The Wekesa Workshop, an inaugural meeting, will commemorate the launch of the Wekesa Earth Center. As a small group of invited scholars, truth tellers, activists, and justice seekers, we will convene at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiú, New Mexico on November 12-14, 2023 to critically examine the racialization of nature.

Anchored in rhizomatic theory, we will engage in a conversation of discovery with the goal of unearthing new ways of thinking, practicing and managing natural environments that will:

• Dismantle the colonial imposition of ontologies upon Indigenous and African bodies

• Interrogate the Western White lens of American transcendentalist “wilderness

• Catechize and challenge dualisms of nature and culture or mind and body

With the generous donations of the REI Cooperative Action Fund and the JPB Foundation, the meeting will be hosted by Jennifer D. Roberts, Founding Executive Director; Shannon L. Jette, Deputy Director; and Gregory Bratman, Advisory Board Member of the Wekesa Earth Center. It is our goal that through collective engagement, we will work toward overcoming environmental inequities and fulfilling the promise of nature justice and opportunity.

And with much anticipation, the workshop engagements will be capture with graphic recording by Lulu Kitololo. Graphic recording is live illustration and scribing, a powerful and visually beautiful tool for capturing and emoting discussions.