terraqueous

An Epistle for Harriet Ann Jacobs

Authors

  • Michelle Lanier Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University

Keywords:

Ecosystems of witness, Black South, marronage, Harriet Jacobs, AfroCarolina, womanist cartography

Abstract

Harriet Ann Jacobs, born enslaved in North Carolina, was more than a fugitive freedom seeker. She was also known, loved, and held by Black South ecosystems of witness. Michelle Lanier archivally and ecologically roots the epistolary poem, ‘terraqueous,’ in an effort to shrink the distance between the commemorative echoes of Jacobs’s story and the soils and waters that held her first breaths and acts of resistance.

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A collage of photos and materials provided by issue authors. These include: a photo of a landscape with stars shining above a curved snowy road disappearing into a wooded horizon along the coast of Gichigami/Lake Superior; a cutout of cursive text written by Caitilin McMillan’s mother that reads “to the world's best heart”; a photo of Neelofer Qadir’s hand holding colorful postcards in front of the blue water of Gris Gris, Mauritius; a handwritten letter in Spanish dated August 1983 from Alana de Hinojosa’s grandmother to her mother, Evelina “Bebe”, asking for her to come back home to Calexico, California; a black-and-white troll block print and a Valentine's Day card with porcupine quills piercing a red-and-black heart and the handwritten message “Happy Valentines Day! Contains two genuine porcupine quills, picked clean by ravens. Love, Elspeth”; a black-and-white photograph of Dr. Donald Deskins Jr. in a three-point stance wearing a football uniform; a colourful poster with doves and peace flowers and text that reads “Viva! Viva! Palestina!”; an orange envelope reading “don't you dare write back!” with a hand-drawn scowling figure; a screenshot of a Zoom grid of smiling attendees at the American Association of Geographers 2021 Desirable Futures sessions; and background text and images from valentines written by Elspeth Iralu.

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Published

2024-04-15

How to Cite

Lanier, M. (2024). terraqueous: An Epistle for Harriet Ann Jacobs. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 23(2), 145–149. Retrieved from https://acme-journal.org/index.php/acme/article/view/2426

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024): Desirable Futures

Section

Special Issue: Desirable Futures

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Michelle Lanier

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