AFRICAN AMERICAN SCIENTISTS, ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND ACTIVISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW (PART 1)

Hello Internet. It’s February and you know what that means. Well, you might know what that means. In California the evergreen pear, Pyrus kawakamii, is in bloom and it’s limbs are heavy with white flowers. Valentine’s day, the pink and chocolate consumer love festival is coming up so plan your Kay-kisses accordingly. Most importantly, February is Black History Month in the US and Canada. (In the UK it is observed in October).

With the spotlight on Black History, it’s imperative that we take the time to focus on African American biologists, ecologists, conservationists and environmentalists (although the environmental movement be doing this all year). How we have chosen to remember the history of these achievements is skewed. George Washington Carver, as impressive a genius as he is, has been mythologized and is often the only historical, African American scientist, let alone biologist or botanist, with name recognition. At the same time, Jesse Jarue Mark, the first African American man to receive his PhD in botany, has been reduced to a historical footnote. The only thing I could find on him was his dissertation from Iowa State.