Niya Bell, 11 and Imani Motley, 12
A group of women and girls gathered at Morgan State University on June 6 to talk, in part, about the fate of the planet’s food supply. The women were all scientists and environmental experts. The girls were Baltimore City residents. It was all part of a workshop series called Inform and Inspire. The girls were to learn about the animals that help make it easier for many of the foods humans eat to grow – pollinators.
Even though humans need pollinators, the animals are at risk because of pollution and climate change. “I think you don’t realize how much food comes to us due to pollinators,” said Daffny Pitchford, of the Potomac River National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Pitchford, who was one of the event’s speakers, said that without pollinators we wouldn’t have foods like strawberries or chocolate. She said she wanted to impress on the girls that there are things they can do right now to save the fate of animals like bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Daffny Pitchford, Dr. Mamie Parker, Sophia Blake, Imani Motley, Niya Bell, lady unknown.
“There are different types of things one might do to make sure that their habitat is optimal to support all types of pollinators.” She brought with her bags of wildflower seeds that the girls could spread to create a food source for pollinators.
Tylar Greene, public affairs with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Association, said she relishes the opportunity to teach young people about nature. “As a public affairs specialist, my role is to focus on urban areas,” she said. A New York City native, Greene said she didn’t start discovering the great outdoors until college. She said programs like the one held Saturday give the next generation the jump-start she didn’t have. She also said that even for girls in the heart of the city, nature is closer than they might think. “They can do things right in their communities,” she said.
Dr. Mamie Parker, a fish and wildlife biologist and one of the event’s workshop leaders, described the day’s activities as “wild STEAM.” That is – events that focused on science, technology, engineering, arts, and math but with a focus on nature and wildlife.
In addition to the bags of wildflowers the girls took home, stations were set up to teach attendees about butterflies and fish.
The event got off to a late start because a marathon elsewhere in the city snarled traffic for many attendees. A little after the event’s 9 a.m. start time, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s daughter Sophia was in attendance, as were 11-year-old Niya Bell and 12-year old Imani Motley.
“I wanted to get out of the house and do something that would excite me,” said Imani. As an athlete, she’s out in nature a lot. She attended the event to learn more about it.
The event was hosted by The Black Women’s Agenda Inc. The group is a non-profit that focusses on the needs of black women and their families. This is one of a series of Inform and Inspire workshops The Black Woman’s Agenda is holding in cities all over the United States.