By Dan Kirk
The environmental educators here at The Watershed Project, including myself, often remind students that we are a part of the watershed ecosystem, that it’s not just made up of scenic hills and mountains and creeks and rivers that flow into the bay. When we talk about the beauty of our watershed, we include the students we are teaching as a part of that beauty. When we talk about what the environment needs to survive, we talk about what we need to survive.
We need Black lives.
This past month, we have been asking middle school aged students to identify plants in their local ecosystem; often this meant having students observe from their backyard, porch or window. They used PlantID.net and iNaturalist to help identify what they were seeing. PlantID.net asks for student’s own observations and descriptions to name the plant and iNaturalist allows students to participate in “Citizen Science,” which we call Community Science, by uploading their identifications to a library of publicly accessible data. We spoke about the importance of naming and of knowing your surroundings, because you can’t protect your neighbors if you don’t know who they are.
We need Black lives and we need to say their names:
George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Erik Salgado, Sean Monterrosa, Ahmaud Arbery, Michael Lorenzo Dean, Eric Reason, Christopher McCorvey, Christopher Whitefield, Atatiana Jefferson, Dominique Clayton, Pamera Turner, Botham Jean, Antwon Rose II, Alteria Woods, Paul O’Neal, Terence Crutcher, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Syville Smith, Terril Thomas, Willie Tillman, Demarcus Semer, Mary Truxillo, Kevin Hicks, Darius Robinson, Torrey Robinson, Peter Gains, Marco Loud, Christopher David, Dyzhawn Perkins, Calin Roquermore, David Joseph, Keith Celestine, Quintonio Legrier, Bettie Jones, Kevin Matthews, Michael Noel, Miguel Espinal, Bennie Lee Tignor, Nathanial Harris Pickett, Richard Perkins, Jamar Clark, Michael Lee Marshall, La’Vante Briggs, India Karger, Tyree Crawford, Trayvon Martin, Alonzo Smith, Anthony Ashford, Dominic Huchinson, Patterson Brown, Lamontez Jones, Junior Prosper, Felix Kumi, Keith Harrison Mcleod, Asshams Pharoah Manley, Troy Rominson, Christain Taylor, Brian Keith Day, Michael Sabbie, Samuel Dubose, Billy Ray Davis, Darrius Steward, Albert Joseph Sabbie, Samuel Dubose, Salvado Davis, Sandra Bland, Joseph Mann, Freddie Blue, Alexia Sanders, William Chapman II, Walter Scott, Eric Harris, Phillip White, Mya Hall, Anthony Hill, Tony Rominson, Natasha McKenna Frank Smart, Matthew Ajibade, Jerame Reid, George Mann, Laquan McDonald, Michelle Cusseaux, Dante Parker, Ezell Ford, Michael Brown, John Crawford III, Eric Garner…
Say their names.
Say their names.
Say their names.
