Research a the crossroads of Black geographies and critical plant studies
Welcome
The land on which we gather is the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe. The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, comprised of the descendants of indigenous people taken to missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista during Spanish colonization of the Central Coast, is today working hard to restore traditional stewardship practices on these lands and heal from historical trauma. (Read more about UCSC’s Land Acknowledgement)
About the Studio >>
The Black Botany Studio at UCSC promotes creative inquiry about Black botanical knowledge past and present. Black botanical knowledge(s) include a wide array of practices, ways of knowing, and relationships related to plants across the Black diaspora. The Studio exists to archive, lift up, and theorize Black botanical knowledge, with an emphasis on the significance of this knowledge for local communities and in the global contexts of climate change, the worldwide Black Lives Matter Movement, the Covid-19 pandemic, and more.
Through Research and the Visiting Artist-Scholar Initiative, the Studio collaborates with artist-scholars, traditional healers* and rootworkers, grassroots organizers, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations who are grounded in botanical research and practice.
Inspired by collaborations with artist-scholars and cultural workers, Dr. Naya Jones started the Studio as a research lab and platform. Many questions inspire this space: How can blackness be considered expansively in this work, without essentializing blackness? How might research be art, and art be research? What ethics matter for studying Black botanical knowledge? The Studio continues to grow! Join the e-mail list for occasional updates.
Lineage & Ancestors >>
The Black Botany Studio is deeply grounded in Black geographies and Black ecologies. Black and Indigenous food sovereignty movements also inform this space, along with efforts to recognize Black Botanists like Black Botanist Week and the Black Botany exhibit at the New York Botanical Garden. The Studio works closely with UCSC’s Black Geographies Lab, founded by Camilla Hawthorne and co-facilitated by Hawthorne, Savannah Shange, and Naya Jones. Above all, this studio is ancestor work. Midwives, kinfolk, traditional and community healers, organizers, and activist scholars have long practiced and passed on Black botanical knowledge. The Studio acknowledges legacies of oppression and centers Black aliveness.
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What’s taking root :: Upcoming Events | Studio Notes | People | Research (Coming Soon)
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*Note: the use of the word “traditional” is complex and critiqued in important ways. Here, the term reflects how healers themselves define their work as practitioners of traditional medicine, “old ways”, African Traditional Religions, and/or rootwork.