all determined by our socio-political identities and are, thus, the primary concerns of Environmental Justice. White neoliberal environmental activists reciprocate the same capitalistic, colonialist attitudes that created mass environmental destruction in the first place. They have actively ignored how communities of color have always participated in environmentalism before colonization and currently because of Environmental racism and institutionalized poverty.

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for @honeysugarwater Mami Wata, Filomena Lubana, Santa Marta La Dominadora

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Mami Wata, transafrican deitie, goddess of water, Congo

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“Touching the Earth” - bell hooks

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Reclaiming Abuelita Knowledge As A Brown Ecofeminista

“We pass down traditions and knowledge that are unintentionally green or sustainable. We do not call them ‘eco-friendly’ practices, we just do them. I call this passed down knowle…

“The thing is, I DO care about the environment but I cannot stand it when white people pretend they are all connected to the earth and refuse to understand that many of us — Migrant Brown People — come from backgrounds where “environmentalism” is not talked about because we grow up doing unintentional “green” things. For some reason mainstream culture has done a great job of erasing people of color’s legacy on anything “green” or “environmental.” Mainstream media falsely frames sustainable practices as practices spearheaded by white people. A very annoying example of this is permaculture, a “design system” that you can learn if you have thousands of dollars — mind you, a lot of the principles of permaculture are practiced by people of color worldwide, from reusing water to wash dishes and water plants to using food scraps to enrich soil for plants.

People of color that come from families that need to recycle and reuse to make ends meet have incredible amounts of knowledge. I know many folks that talk about sustainability in their communities and practice sustainable living, but our stories are not legitimized by books or newspaper articles nor are they studied in a Global Sustainability class. Acknowledging people of color’s legacy in the mainstream would undermine the classist, racist and xenophobic ideals that our society stands on. We pass down traditions and knowledge that are unintentionally green or sustainable. We do not call them “eco-friendly” practices, we just do them. I call this passed down knowledge, Abuelita Knowledge because so much of these “new age” practices are the ways in which my grandmas and elders live their lives.”

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