I love being outdoors, and my relationship with nature is the backbone to my sense of belonging in this life. My love for the outdoors is also what drives me to seek to learn about and take action to take better care of this planet. This relationship is the foundation of the work I do with Land Heart Song. My hope is that in creating and sharing songs that nurture love for the land, I can support others in nurturing a sense of belonging and love for our planet, and also a sense of responsibility to work towards taking good care of it.
In 2020, when George Floyd was killed by police, my eyes opened and I started listening and learning about racism. I have been learning that I have spent most of my life not knowing that my white privilege gave me opportunity and access to nurture this relationship with the natural world. I didn’t know racism is prevalent in outdoor spaces, and can be a barrier to racialized people having access and a sense of safety in the outdoors.
Elladj Baldé is a Black Canadian figure skater, and in 2021, he was a part of a panel discussion hosted by Demeisha Dennis, founder of Brown Girl Outdoor World, through the Toronto Public Library. I attended the panel discussion and was deeply moved by what Elladj shared of how he has experienced racism as a figure skater. I was also inspired by his current work, where he creates stunning reels where he skates on outdoor lakes in Western Canada (check this out). Inspired by his work, I sat down that winter and wrote “You Belong Here”. I created a song imagining the Black children who are inspired by Elladj stepping onto the ice alongside him.
In 2022, through my work with Child and Nature Alliance of Canada (CNAC), I met fellow facilitator Lukeisha Andrews. Lukeisha is also the creator of Black in Nature, an organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, that offers outdoor programming for Black children and families. One day, we were with a small group of people, and I sang “You Belong Here”. Lukeisha turned to me and said, “Tiiu, our motto at Black in Nature is We Belong Here!”
Lukeisha and I had many conversations that summer and learned a lot together. In the fall, I asked if she might want to collaborate to make a music video for “You Belong Here” that highlights her work with Black in Nature. We wanted to share the conversation we were having about racism in the outdoors, and thought this might be an opportunity to do so. We also reached out to CNAC to support the sharing of this video. The organization was inspired by our work and created an online course called “Anti-Racism in Outdoor Play”. In the fall of 2024, CNAC launched the course, with the music video to “You Belong Here” as a feature of the course.
In my music world, working on “You Belong Here” was a new adventure for producer Joel Schwartz and I. Through COVID-19, Joel and I collaborated for the first time on my album “Songs for Tree”. We did so in isolation from each other, with me tracking vocals in my home studio, and Joel working on instrumentation and production in his studio. With “You Belong Here”, we finally had the opportunity to meet in person, as we were through the isolating times of COVID-19, and I travelled into Toronto to his studio to record vocals with him.
As a white first generation Canadian, singing the words ‘you belong here’ doesn’t always sit comfortably with me. A lot of harm has come to the land currently known as Canada, to the First Peoples of this land, to Black people and to People of Colour by white people asserting their power and authority through colonization and white supremacy. Part of colonization has been about severing all of us from our relationship with the natural world, turning everything into resources to serve capitalist systems. When I sing, “you belong here,” it is not about me asserting power and authority to say who belongs and who doesn’t. It’s about me hoping to connect us all to our inherent belonging on this planet, so that in turn we might take better care of this planet and each other.
Since I’ve started sharing “You Belong Here”, I have learned that the song resonates. We are in an age where we are all grappling with systems that have severed our relationships with the land and with each other. Many of us struggle with a sense of belonging, and this song seems to offer peace and belonging in some small way. I hope this tune will support listeners in turning towards their relationship with nature to feel their belonging and feel loved. I hope this song will also support people in sharing stories about belonging in the outdoors, that we can come together and work to create a world of brave outdoor spaces where all children have the opportunity to build a loving relationship with nature.
Thanks for being here and taking the time to read these words.
Warmly,
Tiiu
Land Heart Song 