Fred Tutman & Rabiah Nur
Patuxent Riverkeeper | Medicine Woman
Fred Tutman is a grassroots community advocate for clean water in Maryland’s longest and deepest intrastate waterway and holds the title of Patuxent Riverkeeper, which is also the name of a non-profit organization that he founded in 2004. Grandmother Rabiah, has worked for more than 50 years to educate the public about the need to work together. We explore their integral efforts, worldviews, and diverse experiences in this thought-provoking conversation.
More About Fred
Prior to Riverkeeping, Fred spent over 25 years working as a media producer and consultant on telecommunications assignments on four continents, including a stint covering the Falkland War in Argentina for the BBC; managing a Ford Foundation funded project to help African traditional healers tell their stories to the world; and nine years of intensive media productions for with Fire and Emergency Management organizations. Fred has won several awards for both radio and television production writing and production (Telly, Cine Golden Eagle, Aurora, Emmy etc).
Fred has taught courses in Environmental Law and Policy at Historic St. Mary’s College of Maryland; and Goddard College in Plainfield, Vt. He splits his time between Maryland and North Carolina where he maintains busy Blacksmith forges in both places. He is the recipient of numerous regional and State awards for his various environmental works, is the longest serving Waterkeeper in the Chesapeake Bay region, and the only African-American Waterkeeper in the nation. He lives and works on an active farm located near the Patuxent River that has been his family’s ancestral home for nearly a century.
Website: fredtutman.com
Email: fred@paxriverkeeper.org
More about Grandmother Rabiah
Grandmother Rabiah is a medicine woman whose mixed Indigenous roots, (non-enrolled member of any tribe), frame her work. She is a ceremonialist, author, healer, seer, who teaches energetically connecting with all things, plants, trees, animals etc. She helps to integrate the energy of the Divine Mother through walking a path of gratitude, and love.
We are not separate nor more valuable than anything else on the Earth. She is sentient and aware.
To honor Her means to respect Her being and all the parts of her.
Instagram: @springoflight30
Facebook.com/springoflight
Website: springoflight.me
Email: springof30@gmail.com
Her daughter Ayisah's links
Grandmother Rabiah wants you to know the spirit of these grandmother knowledge keepers:
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard who made the initial call out for Standing Rock water protectors
Two Old Women: An Alaska Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis, an enlightening saga about age, worth and the triumph of the spirit of women.
References
“One of my favorite pictures shows dandelions growing on top of a rock — they figured out a way to thrive.
This important lesson is that life is the rule, not the exception. As human beings, we're a part of that continuum, part of that cycle. We're connected to all life and life is pretty much everywhere.” — Fred Tutman
*Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash
“Between Water and Wind: A Conversation with Riverkeeper Fred Tutman,” Conservation Law Foundation, FEBRUARY 24, 2023
“Town Salute: Rabiah Nur,” What’s Up Media, MAR. 05, 2021
Native Son | Fred Tutman, Patuxent Riverkeeper
“Finding Your Spiritual Connection to Mother Nature,” Breaking Green Ceilings podcast with Rabiah
Madame Fatou Seck: Senegalese healer
Mentioned childrens’ books:
“The Great Arizona Water Grab,” Reveal - The Center for Investigative Reporting
Article about Monica's intervention to stop violence at her concert
The Black Belt Justice Center (BBJC) - a legal and advocacy nonprofit organization that serves African American farmers, landowners, and communities
Acres of Ancestry Initiative/Black Agrarian Fund - a multidisciplinary, cooperative ecosystem rooted in Black ecocultural traditions and textile arts to regenerate custodial landownership, ecological stewardship, and food and fiber economies in the South
The Proven Sustainable™ Conversation Series is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Transformative Action, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization. Any funding directed towards the Conversation Series will go towards production efforts to ensure the the recorded discussions are diligently captured and meaningfully distributed. This Conversation Series and website are not-for-profit and created with the intent of channeling support directly to the Peoples represented.