Reduce, reuse, and recycle is not a new concept. Many Black Americans have been doing this out of necessity for years. In addition to learning how to use limited resources creatively and imaginatively, Blacks learned to survive on simplicity--a lesson in living "green" for those who had no other choice. Karla Cooper explores the survival strategies of Black Americans through her own family's history in rural southern Missouri.Cooper is an African Methodist Episcopal itinerant elder with dual standing in the United Church of Christ. She serves as an adjunct professor at Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, and is pastor of Quinn Chapel in Lincoln, Nebraska. Cooper has a BA from Southeast Missouri State, a MDiv from Eden Theological Seminary, and is pursuing a PhD from the University of Nebrask-Lincoln. She has traveled extensively throughout Africa and India.