Black Material Geographies

Whetstone Radio Collective•black-material.captivate.fm

With the growing awareness around how our food and clothing are made and where it comes from, our curiosity and desire to deepen our understanding of the fiber systems that undergird our lives and the communities impacted by them grow with it. Black Material Geographies is a collection of conversations and stories using Blackness and textile material culture to explore how we can create more sustainable systems and processes amid global climate crises and lifestyles deeply entrenched in global capitalism. This show projects “Blackness” into the past to understand the material cultures of our present and the possibilities for a more sustainable future. We will explore what Black futures could be made of and who gets to make them. Black Material Geographies is part of Whetstone Radio Collective. Whetstone Radio Collective creates storytelling dedicated to food origins and culture, with original content centering the perspectives of global majority populations and diasporas. You can learn more about this podcast at whetstoneradio.com, on Twitter @whetstoneradio, on TikTok and Instagram @whetstonemedia and subscribe to our Spotify and YouTube channel, Whetstone Media, for more podcast content. You can learn more about all things happening at Whetstone at WhetstoneMedia.com.

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Episodes

Imagining Regional Fiber Initiatives

This is the final episode of Season 1, where we explore the question: What would it look like if regional fiber initiatives became the norm? In last week's episode we started to explore how material supply chains impact our system and how to rethink them. Today, the fashion industry is experiencing a resurgence of interest in regional clothing fibers. The globalization of the fashion industry has prompted designers to look beyond the traditional suppliers of their materials and explore regional ...

May 30, 2022•36 min

Redesigning Supply Chains

In the final episodes of this season of Black Material Geographies, Teju sharpens her focus on regenerative textile and fiber systems and looks at how and why redesigning our supply chains can create a more efficient and sustainable fashion industry that doesn’t rely on unsustainable and destructive practices. Redesigning supply chains starts with recognizing how they currently ignore the people who make our products and the environments they come from. Redesigning the supply chain can be a chal...

May 23, 2022•42 min

Black Cotton

All of us have our own relationship with cotton and the way it fits into our lives. The history of cotton cultivation in the Americas is deeply linked to the history of Black people in this region. Throughout the history of the United States, cotton and the ingenuity and creativity of Black people have played a crucial role in its development as one of the most powerful countries in the world. This week on Black Material Geographies, Teju explores the relationship between humankind and the cotto...

May 16, 2022•38 min

Natural Dyeing & Oakland Youth

During this week's episode, Teju Adisa-Farrar discusses Oakland, natural dyeing, art, and urban farming. Fiber and plants are integral to not just the Black diaspora's history, but also human history more broadly. It is a granular exploration of the broader topic of regenerative production practices. Historically, most human products were created with local natural materials. It was a practical matter. Humans have been producing fiber and dyeing textiles in ways that we now consider "regenerativ...

May 09, 2022•42 min

Colonialism's Afterlife & Upcyling Fashion, Pt. 2 | Textile Waste

Western imperialism was and still is a force to be reckoned with. Today in the fashion world, colonialism has left its mark on what we wear, how clothes are made, and who makes them. The ways that clothes are made, the aesthetics of each garment, and even the pricing can be traced back to colonial-era trade routes. Teju Adisa-Farrar continues the conversation she began last week about the afterlife of colonialism, how the modern fashion industry has been shaped by it, and how this generation of ...

May 02, 2022•26 min

Colonialism's Afterlife & Upcyling Fashion, Pt. 1

How much has the world changed since the days when colonialism ruled the planet? There have been advances toward achieving global equality among the once-colonized nations; however, many of the structures and customs that characterized colonialism remain. There is an opportunity for every industry to transform the systems that underpin our lives. This week we look at colonialism's afterlife and delve deeper into the topic, exploring its colonial origins and its afterlives in the contemporary fas...

Apr 25, 2022•40 min

The Lacebark Tree, Pt. 2

Why don't we hear about the Lacebark tree? The lagetta was once abundant in Jamaica 200 years ago. Indigenous Taíno used its inner bark for rope, baskets, and hammocks but now their presence is rare. They are gone forever or driven out by humans who wanted more land. There had already had been room enough on Earth so everyone could live together peaceably, without any wars happening between them, all making progress every day while respecting nature's limits. That includes not overpopulating are...

Apr 18, 2022•29 min

The Lacebark Tree, Pt. 1

Host Teju Adisa-Farrar was asked to write about her personal relationship to knitting and crafting. “I instantly thought of my grandmother, who did everything from crochet and knitting to needlepoint. As I explored these Caribbean crafts further, I discovered a tree that she had never heard about but seemed important in them all: the Lacebark.” This two-part episode looks at the Lacebark's origin and impact, as well as Cockpit Country in Trelawny in Northwestern Jamaica and the Accompong Maroons...

Apr 11, 2022•25 min

Precolonial Textile Cultures, Pt.2

In the Western world, we walk around consuming culture that originated in Africa, with no recognition given to indigenous Africans who cultivated and developed the aesthetics that so many of us appreciate today. The exclusion of precolonial African contributions to the world is based on racist ideas developed to justify looting Africa and enslaving Africans in the Americas. In Pt. 2 of our look at Precolonial Textile Cultures, we examine how Baba’s book aims to challenge these stereotypes of Afr...

Apr 04, 2022•25 min

Precolonial Textile Cultures, Pt.1

Our environments impact us from before birth to after death, and we in turn impact them. From the food we eat to the clothes we wear, everything we use comes from the earth...our collective environment. There is no question that the dominant food and fiber systems — from growing almonds in California to manufacturing polyester — threaten the health of our environment and oppress the majority of people on this planet. In this first episode of Black Material Geography, host Teju Adisa-Farrar explo...

Mar 28, 2022•24 min

Trailer - Black Material Geographies

Through our broadening agricultural lens at Whetstone, we endeavor to understand the relationship between the land and not only what we eat, but also what we wear. Premiering Monday, March 28, our newest podcast Black Material Geographies, hosted by Teju Adisa-Farrar (@misstej), will explore the fiber systems undergirding our lives. #BlackMaterialGeographies is a collection of conversations and stories using Blackness and textile material culture to explore how we can create more sustainable sys...

Mar 24, 2022•1 min

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