A study published by two University of San Diego professors titled “Conceptualizing Black Humanity Through Geopoetic Intimacy and Resistance: Memory Making-with Geologic Materials” suggests the study of rocks could help people heal from racism.
The study was published Jan. 27 on Taylor & Francis Online. Its abstract states:
“Amplifying the importance of geologic processes in subject formation, the study asserts that geological time is important for understanding memory and memorials. In the Equal Justice Initiative’s Community Remembrance Projects and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, materials of geologic composition like soil, and those made from earth materials, such as steel and bricks, are employed to trope the bodies of lynching victims and weather racist geologic formations of subjecthood. The holding and eroding of violent memories crafts an intimate and resistant geopoetics of Black humanity.”
University of San Diego News Center interviewed the professors behind the study, Diane Marie Keeling and Bethany O’Shea in an article published on Feb. 18.
When asked how the professors would explain the study to a 5-year-old, they responded:
“In the US, white people killed Black people who wanted to be free, to be treated equal and to build a community for themselves. White people wanted to be more powerful than the Black people and use them to make money, so they would sometimes kill some of them to scare their friends and family. This was wrong and created a lot of pain. It’s important that we remember and honor the lives of the people who were killed. It’s also important to help the communities who experienced this violence heal. Our research is about how people can use rocks to heal from this horrible history.”
