The Stages of Black Climate Grief
A Matter of Degrees
Dr. Leah Stokes, Dr. Katharine Wilkinson
4.8 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 15 December 2020
⏱️ 39 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, we have a special episode featuring activist and researcher Nikayla Jefferson.
Most of us are in the first stage of climate grief: denial.
But what does it feel like to enter the stage of grief? And how is that grief different for black people?
Even if you've seen the impacts of climate change up close, even if you've felt the tropical winds whip your cheeks, stood in floodwater knee deep in your own home, watched a fire come down the ridge line, said "wow, I can't remember a summer this hot" -- you are likely stuck in some state of denial.
In this episode, Nikayla shares her journey breaking through denial and into grief. She also talks with
As a black person, grieving for the planet can look different, feel heavier and more immediate.
Featured in this episode: Nikayla Jefferson, Jacqueline Patterson, and Princella Talley.
Follow our co-hosts and production team:
A Matter of Degrees is a production of Post Script Audio.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | So I was at the gym. This was last December, and I'd only been a climate organizer for a few months at this point. |
| 0:06.9 | But I was on the tricep machine, and my workout playlist was blaring some hip-hop. |
| 0:12.7 | And there was this cute girl on the machine next to me, and she smiled at me, and I tried to play it cool and keep going with my workout. |
| 0:20.6 | Sweat was beginning to bead on my forehead, and I tried to play it cool and keep going with my workout. Sweat was beginning to bead on my forehead and I continued to work my set. |
| 0:25.3 | I was counting my reps. |
| 0:27.2 | One, two, three, four. |
| 0:30.2 | But then everything just went kind of still. |
| 0:34.2 | Because the news that morning hit me. |
| 0:36.3 | The music and my earbuds died down and all I could hear were the words of the newest climate report. |
| 0:43.3 | 11,000 climate scientists warn of untold human suffering. |
| 0:49.2 | Bad news for me and every other human on planet Earth. |
| 0:53.7 | The words spiral deeper. |
| 0:56.4 | Suffering, disaster, loss of land and life. |
| 1:01.2 | My arms gave out and the weights crashed down in the machine, |
| 1:04.7 | but I still held the heaviness in my gut and in my legs. |
| 1:08.7 | The weight of the news pressed against my chest and I couldn't breathe. |
| 1:13.9 | Tears and sweat rolled down my face. |
| 1:17.2 | This was a panic attack. |
| 1:19.4 | So I wandered, dazed and numb, out of the gym, double doors, and into the December morning air. |
| 1:26.2 | I wandered down the street, |
| 1:27.8 | laid back on the curb, |
| 1:29.1 | and tried to feel the warmth of the sun |
... |
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