January 10, 2023, 12:54 pm

When I first discovered the work of adrienne maree brown and Octavia Butler, my soul discovered, for the first time, that it was not alone or unique in its type. A reverence for life, obsessed with apocalypse– with human existence, survival, and change– thirsty for stories of how we, and the Earth, get through this together and come out evolved on the other side.

When I first read Emergent Strategy I put it down to discover Parable of the Sower. Lauren Olamina was the hero I had been searching for; the fearless savior I didn’t know existed. From a young age, she felt the end coming and knew that she had a role to play. Steadfast, smart, and dedicated to her own power and practice, she forged a path of educational leadership and life-saving heroism. She wrote all she learned. She taught what she lived. She cultivated, and believed in, life.

When I first studied environmental ethics it became clear to me that this crisis is a spiritual one. It is about us and our connection to Earth. We know we are not trying to save the planet (for she will endure us); we are trying to save ourselves. But why bother? A scientist will say it is simply because we have a biological desire to survive.

But why? What is that?

That is the sauce, my friend. Why does life move in the direction of life? What is life at all? It is us– it is all of this. The Universe, the Earth, moves in the direction of life itself. The Universe is Alive with Consciousness– that is the simple miracle.

The Earth made Us– she made many things and then found her way to us. Us, who can mend her when she is broken. Who can save the found pups when the mother has been made prey. Who can collect the water and distribute it. Who can form the plants into gardens that burst forth with life. Mother Earth made us to tend her.

Loving and worshiping life itself is our job on this earth. Saving our lives, and the beauty of the planet, is our god given right. It is our inheritance. Our truth. Our job. Our destiny.

When I found Octavia Butler and adrienne maree brown, I knew I was not alone in this. I knew my voice was not the first. I knew that this is a spiritual inheritance. I knew it was born as a child of the existing 1995 ether– with a pursuit, a longing, to collect specific knowledge and insight like water. Through college I found so much depth– so much wisdom, deeply true, pieced together from various fields. So much water swirling around, unsure of its direction or community. When I found Octavia Butler and adrenne maree brown, the water knew it had a container. A home, a shape, an outline. History in the body, future in the spout. I knew it had something it belonged in. Somewhere to go.