This will be a hybrid event: in-person and on Zoom. If you'd like the Zoom link, please email your request to info@battenkillbooks.com. Parking directions: Park in the lot off of Washington Street. The Freight Depot is the green building to your west and north across the grass (or snow).

Please join us for a book talk and signing with Leah Penniman, author of the new book, Black Earth Wisdom: Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists, as well as Farming While Black, and co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY.

A soulful collection of illuminating essays and interviews that explore Black people's spiritual and scientific connection to the land, waters, and climate, curated by the acclaimed author of Farming While Black.

Leah Penniman reminds us that ecological humility is an intrinsic part of Black cultural heritage. While racial capitalism has attempted to sever our connection to the sacred earth for 400 years, Black people have long seen the land and water as family and understood the intrinsic value of nature.

This thought-provoking anthology brings together today's most respected and influential Black environmentalist voices --leaders who have cultivated the skill of listening to the Earth --to share the lessons they have learned. These varied and distinguished experts include Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author Alice Walker; the first Queen Mother and official spokesperson for the Gullah/Geechee Nation, Queen Quet; marine biologist, policy expert, and founder and president of Ocean Collectiv, Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson; and the Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, Land Loss Prevention Project, Savi Horne. In Black Earth Wisdom, they address the essential connection between nature and our survival and how runaway consumption and corporate insatiability are harming the earth and every facet of American society, engendering racial violence, food apartheid, and climate injustice.

Leah Penniman (li/she/ya/elle) is a Black Kreyol farmer/peyizan, mother, soil nerd, author, food justice activist, and cofounder of Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, New York. She has been farming for more than twenty-five years, holds an MA in Science Education and a BA in Environmental Science and International Development from Clark University, and is a member of clergy in West African Indigenous Orisa tradition. Her first book, Farming While Black: Soul Fire Farm's Practical Guide to Liberation on the Land, is a love song for the land and her people.

Event Info

Sep 21, 2024, 5 to 9 PM

Sep 23, 2024, 6 to 8 PM

Sep 25, 2024, 4:30 to 6 PM