The deeply impressive Flowers presents us in her second book with essays on social justice and environmental action, based on her deep roots in Alabama and the community environmental activism she was already doing with particularly sewerage equality. Did you know that 18 per cent of households in America are not connected to the mains sewerage system? I certainly did not (when I looked it up, it is 4 per cent in the UK). This is because of both geography (a larger country with more mountainous and inaccessible regions) and inequity (the usual extra cost of being poor, with people having to sign up for septic tank contracts which are punitive and restrictive and end up with people in water debt being evicted or having their houses foreclosed on. This is a central issue she returns to, doggdly interacting across the political spectrum, finding that even the hardest-right Republicans can change and be flexible when presented with truths from their home towns.

Flowers' faith sustains her through some awful times, including a personal physical attack and the death of her mother, along with knowledge of her mother's and others' forced sterilisation. She uses new knowledge of her roots and heritages (including Indigenous American heritage) to link herself closer into the locality and the world at large, and links history, partisan politics and climate change in looking at issues like those in Jackson, Mississippi, where a Black, progressive mayor was constantly blocked by White right-wingers. Although the area under discussion is far from mine, it's a timely reminder of global issues and a source of hope that people like Flowers are fighting people's corners all over the world.

Review on my blog here: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2025/01/12/book-review-catherine-coleman-flowers-holy-ground/

A pretty good text which serves to reflect and educate on the issue of environmental racism. Because racism, sadly, affects every issue and will keep doing so for who knows how long.

very interesting and filled with discussion with political figures of all stripes, from Al Gore and Bernie Sanders to Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Holy Ground by Catherine Coleman Flowers is a set of essays on climate change that is unlike any work that I have ever ready on this topic. Ms. Flowers brings a unique and incredibly important missing perspective to this discussion, the perspective of the impact of climate change on Black rural communities. I learned so much reading this collection of essays and I highly recommend this important book. So much of the discourse on climate change comes from a privileged perspective. I sincerely hope that this impactful piece of work from the founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice will become a fixture in curriculums on climate change. This book is not just about climate change, it is about climate justice. Please read this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.