Black and Indigenous Ecologies: Race, Place, and the Politics of Water

Session Submission Type: Panel

Description for Program

“Black and Indigenous Ecologies: Race, Place, and the Politics of Water” explores the interplay of African diasporic histories, ecological knowledge, and speculative futures, centering the modes through which Black and Indigenous communities navigated and transformed physical and conceptual landscapes. The presentations from diverse disciplines reveal the interconnections between environment, race, and resistance. Corbin Covington’s "Obscuring Fugitivity" examines maroon communities in Florida’s swamps, charting how the physical site and conceptual knowledge of the swamps'contents present an epistemological quandary within anthropological and historical discourse. Allani Dayi’s "Landwork after Hurricane Helene" links BIPOC speculative fiction with sustainable land work, emphasizing the collective resilience of Black and Indigenous farmers and land workers navigating climate and ecological challenges. Zaria El-Fil’s "Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá" highlights the negotiation of freedom along Texas borders, where enslaved and free women intersected with the shifting boundaries of race, space, and law. Dr. Massiel Torres Ulloa’s "A Praxis of the River" offers a historical reassessment of the Ozama River in Santo Domingo, centering the maroon communities of Los Mina and their intimate ecological engagement with the river as a site of resistance and communion.

Sub Unit

• ASWAD

Chair

• Lourdes Taylor, University of Chicago

Individual Presentations

• Obscuring Fugitivity: Swamplands and Eco-Esotericism - Corbin Covington, Northwestern University

• Landwork after Hurricane Helene Through the Lens of BIPOC Speculative Fiction - Allani Dayi, Northwestern University

• Ni de Aquí, Ni de Allá: Lingering with Black Women’s Lives and Losses along Texas Shores - Zaria El-Fil, University of Chicago

• A Praxis of the River: Ozama River’s Lominero Ecologies - Massiel Torres Ulloa

Discussant

• Misha S. McDaniel, University of Chicago