Juneteenth! Celebrating Black and Brown Stewards of the Green Earth
About this episode
The episode celebrates Juneteenth by discussing the contributions of Black and Brown individuals in botany and agriculture, featuring Beronda Montgomery and Paxton Williams.
To celebrate Juneteenth we tell the story of plant biologist Beronda Montgomery. When she sat down to write what became a personal memoir mixed with a botanical history of African Americans, she found her research as a PhD lab scientist had brought her squarely into the world of social science as well. From her studies of how plants respond to light during photosynthesis, she started shining a light on the history of extensive plant cultivation by African Americans, including those who endured forced labor. She joins us to discuss her book When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy. Also, George Washington Carver was born into slavery but went on to become a famous agronomist and helped poor people in the South improve their lives and soils by planting peanuts and other legumes. This week, he comes back from the past in the form of actor and playwright Paxton Williams, who joins us as “George Washington Carver” to talk about the future of modern-day agriculture and intersections between racial dynamics and agricultural development. -- Music licensed from Blue Dot Sessions: sessions.blue
People in this episode
Host: Living on Earth
Guests: Beronda Montgomery, Paxton Williams
Topics covered
- Juneteenth
- Black and Brown Stewards
- botanical history
- African Americans
- agriculture
- racial dynamics
Keywords
- Juneteenth
- Beronda Montgomery
- George Washington Carver
- agriculture
- African American history
- botany
- plant cultivation
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History and America’s Black Botanical Legacy
More episodes of Living on Earth
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- America’s Enduring Ecology: Forests, Public Lands, and more
- When the Forest Breathes with Suzanne Simard, Ocean Monitoring Restored, Fighting Fracking in Colombia and more.
- How Flowers Made Our World, A Cemetery Buzzing with Bees, El Niño Is Here, and more.
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