Being Black in the Geosciences

If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your attitude.

– Maya Angelou

That quote from Maya Angelou always resonated with me. But when it comes to diversifying my own field it’s pretty far from the truth… well at least for me as a Black person operating in this overwhelmingly white discipline. Just like the myth that personal responsibility can lift Black people from the mire of ills that is systematic racism, my personal ability to effect change in a system defined by whiteness is limited. And yet much of the work of diversifying our discipline is placed on our shoulders (but more on that in a subsequent post).

So how do we address the problem of a lack of Black faces in the white spaces of our geoscience societies and departments? Introducing underrepresented students to geoscience before college, increasing diversity in access to outdoor spaces are great places to start but real change won’t be made until the gatekeepers (our white male and female colleagues) see this for the problem that it is and take decisive action to attract and retain both Black students and faculty. As a Black geoscientist, I’m eager to bolster any efforts to address this issue but this has to be seen by our peers as more than a pet project of the lone faculty member raising the alarm.

And yet, we persist. It’s important to find your community. Being a Black geologist can be a lonely experience at times. After spending nearly a decade in classrooms across the US, I have not yet had or met a Black geoscience professor. This shouldn’t be surprising since the geosciences are the least diverse of the STEM fields and has shown no meaningful improvement in the past 40+ years.

For your self-care this week: check out the Twitter hashtag #BlackInGeoscience to start diversifying your timeline. This hashtag has allowed me to connect with so many other Black geologists, geophysicists and geographers all around the globe. Browse the list of Geoscientists of Color (maintained by Dr. Jennifer Glass) to diversify your department’s seminars. Make a fashion statement by rocking some #BlackInGeoscience merchandise from the storefront created by Dr. Lucía Pérez Díaz (100% of profits are donated to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund). Sign the Change.org petition created by Dr. Hendratta Ali to and encourage your organization to enact the provided action plan.

Keep pushing.

-KP