ABSTRACT
Nature was truly a sanctuary, a place of refuge, a place for healing wounds. If one has chosen to live mindfully, then choosing a place to die is as vital as choosing where and how to live. Nature was the foundation of the people counterhegemonic black sub-culture. Nature was the place of victory. In the natural environment, everything had its place including humans. Separating black folks, especially black jockeys, from the world of Kentucky horse culture went hand in hand with the rise in white supremacist thinking. Like many writers, especially southerners, who have stayed away from their native place, who live in a state of mental exile, the condition of feeling split was damaging, caused a breaking down of the spirit. All the positive aspects of a culture of belonging that Kentucky offered the people were not present in other places.
