View as Webpage

Did somebody forward you this email? Sign up here.

June 9, 2023

Kayaking in Blue Hill Bay in August 2021. Photo by Annie Ropeik

Marking Juneteenth on the water in Ellsworth

By Annie Ropeik

Every summer, Jeanine Georgette — who goes by JG and uses "they" pronouns — tries to spend at least a month living on their sailboat, the Brenda B. The boat lives in Gouldsboro, in a friend's backyard, while JG is in New York for much of the year caring for an aging parent. But they always look forward to returning to the water in Maine.

"It's like the thing I most want to do in the year," JG said. "When I'm sailing there, I always am so rejuvenated, and so... I don't really have the words for it. But it heals, it definitely heals."

JG is Black and in their 60s, and only started sailing about four years ago. They'd like to see more people of color out on the water and in nature in Maine, which is roughly tied with Vermont as the whitest state in the country.

"The Maine coast is just one of the treasures of the natural world, and yet you don't find people of color there, for the most part. You really don't," JG said. "Being able to go to the water and be on a boat or a kayak, or taking a hike -- that connection has not been nourished in our society."

JG is one of the organizers behind the Ellsworth-area group Juneteenth Downeast, which held its first commemoration of the now-federal June 19 holiday in 2021. This year, the group is holding a "Weekend on the Water" on June 17 and 18 at Lamoine State Park on the Mt. Desert Narrows. Focused on Black families and other people of color, the weekend will include free food, gear and support for camping, boating, hiking, fishing and swimming.

"We have a really complicated history with with the water. Historically, we've been kept out of the water, been kept out of pools," JG said. "It's hard to be comfortable on the water if you can't swim. So part of our mission this year has been to create this opportunity for people to be comfortable in the water."

JG wants people of color in Maine to come find community and connection.

"We're about access to the natural world, because it will help you feel better," they said. "It will heal you, will give you some respite." And it offers a "baby step," they said, into better environmental awareness and stewardship.

Juneteenth Downeast organizer JG learning to sail. Photos courtesy Janine Georgette

Juneteenth marks what the National Museum of African American History & Culture calls "our country's second independence day" -- the day in 1865 when news of the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War finally reached a quarter of a million enslaved people in Texas.

"For me, it's not a day of, 'Oh yay, we were freed,' because how many millions are still incarcerated?" JG said. "The ways in which slavery didn't end, but evolved, is something that I think Juneteenth can address."

JG pointed to the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery except as a punishment for a criminal conviction, and to disproportionate police violence against Black people. "This country has a lot to deal with that it's reluctant to deal with," JG said. "I feel like you can't heal until the wound is clean and receiving fresh air and not sort of hidden."

But that airing and healing is about more than negotiating with white Americans, JG said. "I'm much more interested in Black people and people of color doing for ourselves what we need instead of asking for it."

The need that Juneteenth Downeast is focused on with this year's weekend on the water is one for rejuvenation in nature, and inclusion in outdoor activities that many people of color may see as not being for them.

JG learned to swim as a kid, but had a vivid dream when they were young that was "really kind of traumatic... to the point I thought it was a premonition, of having my leg bit off by a shark. And so I stayed out of the water for a long time."

They now wonder if this dream was a kind of genetic memory, which some scientists have theorized, passed on from enslaved ancestors brought over the sea by ship.

The Portland Museum of Art will have a free panel discussion on June 19, Juneteenth, about Black people's relationship to water. Other recommended reading on this complex topic: "Enslaved Swimmers and Divers in the

Atlantic World," a fascinating essay by scholar Kevin Dawson.

When JG first began thinking of learning to sail, they said, "literally, my brain went through like five reasons why I couldn't do it." They assumed, as they've heard many others do, that sailing was a hobby only for wealthy, white people.

"You give me a weekend and about $300, I can build a very small boat and sail. But who knows that? I certainly didn't," JG said. "So I think there's an element of, I want people to see us out there."

Juneteenth Downeast has raised money in Ellsworth and statewide to make its weekend on the water free for all. The group is among the first cohort of grantees to each receive $30,000 from the Outdoor Equity Fund, a new program from Maine Initiatives and the Nature Based Education Consortium.

"If you come and hang out and go camping with us and sing by the fire and discover what the fuss is about s'mores, and are looking at the night sky, you'll get it. You'll want it for yourself more," JG said. "There's something when just existing is enough."

Register here for the June 17-18 Weekend on the Water, or learn about volunteering and donating. Juneteenth Downeast will also commemorate the holiday itself that Monday, from 2 to 6 p.m. in Ellsworth's Knowlton Park.

In case you missed it: The third part of my series Hooked on Heating Oil is out now. This installment looks at the complex climate trade-offs of using more wood heat to replace oil in our home fuel mix. Click here to read it, or catch up on past parts of the project, and stay tuned for more.

What we're reading this week: Inspired by this week's topic, I'm revisiting the wonderful and relevant podcast episode "Swimming Lessons" from my friends at Outside/In. And I stopped by Longfellow Books in Portland while on a donut run the other day and grabbed Otherlands: A Journey Through Earth's Extinct Worlds by Thomas Halliday, which I'm very excited to dig into.

In other Maine news:

Air quality:

Maine has avoided the worst of the Canadian wildfire smoke that has broken records on much of the rest of East Coast this week. There could be some smoke on the Maine coast on Friday. Here's the state forecast.

PFAS:

A national group used Maine data to report on "forever chemicals" in pesticides.

Canadian hydropower:

There are renewed concerns about whether Hydro-Quebec has enough extra electricity to supply New England power lines like the CMP Corridor.

Energy legislation:

State lawmakers are advancing a bill to spur major offshore wind development, and other proposals that could roll back incentives for large solar developments.

Atlantic salmon:

Fisheries managers used nets and a hose like a "giant slip and slide" to release hundreds of the endangered fish into the Penobscot River.

Climate migration:

A summit on Maine's future urban planning included a focus on climate change.

Coal ash:

Portland residents are raising concerns about Sprague Energy's coal ash pile on the West End waterfront.

Beach reopens:

South Portland's Willard Beach is reopen after a pipe burst last week.

Electric vehicles:

A new report says Maine would see major health and air quality benefits from adopting more zero-emissions cars.

Blueberries:

Maine is the only state where wild blueberries are commercially harvested, and last year's crop was strong but smaller due to drought.

Browntail moths:

This cold and rainy start to June has encouraged a fungus that could help reduce browntail moth populations this year.

Piping plovers:

It's hatching season for the little puffballs on Maine beaches, and beachgoers are urged to use caution.

Sharks:

Student researchers are testing ways to track Atlantic white sharks' behavior, hoping to aid lifeguards in preventing fatal attacks.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.

Kate Cough covers energy and the environment for The Maine Monitor. She's a graduate of Columbia University and an 8th generation Mainer born in Portland who's now decamped Downeast. You can reach her at kate@themainemonitor.org or @kaitlincough.

Annie Ropeik is a freelance environmental reporter based in Portland and a board member with the Society of Environmental Journalists. You can reach her at aropeik@gmail.com or @aropeik, or at her website.

The Maine Monitor is a non-profit, independent investigative news outlet. We're committed to informing Mainers about the issues impacting our state. We don't have a paywall and we don't have subscribers, which means we rely on donors like you in order to do our work. If you like what you see, consider supporting our work by becoming a donor. To those who already are, thank you! We couldn't do this without you.

You can also support us by spreading the word and sharing this newsletter with a friend.

To manage which of the four Maine Monitor newsletters (Daily Monitor, Sunday Monitor, Climate Monitor, Downeast Monitor) you receive, please click "Update Profile" below. You should hit "Unsubscribe" ONLY if you no longer want to receive any emails from us.