From nuclear testing in the Sahara by the French to the desert used as a tool for the displacement of the Nubian people, the ecological impact of colonial powers on deserts around the world has been profound and destructive. According to Dr. Samia Henni, the desert and those who inhabit it have been systematically racialized and marginalized, enduring ongoing violence and exploitation driven by colonial ideologies that seek to dominate and reshape these landscapes. This highlights the vulnerability and importance of deserts and the people who inhabit them globally. 

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Deserts are arid biomes, characterized by the lack of precipitation, typically receiving less than 10 inches of rain per year and make up one-third of our planet’s land surface. Examples include the Sahara in Africa, the Mojave Desert in North America, and the Gobi Desert in Asia. Deserts are also defined by their sparse vegetation, specialized fauna, unique soil characteristics, and water scarcity. The arid desert biome is crucial for global climate regulation and carbon cycling. Through the carbon cycle, carbon atoms repeatedly move between the atmosphere and Earth’s organisms, primarily stored in rocks, sediments, oceans, atmosphere, and living beings, facilitating continuous reuse. Deserts can act as “carbon sinks”, storing carbon by accumulating organic matter in their soil and experiencing slow decomposition rates, although this depends on many other factors.

Deserts are a significant source of natural mineral aerosols, tiny particles suspended in the air that play a crucial role in atmospheric dynamics, climate processes, and ecosystem functions. They can be of either natural origin or man-made origin. Anthropogenic aerosols result from human activities such as industrial processes, transportation emissions, and agricultural activities while natural aerosols originate from sources such as sea spray, dust storms, and volcanic ash.  Mineral aerosols are one of the most important atmospheric aerosols, and the majority are from the Sahara and Sahel region impacting hurricane formation in the Atlantic and fertilizing the Amazon Basin. 

The Many Ways of Seeing the Desert 

In John Berger’s seminal text and BBC program Ways of Seeing, the British art critic examines the mechanics of perception, exploring how viewers engage with art. This parallels the need for critical examination when observing our planet. It requires us to scrutinize the lenses through which we understand and describe the natural world. When advocating for environmental justice, it becomes essential to critically examine how colonialism has shaped our perceptions and descriptions of the natural world. Similarly, in the group exhibition Getting Over the Color Green, artists discussed the impact green has had on their perceptions of the world and surroundings despite being in a naturally arid region. Curators Athoub AlBusaily and Gaith Abdulla posed questions in their open call for art submissions, addressing how to dismantle the associations of arid landscapes with colonial ideologies. 

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Colonial powers have viewed deserts as barren and desolate, often considering them as ‘unwanted’ regions despite their exploitation. However, Deserts have served as conduits of knowledge and points of transaction and trade, with the deserts of the Hijaz being the birthplace of Islam as we know it today. In Deserts Are Not Empty (2022), Danika Cooper argues that emptiness is neither a geographical category nor an ecological feature. Unfortunately, this perception of the desert as empty extends not only to its cartographic depiction but also to the flora, fauna, and people that inhabit it. When advocating for environmental justice, it becomes essential to critically examine how colonialism has shaped our perceptions and descriptions of the natural world. For example, the phrase “making the desert bloom” has been used to legitimize settler colonialism, often serving as a form of greenwashing, while implying the necessity of “filing” it through occupation. This has had a profound impact on how many view the environment.

A Holistic Understanding of Planet Earth

To the untrained eye, the desert landscape evokes a sense of alienation. To the colonial gaze, it is to be conquered, a testing ground, and a site for dissent. However, for those who belong to deserts, it is a site of memories and heritage. Divorcing the desert from “barren” and “obsolete” requires a transformative shift in perspective. Although the desert is ecologically fragile, it plays a major role in maintaining our planet. To be stewards of Earth, we must embrace its different states of being. From the fiery eruptions of volcanoes to the mysterious depths of the oceans, to the vast expanses of arid deserts—these all contribute to the unique identity of our planet. 

Viewing Earth solely through a lens of greenery overlooks its complexity, much like the layers of the atmosphere, each with its role. It’s a humbling realization that nature encompasses all aspects of existence, and as inhabitants of this planet, we are inherently intertwined with it.

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Metro-Detroit encompasses the city of Detroit and Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. This land, known as Waawiiyaatanong, is the ancestral land of the Anishinaabe, Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwa, Odawa, Potawatomi and the land of the Wyandot nation. During the seed-swapping event, I was inspired to think about this land we call home and the pre-existing relationships the Indigenous people had and continue to have with this land before we arrived here.   

Seed Sustainability Puts Amanah in Action

Afeefeh S., a co-founder of MetroSwaps, is a Lebanese American woman who has been dedicating her time to propagating the importance of sustainability within her community in Dearborn and connecting with the diverse communities within Detroit. Implementing Islamic principles of Amanah, or stewardship, of the land, the event attracted local gardening enthusiasts and hobbyists, offering activity tables where participants could paint rocks or planters.

The guidelines for the overall event were simple: attendees were asked to bring vegetable seeds, fruit seeds, or mushroom spores, avoid GMO varieties and ensure seeds were properly labelled. Among the participants at the event were the Iraqi Seed Collective, committed to preserving Iraqi culture and safeguarding the genetic heritage of crops through heirloom seeds, and Dearborn Public Library’s Seed Library. 

In Michigan, the Seed Library Network exists to map out the Seed Libraries in the state. Seed-saving, integral to Food Sovereignty, is the process of saving seeds from one harvest for future harvest. This allows the farmer seed sovereignty, or the right to save, use, exchange and sell his or her own seeds. This practice has been done historically by Black and Indigenous people in the U.S. persevering their heritages. 

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Al-Hadiqa is committed to continuing the stories behind the seeds gifted by local community members by archiving their stories in an oral history project. Established in 2023 and aimed to embody the Arab American experience, Al-Hadiqa collaborated closely with the East Dearborn community and Garden Juju Collective to craft the garden’s design and narrative tales. Fatima Al-Rasool, Public Programming Coordinator at AANM, notes that many of the residents have brought seeds from their home countries, including zaatar seeds from Lebanon, tomato seeds from Iraq, and pea seeds from Syria. 

Metro-Detroit: An Automotive Hub and Cultural Epicenter

The urgency of the climate crisis has prompted many to commit to community organizing and communication. To understand Metro-Detroit’s environmental connection and cultural identity, one must view its industrial heritage using the lens of the automotive industry. The availability of manufacturing jobs at companies like Ford, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler drew waves of immigrants and migrants to the region over decades in the early 20th century. The impact of racist practices such as redlining and white flight deeply shaped the economic and demographic landscapes of Metro-Detroit, while also leaving behind an environmental footprint that continues to harm the region.

The industrial legacy extends to nearby Dearborn, home to the Ford Motor Company’s headquarters, where the effects of industrialization are still felt through iron, steel and oil refining pollution sources. This results in emissions of toxic chemicals. These pollutants contribute to the elevated rates of respiratory issues in the area. Being one of the most diverse regions in the U.S., Southeastern Michigan faces impacts stemming from the ongoing climate crisis, ranging from issues like floods and food injustice to poor air quality.

Dearborn, neighbouring the Majority African American city of Detroit, has a significant Arab population tracing their heritage across the Arab world, with the majority being from Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. Despite the decline of the industry, the varied workforce it drew in has left a permanent impact on the cultural landscapes of Metro-Detroit. These detrimental conditions feed into the need for sustainability initiatives like MetroSwaps.

Ramadan & Cultivating Sustainability

The rooted connection that seeds embody is integral to a people who are connected to a land even when uprooted and displaced. Seeds are dispersed by either natural mechanisms or by human activities. However, they can flourish only if given the right conditions. By holding community events that teach sustainability during the month of Ramadan, we gather at a sacred time to reclaim our ancestral practices of seed-saving embedded in the Islamic teachings of land stewardship. 

By preserving the rich ancestral practice of seed-saving dominant across indigenous cultures, the diverse community of Metro-Detroit is passing on the information and stories enclosed in seeds to the next generation. As Fatima says “[…]We are in Michigan, and being here impacts our identities”. Our presence on this land impacts many of our cultures and identities. We are not stagnant, but instead malleable, and in this constant change we must be stewards of this land.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Muslim Climate Watch’s editorial stance.

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