The Value of Representation in The Forest Primes (K/1)
Outside, the Forest Primes have been thinking and talking about representation—the value of it, as well as the harm that occurs within its absence. In the book Our Skin, we learned there aren’t as many books written about people of color and how this is an example of racism. We’ve read a number of books over the last couple of weeks that work to highlight the importance of seeing oneself reflected in the world. In the Great Banned-Books Bake Sale, we read about a school district that has banned diverse books, and about the students who organize a bake sale and protest to create their own library. In Laxmi’s Mooch, we watched as a young Indian American girl journeys toward and arrives at the acceptance of her body hair, including a powerful moment seeing herself reflected in images of Frida Kahlo.
We had a check-in this week during a meeting about the word representation. What do we think representation means?
Bea: It means talking more about that thing. Talking more about certain people so we know more about them.
Val: The dictionary says it’s how something is described or shown in the world.
Jenny: Val and I met with Synphany about how it’s also really unfair that in the world of outdoors and nature play, people with Black skin are rarely represented, and we found an organization called Outdoor Afro that wants to make sure all people are represented in nature no matter what the color of their skin. A Black woman named Rue Mapp created the organization, and they run workshops that connect Black people with each other in doing things outdoors like hiking, surfing, horseback riding, playing in the water, and bird watching.
Noa: Why not white people?
Jenny: Because people with white skin have always seen examples of themselves enjoying the outdoors, but Black people have not, and that’s not fair.
Val: Representation is really important because when you see people who look or think or act like you in the world, you feel like you also belong in those spaces and it’s easier to imagine yourself in those spaces.
Bea: At lunchtime can we go around and talk about what we might want to be when we grow up?
On Thursday, we introduced the group to Rue Mapp’s book, Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors, and we listened to Rick Blocker’s experience as a Black surfer…
“Surfing is simply the act of catching and riding a wave, but being a surfer means so very, very much more. Surfing is about relationships–my relationship to life, to the ocean, to the waves, to other people, and to the Earth. It’s a natural activity that I bring my mind, body, and spirit to…Being a Black surfer here in America has always been especially challenging, because many people say that Black people don’t belong in the ocean. This is simply not true. Throughout my life I have surfed with people of color all around the world. I’ve learned that we are the original surfers and we belong everywhere that we want to be.” -Rick Blocker
On Friday, friends participated in a “think and paint,” which provides an opportunity for children to think critically about a prompt and respond visually, while discussing their ideas along the way. They were asked to either paint themselves as a grown-up in the future, in turn creating their own piece of representation, or reflect on the characters in the shows and books they watch and read. Do the characters look like them? Are there characters that don’t look like them? Our paintings are still a work in progress, but the thinking that has emerged is powerful.
Gr: I’m going to draw myself as a teacher at The Center School.
Ro: I’m going to draw me as a teacher. This is my classroom. There's sun and ivy growing on top.
Val: Oh, that’s interesting that you both thought of drawing yourselves as teachers. Do you have examples of people in your life teaching?
Gr: My mom is a toddler teacher!
Ro: My mom is, too!
Val: You were really lucky to see people like you being teachers, and maybe it even gave you the idea to imagine yourself as a teacher!
Psilas: I’m going to draw a business that I own, so I can get lots of free food. It’s called Shake Shop. This is the mascot named Shakey.
Noa: I’m drawing a Black hunter because everyone should know all the things they could be, and there’s not a lot of examples of Black people in nature hunting unless you’re this one [referencing an example from Nature Swagger]. We could only find one example in a book!
Eligh: This is me as the owner of The Greenfield Pancake Shack!
Noa: I know someone who owns a pancake shop named Patty.
Ember: I’m drawing myself as a paleontologist. I will research fossils. I’m thinking about getting fossils and I have a jackhammer in a cave.
Fl: This is me being a zookeeper because I love animals.
Xyla: Girls can be zookeepers because I saw a show with a girl zookeeper.
Val: It’s so true that girls can be zookeepers, and even if you don’t see an example of something happening in a show or a book, it still can be true!
Ember: I’ve never seen a Black person in the Pokémon show I watch and that’s not fair that there’s not everyone in Pokémon.
Le: Yeah, that’s pretty boring if everyone’s the same.
Twi: I’ve seen a Pokémon game with a girl with Black skin on my tablet.
Ember: Oh that’s great, but there’s not on the show.
Le: I want to be a scientist! These are all the potions going kaboom. I’m so happy because I really want to explode something.
Twi: This is me as a grownup, and I have a house and my grownups are great grownups. They live in the house. I had a baby named J.J. and it has brown skin.
Bea: This is me as a grownup with all different friends singing together.
Ruby: I’m drawing me as a tour guide on the water on horses, and my students will have all different color skin ‘cause they all might want to ride horses.
Alicia: I’ve never seen a Black person in a movie. Oh wait! Princess and the Frog. I’m drawing me as a grownup watching Princess and the Frog because I’m thinking that it’s not fair that basically there’s no movies with princesses that have darker skin.
Immy: The Magician’s Elephant has a queen with brown skin, and I’m drawing a picture of her.
Rowan: I’m drawing me and Psilas surfing.
We will be adding some laminated images from Nature Swagger to hang at our basecamp this week. We’re looking forward to taking a deeper dive into the stories of many powerful Black environmentalists during February, such as MaVynee Betsch, Wangari Maathai, and John Francis Planetwalker.