A Series of Afro-Ecology Walks Through Portland Seeks to Connect the Black Community to Nature

“Our connections to the land were severed by colonialism and slavery.”

Black to Nature An Afro-ecology tour in Portland. Photo courtesy of Black to Nature.
By Nigel Jaquiss

For Kenja Bettis, getting together with other Black Portlanders for a guided walk is a way to reframe a relationship with nature.

“Our connections to the land were severed by colonialism and slavery,” says Bettis, the community inclusion coordinator for the Portland Fruit Tree Project.

Her group, which harvests and distributes urban fruit that would otherwise go to waste, and others, including Oregon Walks, Imagine Black, Black Community of Portland, and Living Cully, have organized a series of “Afro-ecology” walks through different parts of Portland. The series is called Black to Nature.

Upcoming events: water importance on July 16, access to greenspace on Aug. 20, and environmental health on Sept. 17. Bettis says about 40 turned out for the first walk in June.

“The biggest goals we have are to connect Black people to nature and to center climate justice,” Bettis says.

Black to Nature An Afro-ecology tour in Portland Photo courtesy of Black to Nature.

The walks include conversations about practical subjects, such as the essential role of clean water and the part Black farmers have played in the country’s history, but Bettis says she hopes walkers come away with a deeper relationship to the out of doors, as well. Organizers also anticipate they will learn a version of the spiritual connection their African ancestors felt for the land.

“There has to be more to it than just walking,” Bettis says. “The spiritual component is the biggest piece of it for me and the biggest piece in the Afro-ecology movement we’re building.”

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