A Black Belt-ocene

Popular conceptualizations of the Anthropocene tend to blur and blend humanity into a singular lump and task it with combating anomalous climate change. This essay questions the dominant narratives of the Anthropocene by excavating the author’s life in the Alabama Black Belt. Through a blend of autoethnography and historical research, it explores life in the Black Belt as an example of the ways in which Black and brown people, and their narratives, are erased in the Anthropocene. The Black Belt is home to rich advocacy movements led by those most impacted. This activism demonstrates that Black people are not passive in the climate movement. In fact, the Black Belt has engaged with ecological injustice movements throughout its modern history. Guided by Kathryn Yusoff’s conception of “a billion Black Anthropocenes,” this article aims to encourage praxis that is guided by inclusive and honest historical accounts of humanity and ecological injustice.