Earlier this year, the Delaware Nature Society asked me to write about some forgotten Black environmentalist, and I was taken aback by the fact that I didn’t know more than three. As I dove into these amazing Black environmentalists, it brought me to the memory of my late great-grandfather, Mark McClenton.
He grew up a migrant worker, traveling from Florida/Georgia all the way up here to Delaware. He knew how to grow and nurture plants and how to care for the land he lived on. PopPop taught my dad how to catch grass shrimp to fish for spot and used to hunt rabbits. This relationship with the Earth is quite common within the Black community and is at the core of environmentalism. It deserves to be recognized and kept alive, as we tell stories of those who came before and walk among us.
I also reflected on my education from grade school to now being a junior in college and felt betrayed by my lack of knowledge of environmentalists who look like me. As I continued my research, the memories of my late great-grandfather continued to come to mind, and I realized that I had one of the most amazing Black environmentalists just two generations removed from myself. PopPop was an environmentalist out of necessity and out of passion and that is what I want to share.
PopPop was born in Ocilla, Georgia, in 1930 and grew up in Florida and Georgia before making his way up to Delaware where he spent his later years. He worked as a migrant worker for the early parts of his life, before joining the Army. As a result of his time working in fields, he learned how to grow and nurture plants and how to care for the land he lived on. He grew fruit trees in his yard and loved to eat the tomatoes that grew in the backyard. I have so many memories of him sitting outside under the shade of the sugar maples he had in the yard. He had a deep connection with the outdoors and passed that on to my dad, who then passed it on to me.
As I reflected on the ways that PopPop was an environmentalist, I realized how ingrained in the Black experience it is. Throughout American history, Black people have farmed and nurtured the land. This history is full of pain and trauma and led to a whole generation of sharecroppers and migrant workers who became the backbone of agricultural production as a means for survival. They had to protect and care for the land because they had to survive and because there were not many other opportunities afforded to Black people in that time. This was likely not a choice of true free will but is nonetheless an important part of Black history, especially in the southern United States where PopPop grew up.
One tradition that arose from these times was soul food. The practice of using all parts of an animal is recognized today as a very ethical and environmentally friendly way to consume meat and is a practice that was often passed down through generations of Black families. When we think about soul food now, most people think of cornbread, fried chicken and collard greens, but it was so much more than that. During slavery, the lesser-quality cuts of meat were given to slaves, and they took these and created dishes that are still eaten today. Pigs’ feet, cow tongue, chitlins, pigs’ heads, chicken feet, giblets and many more were turned into dishes using traditional African techniques to provide nutritional value and energy to support these families. These techniques waste less food and have resulted in a shared consciousness about food waste that persists in Black families through generations.
We can’t talk about the connections between Black history and environmentalism without recognizing the pain and trauma that has resulted from it. The outdoors has long been associated with danger for Black people. The existence of “sundown towns,” areas where Black and other people of color were at risk for violence if they were in certain places after dark, and the images of public lynching will forever live in the memories of those who came before us and even in too many people still with us today. These experiences and more have resulted in a complex relationship between the environment and Black people. And yet, the truth is that Black people have been and always will be environmentalists. Whether it’s through fishing and agricultural techniques passed down through families or in the fight for environmental justice in communities around the country and the globe, we deserve to feel comfortable and welcome in these spaces that many of our own helped to create.
Marissa McClenton is a Delaware Nature Society Advocacy Team member for grass-roots organizing, clean water, and environmental justice. She writes about other black environmentalists here.
