She Was The Only Black Person In Her Geography Class. So She Launched A Movement To Diversify The Field.

Francisca Rockey is not yet a household name, but her ideas about geography have sparked a critical movement. Last spring, the York St John University student tweeted 31 words that circulated around the world: “I wish geography, environmental science and related subjects were more diverse. I’m the only black girl on my course and I know it’s the same at other universities around the country.”

Rockey’s tweet caught the attention of several other Black geography students in the United Kingdom, many of whom expressed that they felt alone in the geoscience world. Others shared Rockey’s desire to diversify the field, and were equally passionate about inspiring more Black students to pursue geography, diversifying the curriculum and elevating the daily work of geographers. Working together with her peers, Rockey created the nonprofit organization Black Geographers, a space to build on these connections and formalize a community.

The group began by posing one question to schools, universities and organizations alike: why aren’t there more Black people in geography? In less than a year, they’d developed research to help answer that question as well as launched scholarships and a mentorship program. Recently, the team hosted a virtual forum, “Decolonising Geography,” for students to explore the role of race in higher education departments and how to pursue greater equity within them. Today, the Black Geographers platform, which initially launched as an Instagram page, has evolved into a worldwide collaborative of 10,000 members strong—and growing.

I reached out to Rockey to better understand how all of us can work to make geography as diverse as the world in which we live. In our Q&A, she describes the importance of listening to Black stories and elevating Black voices in geography, including those who’ve been unacknowledged or excluded entirely. Generations of Black geographers and explorers have deepened our understanding of the planet and made critical contributions to science—from 19th century polar explorer Matthew Henson to 21st century biological anthropologist Carter Clinton, who researches the lives of African Americans during the era of slavery. Rockey wants to ensure their distinguished work and legacies are broadly recognized and celebrated.

In this way, Rocky also highlights how geographic thinking can bridge cultures and solve problems. 

Vicki Phillips: What does geography mean to you?

Francisca Rockey: Geography is an interdisciplinary subject that encompasses all of my interests: the environment, politics, social and spatial inequalities, science and humanities. Geography is how we understand where things are found, why they’re there, how they develop and change, why people are in the positions that they are and what environmental factors impact animal and human habitats and settlements. Geography allows you to be a well-rounded person and to consider the lives of others and their surroundings.

VP: Why did you choose this field? What do you love about it?

FR: Of all of the subjects that I’ve studied, it’s the one that has made the most impact on my way of thinking and my values and morals. I chose geography because I wanted to make a change and have all of the skills that I need to make that change. What I love about geography is how it builds connections among people globally. There are people in Brazil, for example, who I can’t communicate with because we speak different languages, but we’re able to connect on our mutual love for the environment. That’s the beauty in geography; despite these barriers, we can connect through our common understandings of geography.

VP: What do you wish non-Black people knew about Black geographies?

FR: I wish they knew that Black geographies exist and that Black people have been telling their own stories for centuries. We are capable of telling our own stories and doing our own research; it doesn’t need to be led by non-Black people. Within geography, white Western research and ideas about cultures are regarded as being more credible than oral histories, for example, from those ethnic groups or cultures. That’s quite dangerous and something I’d like to see change over the years. Part of understanding a culture is hearing straight from the people who are experiencing these things, in their language, instead of just researching and only getting a small insight into the culture. There is so much value in hearing different groups of people telling their own stories.

VP: How can educators play a role in encouraging Black students to study and contribute to the field of geography?

FR: Educators can play a huge role in encouraging Black students to study and contribute to the field by representing Black geographers in their teaching. Something that I hear commonly is that if you can see yourself represented in a field, then you have something to aspire to. As a young Black person, I can’t aspire to be a geographer if I’ve never seen a Black geographer. Educators can also make all students—but especially Black students—aware of where geography can take them and how their different interests can be turned into geographical thought. For example, if a student is interested in politics, then they might be great at human geography and geopolitics.

VP: How can we connect geographic thinking to solving the world’s most pressing problems?

FR: We can apply the two sides of geography: the social side, or human geography, and the environmental and science side, or physical geography. For example, if we’re looking at climate migration, we can look at the environmental, health, social and economic impacts and assess how we can improve the lives of migrants who have to move because sea level is rising or because frequent natural disasters are destroying their homes. Geographic thinking allows you to look at problems from so many different perspectives and get a well-informed view of how to solve these issues. When a volcano erupts, geographers will look at the social impact and how it will change people’s sense of being within that city, or their identity within the space. Both aspects are equally important in understanding the future of our environment—and how we as humans are adapting to this ever-changing planet that we live on.

VP: What geography fact fascinates you the most and why?

FR: Sudan has more ancient pyramids than Egypt. Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza are known as one of the seven wonders of the world, but Sudan has nearly twice the number of pyramids. This fascinates me because it’s something I was never taught in school. It wasn’t until I was an adult and did my research that I discovered this.

VP: What advice do you have for young people leading movements around the world?

FR: If you have a passion and you have an idea and you know there is a change that you can make, then you can lead. When I began Black Geographers, I was fearful of not having enough resources and money to do what I wanted, so originally, my idea was just to have an Instagram page and to show what life is like as a Black geographer—what I do throughout my degree and what we are learning and what struggles we face. Then I thought, “I can actually do a lot more than that.” I did a GoFundMe about my idea and applied for a Kickstarter fund through my university. That funding helped me create our website and secure our domain and web hosting. In October, we did a fundraising campaign that highlighted that only 7 out of every 1,000 geography professors in the UK identify as Black. We’re now able to use the funds from this campaign for the rest of the year and apply for more grants so that we can do more with our movement. If you’re not able to fundraise, I recommend starting petitions or an Instagram page where you can inform people on your movement. You can set up a Facebook page, send a weekly newsletter within your community or lobby or email your local policymakers. There are so many different ways that you can start movements.

VP: How can people support the Black Geographers movement?

FR: You can support our movement in your institutions, workplace, or organization by highlighting the fact that there is a diversity issue in the green environment sector. These issues begin when people who are Black are not encouraged to study geography or related subjects, like environmental science. Allow Black people to see themselves in these studies and feel like they belong in those spaces and feel safe. Keep raising awareness within your circles. Use the information that Black Geographers provides through research. Share what you do within your spaces to make that change to the Black experience within geography.

Note: This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.