Here's Hoping with Jayda G Reconnecting POC With Nature, Re-Valuing Listening & Combining Your Passions with Louis VI
Jayda and Louis explore their academic journeys, with Louis sharing how a teacher’s disparaging comments pushed him to pursue medical school, despite it not being his true passion. Finding the courage to pivot, Louis rediscovered his love for zoology and began combining his passions for nature and music to raise awareness about climate change. Louis shares some incredible facts about animals but also a feel understanding of how colonial ideologies are reliant on separating humans from nature and gives examples of how this occurred. Louis also opens up about working in the Wildlife film industry as a mixed-race Black man, revealing its lack of inclusivity and colonial undertones. He critiques the predominance of white professionals in zoology and environmental fields, and the disconnection of Black and Brown communities from their ancestral lands. Louis explains why he believes spending time in nature is a powerful act of resistance for city-based POC, and how he is helping make outdoor spaces more accessible.
Together Jayda and Louis discuss the mental health benefits of nature, Louis’ transformative trips to the Amazon and his paternal homeland, Dominica, and the climate crisis’ impact on the island. Jayda and Louis also reflect on their time at COP26, criticizing its shortcomings while celebrating the connections it led to with native climate activists worldwide. Together, they examine colonialism’s lasting impact on nature and how communities can resist and heal through reconnection with each other and the outdoors.
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Louis VI is a Rapper, Musician, Film Composer, Documentary Maker, Zoologist and Nature activist, cross-pollinating music & nature. Louis’ mission is to use his music, documentaries and keynote speeches to help diasporic people reestablish their connection with nature. Louis’ keynote speech at COP26 about the colonial legacy of Climate Change and the alienation of people of colour in the UK from access to nature, drew on his award-winning documentary “The World Is (Y)ours” . Louis has collaborated extensively with Earth Percent, a charity founded by Brian Eno and was one of first artists in the world to officially feature “NATURE” as an artist. His music centres the climate justice movement - weaving together a love for melody and a multitude of genres cut with atmospheric field recordings from his time spent in the natural world.
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