Reshaping Black Hoosiers’ relationship with water

Teigha VanHester grew up surfing in Southern California. For her entire life, she has had a deep connection to water, to the extent that when she moved to landlocked Indiana, one of the requirements for her home was a pool. This close relationship has made water a second home and the basis for what could become part of VanHester’s life’s work.& Now, VanHester is a “disruptive and intellectual scholar” who has received a Ph.D. in English Studies and is an assistant professor of race, gender and sexuality studies at Butler University in Indianapolis. VanHester is currently researching the relationship between Black Hoosiers and water and how the relationship has been negatively impacted by legislation and urban planning within the city.& VanHester is looking to clarify why Black Hoosiers may have a negative relationship with water and enable them to take back ownership of that relationship and use water as a place for pleasure instead of discomfort. “There’s this really tumultuous connection I think that Black people have with water that’s steeped in fear, and so I wanted to think, how can we reclaim it?” VanHester said. For Indianapolis, VanHester will look closer at places in the city that played a...