“One of the things we tend to do culturally, the framework is to separate humans from the earth and to see them as two separate entities, rather then seeing that as an interconnected relationship..”
My experience with Memona is that she is all about challenging that feeling of separateness and working towards restoring and remediating that disconnect between the sacred Earth and us humans who may have forgotten it. She has described Ecopsychology in the past as “the area of study that explores the connective, holistic relationship between humans and the Earth,” and her passion really drives that home, albeit in a very open way, often allowing the land to lead in that remembering and reconciling.
Memona Hossain is a mother, community activist, Muslim, woman, and a PhD candidate who cares deeply for the Earth and all the varied human and more-than-human communities which share this collective home. I would call her powerful, quick and someone with a profoundly holistic view of the world who seeks to know other the worldviews of other communities.
I feel like this interview is just a launch pad for more conversations I would like to have with Memona. I think she would be a great person to talk with on the harm in our work, and the building of better relationships with indigenous folks, and hopefully that will happen soon.
To learn more :
Memona Hossain’s twitter account
Toronto Star opinion piece
How To Draw A Tree.ca
Interview with Dawn Matheson