Maya Blackwell: ‘I can’t burn the state down, but I can organise in my community’

Poet Maya Blackwell wouldn’t call herself an environmentalist.

“We can’t inform the state,” she says. “It’s destroying the earth for profit. I don’t think we can negotiate with our oppressors.

“No judgement on people who are signing petitions and fighting for policy change, but for me that seems fruitless. It’s trying to bargain with people that don’t have our interests.”

Maya Blackwell has turned from poetry to creative prose for her beginner’s guide to permaculture – photo: Sam Cavender

Instead, she uses permaculture’s ‘earth care, people care, fair share’ system to inform the way she lives her life. A key part of it is community.

“The crux of it is asking, how do we support each other? Then working through differing opinions and finding commonality: we all want clean air, healthy food, community. Mutual aid is at the core.”

Growing up in what she describes as a traveller community in the woods, Maya always felt at home in nature.

This deep kinship – “I’ve always had a sense that I’m an extension of it and vice versa” – led to feelings of hopelessness as she witnessed environmental degradation and climate destruction locally and globally.

It was when Maya found Bristol’s pioneering green education programme, the Shift Practical Sustainability Course, that the fog began to lift.

Learning about permaculture, a system that sits at the epicentre of the land, environment and social justice intersection, opened her eyes to new avenues for meaningful change.

“I thought, OK, here’s how that relationship [with nature] could actually be useful and proactive, rather than just an emotional thing I have to hold,” she says.

Artist Ruby Scott-Geddes was inspired to produce prints of Blackwell’s words with accompanying nature-themed images – photo: Maya Blackwell

Permaculture, a land-work system established in the 1970’s, promotes a fair use of the earth’s resources, in harmony with local ecosystems.

“It works to create systems of permanence, in direct opposition to industrial agriculture which is built on monocultures and thinks in short/largescale terms for profit,” Maya explains.

“Essentially it’s indigenous land management, in contrast to exploitative, hierarchical western methods.”

The system underpins many newly-popular approaches to land management, such as regenerative agriculture – with the addition of a core ‘people care’ component.

“It’s about creating systems of abundance that benefit nature and people, then relating those to the world in order to be a positive force for change,” she says.

“It’s looking around and asking, how can I make what’s happening here more regenerative and more beneficial?”

This work begins at a personal level, followed by community. Zoning in to consider environmental issues on a micro-scale can help when global climate change and biodiversity loss issues become too heavy a burden to bear.

“When I look at all of it, it’s super overwhelming,” says Maya.

“But permaculture suggests we use our sense of the whole to inform how we act on a small level.

“I might not be able to burn the whole state down right now, but I can organise in my community, which is the crux of what will lead us towards wider change.”

The book is available now at independent bookshops in Bristol as well as online – photo: Maya Blackwell

Maya suggests we need a system like this now more than ever.

“The context of things now is more alarming and scary, divided and isolated that it was even ten years ago,” she says.

“The book is saying, take a look at what’s happening in the unique hellscape we find ourselves in now – how can we be most useful?”

She’s referring to her practical guide to permaculture, designed as a tool for creating better social and natural environments.

The book’s advice, in a nutshell, is to get stuck in: hands in the soil, connecting with groups actively working to support nature: “There’s so much fear of being inadequate or not showing up right. I think the most important thing is – just try.”

Permaculture can help people to start to organise at a community level, from the ground up, says Maya – photo: Maya Blackwell

Maya’s turned from poetry to prose for the book, although it’s creatively written and anecdotal, with images and exercises to bring the themes to life. She’s a strong believer in the power of creativity.

“Art is the means through which we express our humanity. It’s deeply important,” she enthuses.

“Expressing ourselves is medicinal, it offers release, salvation and respite.

“When we’re throwing ourselves against difficult systems and situations, our humanity needs release and therapy – people need play, laughter and music to sustain them.

“Our real needs boil down to genuine human connection, connection to nature and community empowerment.”

Maya is keen to stress that she’s not coming from a cliché, ‘love everyone’ mentality, but that she’s grounded in realism.

“We’ve also got to work, and deal with the fact that the world is burning, and that we feel useless; and that we can only do so much because we need to feed our families and also try to find slivers of moments of joy,” she accepts.

“So it’s balancing all of that. It’s more about shifting the lens. Accepting we’re not going to win the fight against evil exploitative overlords by using the same set of tools and strategies they use. Seeing regeneration, kindness, compassion as verbs.

“I hope this book offers some helpful practical examples, and contributes to an alternative toolkit to help topple those structures.”

The book, which is part of independent publisher Saraband’s ‘In the moment’ series, includes practical exercises to help personalise and embed learning – photo: Maya Blackwell

Above all, she says, making a difference is about identifying your passion.

“What makes you come alive is what’s important. Taking it into your own hands, and empowering yourself – being like, I have one life, and these hands, and a heart that cares. I matter and I can do something,” says Maya.

“If something looks interesting and important – just get involved.”

Buy a copy of the book at Stanford’s bookshop on Corn Street and Gloucester Road Books or online at saraband.net/product/permaculture/

Find more of Maya’s work at www.instagram.com/mayablackwellpoetry

Main photo: Sam Cavender

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