quercus

Bonnetta Adeeb, founder & President of STEAM ONWARD, Inc, a Non-profit 501(c3) organization in Southern Maryland, as well as the projects: Ujamaa Cooperative Farming Alliance (UCFA) and Ujamaa Seeds. UCFA is a collective of emergent and seasoned growers who cultivate heirloom seeds and grow culturally relevant plants for food, healing, and textiles. Ujamaa recognizes the need for increased diversity in farming and the seed industry, and the need to provide more opportunities and support for growers from historically oppressed and marginalized communities. To this end the UCFA is working to bridge the gap between prospective growers and seed companies. In addition, she works with the Cooperative Gardens Commission to distribute free heirloom seeds to communities in need serving 300 seed hubs nationally. January 12 [2023], saw the launch of a new Black Indigenous led project. Ujamaa Seeds is and online store cultivating and distributing culturally important seeds to increase diversity in the seed industry. Learn more about Bonnetta and her work at https://ujamaafarms.com and https://ujamaaseeds.com.

Original on New Politics, Winter 2022

Although the UN released a special report two years ago stressing that one of the most effective ways to mitigate warming is a plant-based diet,^[4]^ not one day of COP26 was devoted to the issue, in stark contrast to the time dedicated to energy, transport, and finance. Even as protests outside the conference called attention to this issue, the delegates inside ignored it.

One reason cited for the omission was that addressing animal agriculture would unfairly target historically oppressed communities, continuing the Global North’s legacy of dominating and controlling those they’ve colonized.^[5]^ While this may seem motivated by the noble impulse to be “sensitive” to colonial dynamics, the knowledge that these same imperialist nations’ delegates also removed from the conference’s concluding agreement the so-called Loss and Damages Finance Facility,^[6]^ which mandated compensation be paid to poorer countries for climate damages, should put any uncertainty about their true motives to rest. This is just one manifestation of how the call for sensitivity toward oppressed groups is exploited by those most responsible for current crises in order to avoid making transformative changes within their own societies.^[7]^

Unfortunately, the Western left bears some responsibility for this manipulative usage of political correctness, due both to its collective failure to reject the neoliberal exploitation of identity politics, and to its constant smearing of veganism and animal liberation as “middle class and white.”^[8]^ While it’s certainly true that vegan and animal advocacy are often conducted in colonial, Eurocentric ways, that does not mean there are no liberatory ways of advancing these goals, or that no marginalized individuals do this type of work themselves. Around the world, Indigenous, colonized, and working-class people engage in praxis that recognizes how the fates of other species enmesh with our own, and that our collective survival depends upon the liberation of humans and other species alike.

In this patch, I'm working towards a mix of violets (Viola sororia), nimblewill (Muhlenbergia schreberi), white avens (Geum canadense), and yellow woodsorrel (Oxalis stricta). There's also clover, chickweed, mock strawberry and others I'm weeding out. The shrub is an elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) which should get 10 feet wide. The top right corner is a mix of Philadelphia fleabane (Erigeron philadelphicus) and orange coneflower (Rudbeckia fulgida).

This is an urban area in the North American Eastern Temperate Forests. My yard is the lowest point of the street next to the storm drain, a "rain garden" for the block. Here, the violets thrive from deep shade to full sun. They are the host plant for fritillary butterflies.

Another good reason for killing your lawn is that once you've done so, you can turn your yard into a literal classroom in order to study things like plant identification and the ecology of the native habitat that once stood where your house is.

In some ways, planting native plant gardens (which can sometimes include non-native, non-invasive species of plants) are small acts habitat restoration in miniature, sure.

Equally (if not more) rewarding however is the ability to learn about the plants that together compose your native ecosystem by growing them right in front of you. Grow them throughout their entire life cycle - observe what pollinates them, what disperses the fruits and seeds, what eats them. The rewards from this kind of sh*t can't be overstated.

Gardeners often don’t realize gardens make for great firefly habitat, helping to replace lost natural habitat. The common firefly — the Big Dipper firefly (Photinus pyralis) — readily takes to an organic habitat. The trick is to make your garden as inviting as possible for fireflies to take up residence.

Fireflies spend up to 95% of their lives in larval stages. They live in soil/mud/leaf litter and spend from 1-2 years growing until finally pupating to become adults. This entire time they eat anything they can find. As adults, they only live 2-4 weeks. Females that have mated successfully need a place to lay eggs. They will lay eggs in many spots, but gardens offer an oasis with a source of soil moisture good for larval development.

This is a Texas based organization, but many of the plants (or their close cousins) are found across the continent.

Institution: UCLA

Lecturer: Professor Courtenay Raia

University Course Code: HIST 2D

Subject: #history #science #religion #magic #antiquity #modernity

Year: 2009

Description: Professor Courtenay Raia lectures on science and religion as historical phenomena that have evolved over time. Examines the earlier mind-set before 1700 when into science fitted elements that came eventually to be seen as magical. The course also question how Western cosmologies became "disenchanted." Magical tradition transformed into modern mysticisms is also examined as well as the political implications of these movements. Includes discussion concerning science in totalitarian settings as well as "big science" during the Cold War.

Apply for Food Empowerment Project’s 2024 Scholarship Contest!

Be a part of Food Empowerment Project’s (F.E.P. ‘s) second annual writing or illustration scholarship contest! F.E.P. was established to help liberate, and empower human and non-human animals facing injustice and to spread the importance of eating our ethics. This contest is open to all youth to share the importance of fostering compassion to save non-human animals and to create a kinder world.

Opening February 12, 2024 and ending April 25, 2024 at 11:59 PM, U.S. Pacific Time. Winners are announced in the Summer!

Overview

Animal exploitation causes the suffering and death of billions of animals every year. From animal abuse in uncaring homes, environmental destruction that harms wildlife habitats, and the animal agriculture industry as a whole, animal exploitation happens in many forms. These examples, amongst many others, reflect a lack of compassion our society has for animals and their well being, no animal should have to experience abhorrent acts of violence towards their life. F.E.P. focuses on encouraging people from all generations to take pride in being vegan for the animals and showing compassion. Compassion is more than an act, it is also the way we think and can be essential to saving the lives of animals.

This F.E.P. scholarship contest is your opportunity to express the importance of fostering compassion for non-human animals to create a kinder world!

F.E.P. Scholarship Contest Eligibility

• Contestants must be 11 years old to 24 years old at the time of submission. You do not have to be a student to participate.
• Contestants must be residing in the U.S. or U.S. territories.
• Contest writing submission must be in Spanish or English.
• Contest submission must be original and unpublished work.