This month, BTLT will be highlighting Black organizations and individuals that have made, and are continuing to make, vital contributions to the environmental field.

You can see these spotlights listed below and via our Facebook or Instagram.

We hope you will join us in celebrating and recognizing the past, present, and future contributions of the Black community toward land conservation, outdoor recreation, and environmental awareness. In addition, we encourage folks to explore the list of resources below.

BTLT understands that the conservation movement has a history fraught with exclusionary practices. We know that the history of the land we manage and an array of privileges that have supported our organization are rooted in the marginalization and disenfranchisement of many people. We recognize that the burdens of environmental damage, climate change, and lack of access to land-based resources are disproportionately placed on communities of color, Indigenous communities, people with physical and mental disabilities, LGBTQ+ individuals, and low-income communities because of biases and other disparities. We acknowledge our responsibility to understand that past and to commit to making the future different. To read more about BTLT’s commitment to a more just and equitable future, please click here. 

Read

Listen

Watch

  • African Americans in the Great Outdoors – Dr. Carolyn Finney discusses how the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the “great outdoors” and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces (57 min)

Engage

  • Ways to explore Black History Month in Maine – Events planned in February include museum exhibits about Maine’s ties to the slave trade and early communities of formerly enslaved people here, plus virtual talks and tours.

Action Steps

Social Media Spotlights

  • Learn more about George Washington Carver by clicking here or here.
  • Learn more about Colonel Charles Young by clicking here.
  • Learn more about Lisa Perez Jackson by clicking here, here, or here.
  • Learn more about Kelsi Eccles by clicking here.
  • Learn more about the Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust by clicking here.
  • Learn more about Outdoor Afro here – and their Portland chapter!
  • Learn more about Intersectional Environmentalism by clicking here.
  • Learn more about Maine Environmental Education Association by clicking here.