Statement of Solidarity
The UofL Department of Geographic and Environmental Sciences stands in solidarity with the Black community. We are committed to social justice and we support people around the world who have taken a stand to say that Black Lives Matter. As geographers and environmental scientists, we believe that inequality, injustice, and systemic racism must be addressed at all scales, from the individual to the global. These connections define our discipline. Racist structures shape the spaces of our daily lives and we recognize that not all of us experience our spaces in the same way. We recommit ourselves in our teaching and our research to increase equity and inclusion and to confront the historical legacy of white supremacy in our own academic disciplines, recognizing in particular the role that Geography has played in advancing colonial power and global white supremacy. Racism in all its forms must be named and opposed in a sustained effort to enrich our campus and our communities.
Geography is instrumental for helping us to understand the connections between race and space. In particular, scholars working in the field of Black Geographies work to create research and writing emphasizing the spatial dimensions of race, encouraging critical reflection on Black experiences, and supporting the work of Black scholars. People working within Black Geographies have contributed some fantastic resources (shared below) to help people educate themselves about the connections between Black life, space, and society.
Planned action within our department:
Faculty and graduate students will participate in a workshop on anti-racist pedagogies
We will host a lecture series focused on highlighting diversity
We will improve our strategies to recruit and retain Black students and others from underrepresented backgrounds
We will increase our inclusion of course materials relevant to racial inequality
We will increase our emphasis on Louisville as an urban laboratory through which students can understand racial inequality at the local scale
Black Geographies Resources
The Black Geographies Specialty Group of the AAG
The Black Geographies Reading List
Black Geographies and the Politics of Place, edited by Katherine McKittrick and Clyde Woods
“Black Matters are Spatial Matters”, by Camilla Hawthorne
“The Geography of Despair”, by Aretina Hamilton
Minneapolis Uprising Syllabus, by Adam Bledsoe
Maps and other Spatial Resources:
Global Protests for Anti-Racism
The Decolonial Atlas
Redlining Louisville
Mapping Prejudice
Apple Maps Black Lives Matter DC
Segregated Seattle
Mapping the Segregation in Minneapolis
Mapping Inequality: Redlining in New Deal America
Safe streets are not safe for black lives
America’s cities were designed to oppress
Confronting Racism in City Planning and Zoning (Story Map)
The Color of Coronavirus: Covid-19 Deaths by Race and Ethnicity in the US
Other Ways to Learn More:
“Race and Racism in the Geosciences”, by Kaheli Dutt
“Why Do So Many Minorities Avoid Science?”, by Marshall Sheperd
Black Lives Matter Education Resources
SURJ (Showing Up For Racial Justice) Political Education Toolkit
Uncivil Podcast
1619 Podcast
PBS Whiteness Project
What is Systemic Racism?
Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson
Equal Justice Initiative