This week black botanists and plant lovers from all over the world are celebrating the second #BlackBotanistWeek – an online campaign to highlight the careers of successful black botanists and to promote botany as a field of study and career option.
The initiative, the brainchild of Dr Tanisha Williams from Becknell University in the United States, was established in response to the success of the #BlackBirders campaign in 2020. Sparked by a racist incident in Central Park, involving a black birder, the Black Birder Week went online to boost recognition of Black people enjoying and studying the natural world.
According to Dr Williams, she enjoys birds and participated in the first Black Birders Week, but she enjoys plants much more. For her PhD research, for example, she worked in the Western Cape as part of her thesis on pelargoniums' response to climate change. Having seen the success of Black Birders Week, she was inspired to coordinate an international North-South collaboration of Black Botanists which now consists of 12 founding members from five different countries.
Prof Nox Makunga, one of the founding members from South Africa, says that botany is traditionally not a career that is considered by Black and Indigenous People of Colour: “I hope to inspire those that may not see Botany as a career, because they do not know that people like me are engaged in this type of science. Representation is important for growing human capital in this field.
“We are also hoping to change the present narrative that continues to exclude Black, Indigenous Peoples of Colour's knowledge and contribution to this field," she adds. Prof Makunga is an ethno-botanist in the Department of Botany and Zoology at Stellenbosch University. The other two founding members from South Africa are Rupert Koopman, conservation manager at the Botanical Society of South Africa, and Dr Itumeleng Moroenyane, a plant ecologist based in Canada.
The drive for the Black Botanists movement is to find more Black people, including indigenous peoples of colour, who love plants, to promote the study field, provide encouragement, and to create a safe space for their development: “We embrace the multiple ways that Black people engage with and appreciate the global diversity of plant life," the organisers write in the media release.
Black Botanists Week 2021 will be held from 26 to 31 July 2021 using various social media and webinar platforms. Please refer to the calendar for a schedule of events.
Contact details:
Email: blackbotanistsweek@gmail.com
The members of the Black Botanists Week Team are available for media interviews. Please contact Prof Nox Makunga at +27 66 370 2577 for further details.
Social media platforms:
Twitter: @BlkBotanistsWk
Instagram: blackbotanistsweek
Hashtag: #BlackBotanistsWeek2021
For daily hashtags throughout the week refer to: calendar
