When I think about nature and what makes it beautiful,
I know that I am nature.
I am the sun. I am water.
I am the wind blowing, pushing, and prodding
new seeds deeper in the ground so that they can grow more plants,
just like me.
— excerpt from Natural Beauty, a reflection by Keon Hopkins
Becoming published authors, celebrating a book launch with local media, speaking at a national conference, and signing their books for the public were all part of a whirlwind week for our Teen Leaders in Conservation at Anacostia High School in early March 2025, as we celebrated the release of their new book entitled Young Voices of the Anacostia River: Exploring Black Roots to the Eastern Shore and Back. This beautiful collection of essays, poems, and photographs by the students showcases their reflections on Black contributions to the environment and their personal experiences with nature in and around the D.C. region during the summer of 2024.
Destinations including Oxon Run Park, Great Falls, Rock Creek, Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Stillmeadow Peace Park in Baltimore, and Mount Pleasant Acres Farm on the Eastern Shore were just some of the 20 places these students visited as they explored nature and learned about the history of environmental justice work in our region and beyond. They also enjoyed meeting and interviewing powerful environmental champions and role models including John Francis, The Planetwalker.
The fifteen high school seniors worked intensively with Conservation Nation partner, author and literacy consultant, Caroline Brewer, to complete this project as part of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC)’s Justice 40 Summer Internship Program at Anacostia High School. For the past two summers, Conservation Nation has been a proud partner of this internship program led by Xavier Brown. Under Caroline’s mentorship, the students discussed their observations and wrote almost daily for six weeks. They read aloud from their writings and from 20 environmental and history books that were part of the Nature-Wise curriculum. And over the course of the program, we witnessed them transform into confident readers, writers, speakers, and environmental leaders.
During the first week of March, the students spoke on a panel, met Black environmental leaders, and enjoyed signing their books at Nature Forward’s Taking Nature Black Conference, where this year’s theme of Reclamation and Resilience reflected the need to reclaim environmental justice and continue to build strength and power together. We also celebrated the students with a formal book launch event at UDC’s Lamond-Riggs auditorium, where they were greeted by community leaders, including DC Public School Deputy Chancellor Dr. Drewana Bey, and interviewed by local media including Channel 9, Channel 7, Channel 4, and WTOP. Please check out our Newsroom for press coverage of the book launch and download a free copy of the book below.Â
