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

Anchored in rhizomatic theory, the workshop attendees engaged in a conversation of discovery. Their goal was to unearth new ways of thinking, practicing and managing natural environments that was intended to:

• 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 was hosted by Jennifer D. Roberts, Founding Executive Director; Shannon L. Jette, Deputy Director; and Gregory Bratman, Advisory Board Member of the Wekesa Earth Center. Our goal, through collective engagement, is to work toward overcoming environmental inequities and fulfilling the promise of nature justice and opportunity.

And with much delight, the workshop engagements were captured with graphic recording by Lulu Kitololo. Graphic recording is live illustration and scribing, a powerful and visually beautiful tool for capturing and emoting discussions. The all encompassing graphic illustrations can be viewed here.