Soil To Sky
Soil To Sky is an organisation that explores and teaches the concepts of queer ecology, intersectional awareness, and how the centering of queer/trans people of a global majority – and their voices in natural history – will not only save the planet, but further our understanding of conservation practice, scientific method, and get queer People Of Colour front and centre when it comes to wildlife and the environment.
Our name represents the ground up movement we want to influence, the grassroots communities we want to fight for, and the understanding that we have queer roots…all of us…and we can use these roots to reach the sky.
Our views and vision come from the understanding that far before the impacts of colonisation – and before eurocentric, heteronormative, patriarchal standards and values were placed on how we learnt about and observed nature and wildlife – indigenous communities of colour embraced how flexible and queer the environment actually is, and used that to reflect upon themselves and conserve this nature sustainably and comfortably.
As a trans, non-binary, disabled, pakistani Indian women in the natural history media and writing industry. I have been made acutely aware of what I have not got as I have struggled to reach the place I am in today. This project is about spotlighting and platforming unheard voices and lost creativity. We will factor in vulnerability, white fragility, disability, trans inclusion, queer ecology and racism into the teachings about the natural world.
This flexible perspective and understanding of nature has been shown through studies and lived experience to progress scientific understanding but also puts the voices of people who are trans and queer front and centre, and as someone who has often felt excluded from these places – when in reality I should have felt even more connected than my counterparts – I want to build a community where queer POC see the magic of their identities as a direct link to nature…
For now it’s just me and this page, and my own experience and skills, but I hope to grow it further as I apply for funding, use my networks to find places and people to ally with us, and one day soon branch into guided walks, writing, art and poetry workshops, activist meetings, policy and politics workshops, animal and plant identification, discussion and debate platforms and a place of fun, freedom and security.
Wish me luck…
Jasmine Isa Qureshi (Founder)
“I am seeking to overturn the ways in which we educate about ecology and natural history, to EDUCATE and EMPOWER Trans People of Colour, and to allow queer people of a global majority to enter a space and feel that they are not only comfortable and allowed, but also safe and secure, AND that they should be the leaders of these spaces.
I am aiming to do this via workshops both in nature and in the outdoors, facilitating and holding spaces that are safe for trans people of colour, and that educate them on nature and allow their passion and love for nature to flourish, but also to learn and dissect the manner in which we have approached nature and biology before – through the avenues of queer ecology, queer theory and philosophy and biological understanding.
I seek to provide workshops in creative writing, species identification, queer theory, queer ecology, outdoor hikes and workshops, nature writing, and climate education and awareness, and also cultural and indigenous wisdom and historical linkage”