EP. 10 Pt.1 Derrick Beasley - Wetland Education Through Art

Using art to draw the connection between  nature and art.

Transcript

Wading Deep Podcast

Derrick Basley

Community Visual Artist

SPEAKERS: 2

Speaker 1–Reverend Jemonde Taylor, Rector – St. Ambrose Episcopal Church

Speaker 2–Derrick Beasley, Community Visual Artist

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Speaker 1

This is wading deep, a podcast that explores the connection between environmental justice and race.

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Speaker 1

I'm your host Reverend Jemonde Taylor Rector at St. Ambrose Episcopal Church Raleigh, North Carolina, a congregation with a long history of challenging environmental racism. I am honored to welcome today's guest, Derrick Beasley multidisciplinary artists, cultural organizer, public servant, welcome, Derrick. Good. Everything's going fine. I appreciate your artistic mind and, and your community, cultural awareness and activism. So I'm excited about today's conversation. How would you describe environmental racism In your own words?

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Speaker 2

That's a big question that I think just trying to give as distilled answer to as possible. To me, it's, it's the disproportionate impact on black folks, other marginalized communities, to the environment, I think about, you know, as a human, as a human race. We are not necessarily taking care of our planet as we should. And it will always come back to us right. And, to me, the environmental racism part is that it comes back to us more than it does to other communities. But as I was reading this question I thought about something maybe I hadn’t thought about before, but it's it, I think it also, to me, one of the impacts of environmental racism or injustice is also I kind of have a broken relationship with the thing.  And so, you know, I think about growing up as a black person here in the south and the different stigmas that I've been kind of taught to carry or that I’ve seen perpetuated, and in our community, at times, and just how we're taught to engage in the environment, or rather, even not given the opportunity to engage in the environment. Whether it be in a classroom, whether it be in other extracurricular activities, that they are doing sports activities. It wasn't until, you know, I've got a little older that I was really kind of able to shift that paradigm for myself. So I think about some of the impacts. environmental racism is not just the not just our communities being in places with, you know, the various negative impacts in terms of health, wellness, it's also are being separated from the environment in such a way that keeps us from being able to gain the benefits. Like you were saying earlier that the healing benefits of being in nature, being with nature. Yeah, I'll leave it there. We'll get a little deeper I’m sure.

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Speaker 1

Now I appreciate what you said, particularly on broken relationships. Just from a theological Christian standpoint, the definition of sin is broken relationships. So it's not so much about what you do people hear sin and think, Well, you did something wrong. It's all about broken relationship. And so when you talked about people who have been historically marginalized and oppressed, and the broken relationship with nature, really has been forced on us by the hand of the oppressor, in a Christian community we call that sin, because of the broken relationship we are outside of relationship with nature, which is an interesting conundrum for black folk, because, I mean, we by definition, are people of nature. We go back to the African continent, of course, being in perfect harmony with nature. Of course, then the maafa of the transatlantic slave trade the moves of Africans being brought to the Western Hemisphere, being forced into agriculture, working with nature, communing with nature, and in a religious context of black churches being formed in nature under trees, this belief that the divine presence was greater under trees, and you have that history of being close to nature. But then the oppressor separating, it was a forced divorce. And it shouldn't be that way. So I want you to talk a little bit about your art.

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Speaker 2

Yeah, so, you know, I'm a multidisciplinary artist, I'm a photographer, collage artist. I just started oil painting last week. Also, I do some sculptural work, multi media sculpture. And, you know, I think my art is really centered around the thought to give one core got one word is really the core of my work, I will say possibilities. And more recently, and when I say recently, I guess  really I’m saying the last three, four or five years it's been centered around possibilities in relation to  black folks and nature and what that relationship could possibly look like, in a future. So it is Afro futuristic? It is inherently Afro futuristic? Because imagining possibilities of the black folks and our relationship with nature. I also use a different kind of inter stellar phenomenon, to think about our black experience here on Earth, and you can say, I tried to find those fractal experiences, so thinking about whether it's black holes and the nature of them and, and thinking about gravity and and how that then reflects down on our experience here on earth think about the conditions for growth, and what type of natural conditions that are needed to grow, and to change, I think about the inevitability of change, as being kind of a sign of human life, or sign of life in general. And so, but more recently, I've been thinking about what does it mean for us to be in a reciprocal relationship with the planet that we that we live on? What does it mean for us to think of ourselves not as human beings apart from nature, but human beings, as nature and taking ourselves off of have kind of this this total this taking ourselves out of this kind of authority figure in nature, that needs to dominate and, and positioning ourselves as a part of so  that's been my that's my focus more recently, thinking about, you know, really using what I call speculative technologies, to reimagine what those futures could look like. So whether that be creating habitats that don't exist, that that are places where we live, embedded community with nature, places where we live, and kind of more wholeness as human beings. So what are what are, you know, what do we need in our habitat? That would give us that experience, particularly as we face climate change as we face global warming, Global Weirding of weather, you know, how do we survive this next phase of being on earth that, you know, in terms of climate change, it may be kind of too late. It's too late. It is too late to reverse what we have done. But there are possibilities of how we can live moving forward that I think are better than we live now. So yes, I would say in short, but that was not short at all, that's the direction my heart is going right now. 

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Speaker 1

Wow.You said that said a lot of powerful things. One of the things you said near the end, which is about relationship and how the goal is to be in partnership with nature and not dominate one of the things at least in the Christian tradition, we're becoming more aware is the word dominate and the root of the word dominate, is really has to do with the household. So you are in relationship you don't dominate as an over but partner with. And so I would say in the last half century, Christian theology has gone back to the original meaning of dominate when it turns talks about nature, which is partnership, think about from the Greek oikos was me in the same household we were in the same household with nature not power over, rather partner with. And then when you talked about, you know, your art centered around possibility, and in relationship to black folk in nature, you know, Afro futurists with nature. When you were talking about the fractal experience, I thought about the warm the wormhole. And recently I gave a lecture to a group of clergy and I titled my lecture, endarkenment as divine revelation. Now we're used to the phrase enlightenment, there's a period in history around the enlightenment, we even used the phrase to be enlightened meaning to gain gain new information or new knowledge. And I put forth this idea that actually endarkenment is part of the divine experience. One of the things we've seen in the past half millennia Christianity is the racialize use of dualistic language that we find in Scripture, that light is good is European is God, which is white. In that context, dark is black, African devil in bad. And so we have the association that light is God, and dark is devil and bad. When we look at Scripture, divine endarkenment. We talked about divine revelation in this dark experience. Moses receiving the 10 commandments, and God inviting Moses into this thick darkness, the resurrection of Jesus Christ happening in thick darkness of the tomb early in the morning, the creation of the temple, the Jewish temple, and King Solomon hearing God's say, I will dwell in thick darkness of this temple. And so one of the things we talked about  endarkenment, I did a nod to the afro physicist, astrophysicist, John Polkinghorne, who happens to be an Anglican priest, talking about wormholes, this idea you can move from one reality to the next. And I connected that to this endarkenment because we look at the biblical context around dark. It's really these dark spaces that allow you to move into two different realities. Jesus Christ moving from death to life, in the dark, Moses receiving the Divine Law moving from really this earthly realm, into this heavenly realm, in the dark. And so you talked about, you know, being Afro futurist, and that nature component, those fractal experiences, I think there is a resonance there with I would say that the Christian experience although it is being lifted up more now, particularly around endarkenment and its connection with with wormholes, and so, you know, you talk about speculative technologies, I think all of this is just wonderful, you know, around around is the music standpoint, I could think about, you know, 1990s Coolio Fantastic Voyage, and we'd go back to the 70s some some George Clinton and some p funk. Just, you know, just that futuristic view and even you know, you could say Kendrick Lamar and more current day past that tilt to his to his music. So, yeah, you can you can go on and talk more about you know, around possibilities. Black folk in natures speculative technologies, you know, what, what does that look like in Raleigh and Walnut Creek where you've done some artwork? Yeah, had speak on that a little bit around this, this, this land, both to preserve the people and to preserve the land.

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Speaker 2

And just what it it just reminded me the possibilities of what it looked like when we are in relationship with the land, particularly the wetland, which is another one of those dark, marshy places, but as but as we're learning as environmentalists, and the mainstream is learning more that these these wetlands actually do the hardest work. In terms of cleaning our environment, they're the most important, some of the most important ecosystems exists in these wetlands, these natural wetlands. And so I thought that that was just an amazing kind of juxtaposition of this community and this wetland. And even historically, we think about that as like being an undesirable place to live. But now it's like, oh, wait, actually, actually, this is a place where so much magic is happening. And to think about how black folks have been in relationship with this place. I think it's amazing. And so the Monolith is just a nod to those possibilities. And it'll be something that evolves over time and planets are going to play some native species around finding species to kind of take over this, this will be like an artifact. And as well as having some an educational piece on the back that most speaks to the history and of the of this neighborhoods action around the wetland as well as some of the technical aspects of the stormwater project. So that'll be installed sometime this fall 2022 And I'm really excited Because I think, you know, we don't often get monuments to our relationship with nature, but it's black folks, I don't know that I've, I'm trying to think about every person at least saying, Well, I'm not saying it doesn't exist, but I don't think I've personally ever seen a monument to black folks relationship with nature, outside of literature. And so I'm really excited to be a part of this project, you know, a great opportunity to speak with you and others to help inform, you know, the design.1

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Speaker 1

Appreciate what, what you said about really taking us from the black hole, down to earth, and then the root system and trees. I remember reading an article talking about how trees communicate, and the root, and extra root network underground is important and what science is now learning, particularly research done in Japan around forest bathing, and how trees communicate, is that that root system is used to support for trees to support each other. And so really is the reversal of Darwin, Darwin, you know, survival of the fittest, and what was once believed true. Survival of the fittest and Darwinism as relates to trees is not true, that trees actually through their root system, and basically, clinical nerve endings support each other. And one interesting find was a stump that had been as a failed tree for years, I think, maybe 100 years. And the scientists examined the tree, they found out it was living, and it was living because the trees around it, were supplying nutrients to that tree. And that trees, you know, have the ability to send sap to wounded parts of the tree. And also, trees, ability to warn, warn other trees of impending dangers, such as fire. So all of this communication, and I just think it's genius, from your standpoint, to make those connection to really give people a new reality to open up new possibilities. As you talked about, you know, we've been conditioned to think that, you know, black is bad. One of the favorite scenes from Malcolm X to me, is when a brother sits down with then Malcolm Little in prison, and opens up a dictionary and you look at the word black, and dark and all of the images with black and dark and negatives and returns a dictionary lookup white and all those images are positive. So yeah, I think we do need to talk more about possibilities and changing folks narrative and you're doing that through art, which is so powerful. Which is so powerful. Derrick, I want to thank you for taking time to talk with us today. Always a pleasure being with you.

And they it's been a pleasure to chat with you.

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Speaker 1

The waiting deep podcast comes to you from a place we affectionately call the bro. Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church Raleigh, North Carolina. Follow us on Facebook, YouTube, the bros in C on Twitter and the bros 1868 on Instagram. I am your host, the Reverend Jemonde Taylor God's are going to trouble the water of environmental racism resurrecting a river of life clear as crystal. Shalom. Salaam peace