Great Books as Holiday Stocking Stuffers!
I have to disclose up front that I am pretty biased about these three book recommendations because I am privileged to know each of the authors as partners through the development of Outdoor Afro and our shared passion for people of color and the outdoors. But aside from my excitement and gratitude for these folks, they have each produced some pretty extraordinary work well worth buying for your loved ones this holiday season.
~*~*~
As many of you know, Frank and Audrey Peterman have been at the forefront of outdoor conservation and advocates for greater diversity in our National Parks. Their recent ground breaking conference energized and organized a constituency that supports more people of color to get out and enjoy our natural resources. The work of this couple, and their enlightening book, Legacy on the Land, will inspire you.
$19.95 USD - Click to Purchase!
Shelton Johnson has been with the National Parks as a ranger for decades, but his recent appearance in the Ken Burns Documentary and recent meeting with President Obama, brought his role as a conduit of historical Yosemite's Buffalo Soldier to new audiences. His book, Glory Land, is a beautifully written historical narrative that's fun to read aloud.
I blogged about Dudley Edmondson some months back, and since then we became good friends. But every now and then someone will come up to me with a copy of his book The Black & Brown Faces in America's Wild Places and ask, "have you seen this before?" Well, indeed I have! And it enjoys a prominent spot on my coffee table so my guests and kids can look at amazing photos of people of color in wild spaces whenever they want.
Three different books about similar passions to engage everyone in your family. Can't decide? Go to your local, independent book store and buy them all!
Matthew Reese: Snowboarder
Matthew Reese of Seattle, Washington might have gone his entire life without laying a foot on a snowboard. In a recent phone interview, Reese said he used to think: black people don’t ski, snow is too cold, and snow sports conflict with basketball season! But earlier this year, at age 30, his snowboarding co-workers finally convinced him to trek up to the slopes with them on a trip that changed his perspective regarding what was possible through the experience of snowboarding.
As a long time athlete, he felt confident he could take on a challenging run his first time out, but the mountain humbled him. Reese frankly calls that first time as “pretty horrible” and he even called it quits early in the day to tend to his battered limbs. However Reese was undeterred by the initial bruises, and was determined to try again a couple weeks later with an Urban League group for a Valentine’s Day event. The trip had a good mix people with varying skill levels and was where he found his snow groove that launched a new obsession for the rush, challenge, and excitement of snowboarding.
As an African-American male, I asked if he ever felt discriminated against while participating in the sport: “not at all,” says Reese. He finds that snowboarders are passionate about the sport and welcoming to anyone who feels the same way. The slopes are a great equalizer, however he does admit that it’s hard to be taken seriously in the board stores. Reese humorously recalls shop visits where employees learn after he starts talking, how knowledgeable he is about the sport and quickly change their customer service tune!
Reese is not playing around when it comes to snowboarding -- in just this year, he has traveled to five different mountains and now skis every weekend. A favorite is his local Stevens Pass, but he also enjoys traveling to surrounding states to experience new challenges. For Reese, snowboarding has opened up a whole new path of fun, travel, and networking and he hopes others give snow sports a try as one way to discover new things about themselves, and the world around them.
Matthew Reese’s tips for Outdoor Afros who want to get started snowboarding:
- If you are not certain about the sport, renting gear initially is fine
- As soon as you know you want to continue with the sport, buy your gear as you’ll save money over time
- It may be a big initial investment, but if you shop around, you’ll find many deals
Still not convinced black people and the snow mix? Do you have other ideas and tips to share? Comment about it!
Reconnecting at Mammoth Caves
The Tennessee Aquatic Project is a youth organization that engages at-risk and inner city youth with a wide range of outdoor and civic activities to enhance personal development.
After meeting up at the Breaking the Color Barrier Conference last September, Ken Stewart of the Tennessee Aquatic Project (TAP) and Jerry Bransford, a Mammoth Cave National Park guide, decided to join forces and send over sixty youth on a trek up to the Caves. The youth were able to hear first hand the intriguing story of Bransford's slave ancestors who were important contributors to the cave site.
“African Americans played a vital role in the development of cave tour routes and the visitor experience throughout the 19th and early 20th century. The first black guides were slaves, and through their efforts opened up the golden age of cave exploration for Mammoth Cave” (NPS website) The TAP youth camped out the rest of the weekend, enjoying outdoor activities led by Stewart during the day, and joined by Jerry Bransford in the evenings to hear more about his family history at the caves.
Learn more:
Tennessee Aquatic Project
Black History at Mammoth Cave National Park:
It All Comes Out in the Wash
I was going to write about sustainable landscaping – and I still will, but something else came up:
The Laundry.
Washing clothes is actually my least favorite chore right along with mopping the floor, taking out dripping trash, and investigating that “noise” in the middle of the night. Thus, I view the laundry task through a ‘necessary evil’ lens. But I like when it’s done. The problem is, it’s never done! I think I handle laundry fairly well for a household of four, but every time I get the last bit folded and put away on a Sunday night, the basket is already nearly half full with a new load, which is a real buzz kill.
Can’t you tell I could use some excitement in the laundry department?
So imagine my delight to stumble upon some countryfied laundry soap, made with old-school attitude by a sustainable minded sister from Los Angeles. And before you go glossy eyed on me: No, this is not an ad…in fact, she doesn’t even know how sprung I am on her mission. Yet.
I actually heard about Renee Gunter and her sustainable landscaping and water saving from Outdoor Afro community member, birder, and backyard innovator Cindy Hopkins, but when I dug deeper, I found her Old School Brand blog, which is an adventure that takes us back to the days before the soap opera of TIDE improvements to a place I had completely forgotten existed. I admit that I had long ago bought into the jingle's message that "Tide gets it clean", but lately I have wondered to myself: at what cost?
Laundry might have taken all day in the basement, or in the backyard back in “Big Mama's” youth because of the contemporary technology and orthodox methods needed to produce no less than perfectly starched, white collars. But in spite of the toil, it was sustainably done without health and environmental consequences.
How did our grandmothers produce sparkling laundry without chemicals leeching into our water systems? Or without irritating delicate skin? I have a hunch Ms. Gunter has captured their solution in her soap. She makes the soap in small batches with kind ingredients for use with the modern convenience of a machine.
After reading her blog, I have to admit I felt like a laundry wimp who has conveniently avoided the real deal of laundry duty experienced by the women of my heritage. Her blog chronicles the presence and skill of African American women in the activity of cleaning laundry, and hanging it to dry outside, with some gorgeous historic photos. She writes about the matriarchs of her family, all of whom were maids who migrated from Arkansas to the Los Angeles area, and recalls sitting and watching the meticulous cleaning her mom and aunts did for wealthy whites that relied more on skills and sweat equity than on products.
So to gain some laundry cred, I am ordering Old School Brand soap this week! And when I get it, maybe I’ll go a bit further to save quarters, reduce my household footprint on the environment, and let the unmentionables hang outdoors for the sun to bleach, and all the neighbors to see, as one more way to help make the world healthier.
For more information: Old School Laundry Soap
Click Picture to Order
Outdoor Afro Halloween!
Some folks my age think Halloween is radically different now than when we were kids, but it really isn’t. Kids still love and anticipate dressing up, getting a ton of free candy, and a sanctioned roam of the streets after nightfall. For me and my friends, it’s one of those childhood activities that keep evolving over time, with more elaborate parties to attend and more decadent costumes to fuss over as adults.
As a child, I actually don't recall my parents ever dressing up, maybe it was a generational thing, or the fact they were Christians from the South, but every Halloween, I got dressed up as one thing or another. My earliest memories include donning my mom’s frosted wig that magically transformed me into a witch, then being led by my big sister’s hand from door to door. Later, in the early 80’s, Star Wars characters dominated the scene, and me and my girlfriends were Princess Leah at least once.
My childhood neighborhood on Halloween had knots of roving children, with nearly every home participating in the candy giving. But in recent years, especially in certain areas, the joi de verve of Halloween has long gone as kids have grown up and moved away from those 80's neighborhoods. The adults who remain, hurry home from work and dim the lights – the universal signal of “don’t even think about knocking at my door” and others, like the Johnson family who just moved into a lovely East Oakland home in an older nieghborhood, are disappointed that costumed children don't come knocking, in spite of overflowing bowls of candy near the door. Reminiscing on last year, Lisa Johnson said, “We were pretty surprised that not even one child stopped by.”
So this Halloween, Outdoor Afro challenges you to create a Halloween or Harvest Festival friendly block! Yes, in some areas safety issues are real. But while you might not be able to change your entire city for one day, you can influence your neighbors. Start by making sure that every child and grandchild on your block knows in advance your home is open for candy business with simple decorations, or by turning your house lights ON. If you have kids or grandkids, take them to each home on your block. Alternately, partner with a favorite neighbor to make a spooky/kooky yard, or an impromptu party for both kids and adults.
If your neighborhood is not Halloween ready this year, then check out what some of the local churches, parks, and community centers are doing. The YMCA , zoo, or local congregation will certainly have a program to engage your whole family. The bottom line: don’t allow adult jadedness or fear to rob the joy of Halloween from kids. And who knows, you might even end up having some fun with the little goblins too!
What does your neighborhood do during Halloween? Leave a comment below!
Trick or treat!
Etiquette Tips For Camping with Friends and Family
You can’t change your friends and family, but you can change the way you camp with them. Some moderate planning can make a big difference in your camping experience together. Here are some tips to help you get the most out of your camping trips with loved ones:
Shared Space
In some areas, the outdoors still has boundaries, and it’s important to honor both the environment and neighboring campers. If you are planning to visit a drive-up or RV campground, make sure you have reserved a site that can accommodate your entire group plus equipment, to avoid encroaching on neighboring sites. It’s also nice to offer neighbors a hand with tents or with getting a campfire lit. Good stewards leave no trace of trash, but leaving a bit of firewood for the next group in your spot is always a welcomed gesture.
Food
Plan your meals together at home and share the shopping tasks so there are no surprises. Meat eaters might eat vegetarian fare, but don’t expect your vegetarian friends and family members to eat the steak and bacon you brought, even if it is free range and hormone free! Decide on meal plans that accommodate everyone.
Kids
If you have kids, and are planning to camp with folks without children, discuss logistics, such as the possibility of hands-on help with recreation or watching over little ones. If everyone is bringing little ones, get a watch routine together, so all the adults can plan for breaks in the action.
Music
If your camping mates are all persons of color, don’t assume folks want to hear Li'l Wayne on blast all weekend. Bring acoustic instruments, like a hand drum or guitar that can be enjoyable and easy to play, even if you are not an expert. Singing or telling stories, while gathered around a campfire is classic, and timeless.
Booze/Drinks
Some drink, others don’t; some like Bud Light, others like Grey Goose. Discuss and get clear regarding alcohol consumption preferences, and know your campground policy on alcohol in advance (see Nancy's comment below!).
Above all…just chill
Camping trips are a time to let go, and go with the flow. You might stay up 'til the wee hours to stargaze; your kids might eat a ton of s’mores, and all of you might laugh louder than you ever would at home after a long day at work. Enjoy it all! The best part of my own camping plan is to leave the city constraints behind and have fun!
What are some of your tips and experiences when camping with friends and family?
Meet National Park Ranger Marty Smith
Just for a moment, close your eyes and conjure up an image of a park ranger...got it? What picture comes to mind? For some, an immediate image is the no-nonsense Ranger Smith, the nemesis of Yogi Bear. But there is nothing at all fictional about Ranger Marty Smith, Park Ranger of the Martin Luther King National Historic Site.
Smith, a Detroit native, visited national parks occasionally with his family, but never imagined he would grow up to become a steward of one. But fate stepped in when a college professor told him about opportunities with the National Park Service, and he hasn’t looked back in two decades of service. On a recent trip to Atlanta for a conference, my group was fortunate to have Ranger Smith as a tour guide at the King Site. His knowledge about the details of Dr. King’s boyhood was a perspective not usually shared in textbooks. “King did not just emerge from a vacuum,” Ranger Smith said. In his tour of the King childhood home, he told stories about the day-to-day life of the King family home, now restored with many original furnishings, and of the neighboring homes to show how solid family and community support nurtured Dr. King to become the visionary leader for which he is remembered.
Not exclusive to the wilderness or rough terrain, National Historic Sites fall under the domain of the U.S. Park Service, and can be found anywhere, including urban centers, like the King site, which is comprised of both renovated historic and recently built structures and monuments. Located within a couple blocks of each other is the King childhood home, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the Visitor Center. These areas, and the surrounding monuments are federally protected, and make up the site tour that conveys the magnitude of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
According to Smith, the Park System has also acquired more neighboring homes over the years, each now in various stages of restoration, with plans to recreate the look and feel of the neighborhood as it existed during King’s early life. Dr. King is actually buried at the neighboring King Center, which is within the park area, and founded by the late Coretta Scott-King after her husband’s assassination.
Ranger Smith is glad to share the message of Dr. King’s legacy with people from all walks of life. “Everyone comes here,” he says, “from dignitaries to celebrities to everyday people.” And Ranger Smith takes pride that the park tours are helping add greater depth and awareness that extends beyond what is commonly understood about Dr. King. He especially enjoys helping youth get involved with the site through the Youth Conservation Corps. Overall, he hopes visitors leave his tours understanding the elements that helped to develop King: a strong family, solid community, and a spiritual foundation, then take these values back home to nurture youth as torch bearers and leaders of the future.
Want to learn more? Visit the Martin Luther King Historic Page
Carolina Chocolate Drops "Cornbread and Butterbeans"
Okay...I consistently hear black folks say they don't like country music, but this modern-hip trio just might make you rethink your position! I know, a music post might seem slightly off topic at first glance, but this song, and many others like it, actually refer to a relationship African-Americans had with the land that was also connected to the ways we related to our food, and ultimately to one another.
"...ride the mule and 'cut the fool' and love begin' all over..."
Enjoy!
Thanks Obafemi Origunwa for passing on the link!
It's About the Youth
Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors
Day 2
The second day of the conference swelled with more people and energy. The morning speakers each powerfully conveyed forward looking messages of sustainability for organizations, family heritage, and the environment, through narratives about personal and generational ties to the land. Some highlights include:
Ranger Jerry Bransford, a 60-year-old guide at Mammoth Caves, discussed his family legacy at the site, which is now a National Park. His family members have been tour guides since before the Civil War. He is the great-great-grandson of Mat Bransford, the original Mammoth Cave guide and slave.
Bill Gwaltney, a D.C. native who now works for the National Park Service, spoke eloquently in vintage Calvary uniform of his awakening and awareness of African American soldiers and pioneers of the West, as told to him by his grandfather when he was a child. He said that those conversations with his grandfather ignited a desire to learn and share with others the African American Civil War heritage.
Robert George Stanton was the first African American to serve as director of the National Park Service. His accomplishment and endurance to break through a past of Jim Crow to a cabinet position was an inspiration for us all.
At the break, Dudley Edmondson and I caught up with Dr. Carolyn Finney of UC Berkeley:
Sailor-author-adventurer Bill Pinkney, the first Black man to sail solo around the world via Cape Horn, was a delightful lunchtime speaker who conveyed both humor and wisdom as he shared what he learned about life on the high seas.
I also had a chance to chat with Atlanta’s own Angelou Enzielo about her program, Greening Youth Foundation.
Dr. J. Drew Lanham, a professor at Clemson University and his Grad Student Marla Hamilton, chimed in during the afternoon break, representing a new generation of outdoor pioneers and educators.
Later in the day, I had the opportunity to facilitate a discussion on Adventuring, and its benefits through outdoor programs. Attendees representing various groups and agencies took the opportunity to candidly discuss outdoor diversity in a forum of peers, and related some of their organizational and regional challenges around reaching out to broader communities. One of the speakers, a National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Base Manager Phil Henderson, told how he experienced outdoor adventuring for the first time later in life, and believes the outdoors is great for young adults also, who might discover new outlets to make a difference for themselves and their communities.
If there was one message that rang out from virtually every talk I heard, it was the need for youth to plug in for both their sustainability and as torch bearers for the future. The conference itself underscored the value of youth by including children, such as the Girl Scouts and several young adults from the local colleges as presenters and conference workers. But it was Juan Martinez, a young Latino male and newly appointed coordinator for the Natural Leaders initiative of the Children & Nature Network who brought it home in his talk how easy it is to make a difference in the life of a youth. He described his own life-changing youth trip outside his native Los Angeles city lights that allowed him to actually see stars in the night sky for the first time -- stars that pointed Juan to his future of advocacy for diverse youth participation the outdoors.
Video shot by Dudley Edmondson
It's a Family Reunion!
I am still trying to wrap my mind around all that I saw and experienced in Atlanta these past few days at the Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors Conference. To distill everything into a few lines would be impossible. Because several Outdoor Afro readers were unable to make the event, over the next few days I'll share my experiences at the conference in words, photos, and video in three parts to convey highlights of this momentous event. Special thanks to Dudley Edmondson for partnering with me on this blog series.
Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors
Day 1
Arriving in ATL, connecting with room mate Chelsea Griffie, and registering in the hospitality suite at the Airport Hilton was a breeze. I marveled at the fact that this was the first conference of its kind, and amazingly produced in a mere five months! During the opening ceremonies, I milled about the conference area among the scores of colorful faces, represented agencies and organizations, and thought, “This is what it’s all about: Everyone at the table.”
The opening ceremony and reception was moderated by the lovely Julia Yarbough, an Emmy Award winning journalist from Florida, who has recently turned the corner from a successful career in broadcasting to devote her life to adventuring.
After planning and communicating with Audrey Peterman for the past several months by phone and email, meeting her in person for the first time was a blast. I don’t care how many photos or interviews you see of this woman, meeting her is to experience infectious enthusiasm and social charm that easily connects and motivates people.
Together with her husband Frank, who shamelessly adores her, Audrey has formed friendships and partnerships with people from all over the country that made this conference possible. But the two remain humble. In their opening comments of the evening, Frank and Audrey kept reminding the group that they are mere reflections of those in the room and took the time to acknowledge the small army of people who helped plan the conference. They encouraged attendees to take what is learned from the conference back to our constituencies to make a difference.
I also had the chance to meet and be interviewed by the social media savvy Queen Quet, Chieftess and Head of State of the Gullah Geeche Nation, who mesmerized the opening ceremony crowd with her melodic singing, dancing, and invocation of Gullah heritage and history of its lands and people.
David Vela, Southeast Regional Director of the National Parks gave a warm welcome address. And we were all excited to meet the Roberts Family, a stunning Florida couple and their five children who were chronicled in a video called "Into the Wild", which shows the family camping their very first time in the Florida Everglades! We were all inspired by how this African-American family was positively transformed and have become camping advocates as a result of their experience -- proof positive of what is possible for more families of color.
I also got to meet author and photographer Dudley Edmondson in person for the first time, even though we have been digitally collaborating with each other for months!
Dudley and fellow blogger James Mills of the Joy Trip Project, captured much of the conference and interviews on film and the three of us brainstormed ideas about how best to use our respective tools to authentically connect to broader audiences.
Local environmental pioneers, such as Girl Scout Leader Evonne Blythers and Angelou Ezielo of Greening Youth Foundation were a treat to meet finally– these women are each doing a stellar job in the Atlanta area with youth. Falconer Darryl Perkins and his fiance were also on the scene and Darryl was my official "partner in Tweet" (#BREAKCB) for the event!
Overall, the first day felt more like a family reunion than a conference because of the common bonds between the conference participants and organizers, many of whom had never met in person. At the end of the day, no matter what we looked like, or what organization we represented, it was clear we were all there to rally around the purpose of diverse participation in America’s Great Outdoors, and the first evening of the conference ended on a note of high energy and anticipation for the next day’s agenda.
Stay tuned for Part II, Day 2