She's So Fly
that it almost makes me fly to be on the same blog page as her...
I'm talking about Ms. Bar B., fellow Cal student and mom extraordinaire. I credit her as a key instigator who opened a window into the world of "blogging while black", but most importantly she helped to re-awaken in me what was there all along: a genuine desire to connect people with resources that make a positive difference in their lives. Since starting Outdoor Afro almost a year ago, she has represented a steady stream of encouragement and support; from commenting on my posts (when nobody else would), to catching my embarrassing typos and telling me about them!
So, while she has given me an award on her own blog: A Place of Comfort, I have to say this is one we both share!
Here's back at YOU Ms. Barbara! Thanks for being so wonderful -- even when you don't think anyone is looking!
Outdoor Afro Bike Ride: Wheelin' in the Watershed this Sunday!
PRESS RELEASE
For those who live in the San Francisco Bay Area, join us for an innagural Outdoor Afro Bike Ride, designed for people who have not been on a bike in years!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Richmond BART (with plenty of FREE parking)
10:00 AM for bike inspection
11:00 AM depart
Registration Required: 1-888-EB-PARKS (1-888-327-2757, option 2,3)
This easy flat ride is FREE and co-sponsored by the East Bay Regional Parks and led by the Richmond Spokes crew. We will begin at the Richmond BART and pedal through communities of color along the watershed to the San Francisco Bay. This is a terrific opportunity for people of color to be visible in both urban and natural spaces to inspire others to get out and enjoy the simple pleasure of riding a bike, while learning about the watershed.
Click for Press Release!
Helmets Required. Also bring water, sunscreen, sack lunch, and sunglasses.
For day of event questions, phone: Rue Mapp 510-913-6100
See you then!
Family Fun in the Snow!
Just got a trip report from Outdoor Afro Christyna Serrano, who decided to head to the Tahoe region in California last week for some end-of-season fun in the snow with her family:
So why did you guys decide on a trip to Tahoe?
Well... Joseph, owed me one, so I cashed in my IOU! We went up Thursday night, and it took about 3 hours from the San Francisco Bay. We spent the night at a cheap hotel and in the morning, we went to Kmart, picked up a $15 plastic sled, and then found this place for sledding on Yelp: Adventure Mountain. And it was another $15 dollars to park the car.
A great deal! What was the set-up like?
There were about 10 different runs for sledding varying in size, e.g., S, M, L, and we were on a medium size slope. This was a great deal because sledding at one of the Ski Resorts, e.g., Heavenly, Sierra Ridge, etc., is super expensive!
We spent a couple of hours there sledding, playing with the snow by building a snowman, and throwing some snowballs at each other. Joseph had a great time even though he's never had a desire to head up to the snow. Caelan, obviously, had a blast.
Caelan Sledding in Tahoe 2010 from Christyna Serrano on Vimeo.
He loved it so much that he had put some snow in his sweat shirt pocket. While we were chillin a little later by the lake, I noticed that his sweats were wet. It almost looked like he had peed in his pants. We then noticed that he had tried to save some snow! It was so funny. We had to take it out of his pocket and explain to him that you can't save snow.
What do you recommend to others who might want to take a trek to the mountains?
Now is the perfect time of year to go to Tahoe and get your ski/sled on. It's the end of the season so the crowds were not there, thus making for cheaper lodging; the snow is still there, but the spring time warmth is in the air so that it actually feels hot when your on the slopes; and the area is just absolutely gorgeous at this time of year.
Christyna is a graduate student at UC Berkeley and lives with her son and fiancé Joseph in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Spotted on Sunday - SOS!
Spotted!
While riding my bike with my kids this morning on the San Francisco Bay Trail, I noticed lots of people of color on the trail with the same idea. Some were walking, others taking in the stunning weather and view. On our way back home, I ran into Robin and Kristen, from Oakland, California, who had Kristen's dog along for a stroll. You go girls!
This is the first in a post series entitled Spotted on Sunday or SOS. These posts are a fun way to help make visible people of color outdoors enjoying all types of recreational activities.
Anyone can submit a photo to Outdoor Afro via email, if you first obtain:
- consent to take and share the picture
- name(s) of the individuals -- last names not required
- location and brief description of the activity
I'll select one SOS photo to post each weekend, but all submissions are entered into a monthly drawing to win an Outdoor Afro ceramic travel mug, through July 30, 2010. Winners will be notified via email.
So...join the SOS effort to help make people of color be visible in America's natural spaces and get a chance to win some cool OA swag!
Walking in the Rhythm of Life
I only live a couple of flat miles away from my job at the local Audubon, so with the warm arrival of spring in the Bay Area, I have no good reason not to take the stroll to and from work. Besides, I can definitely use the exercise after enjoying a winter filled with delicious food!
Since walking, the experience has been both delightful and engaging as walking has a way of making contact with outdoor spaces both easy and intimate. I notice and interact with moments and matter I would otherwise miss if whizzing by in an automobile.
In the morning on my way in, I hear Mockingbirds rift on a nearby Sparrow’s song. I observe delivery and municipal trucks stop and start, causing traffic to sway side to side along the busy avenue. Parents tow, push, and prod kids past school yard gates. And each day along my path, I notice the fragrance of new buds blooming.
The return home tells more stories. The aroma of the local Afghan restaurant perfumes the air as its first diners arrive. Mechanics roll down metal doors on another day of repaired clutches. A popular pub kicks off happy hour, and car commuters drive by with a weary determined gaze as the sun aims down toward the horizon.
During these walks I think about how sometimes we make a really big fuss about the outdoors. As though time spent outdoors requires expertise, expensive equipment, or trekking to remote places. Or that the outdoors belongs to some people, but not to others. I have to agree with my friend Carolyn who once mentioned “the outdoors is everywhere,” meaning porch sitters, hikers, mountain climbers, bench warmers, birders, cyclists, neighborhood kids and pedestrians alike, can all equally lay claim to the rhythm of outdoor life. Anywhere there is fresh air.
What are some of the easy ways you interact with the outdoors?
2 Farms in 2 Days: Urban Tilth
My six-year-old son Billy and I recently had the privilege to lend a hand to "raise" a garden at Kennedy High School in Richmond, California. We arrived mid-morning at a southern exposed site nestled near the school’s track. The work area swarmed with students, school staff, parents, and Urban Tilth, the organizing non-profit who produced the day as part of its project, 2 Farms in 2 Days.
The intention behind this weekend event aims to produce real, productive farms that, according the organization's website, “grow food that directly changes the food landscape of the families in the schools of Richmond,” where there are too few options for local residents to find fresh produce -- a common challenge for many urban and underserved communities.
Doria Robinson, the Executive Director of Urban Tilth, and third-generation resident of Richmond, said that it was, “important that these farms be raised by those who represent the community,” and judging from the dozens of young brown faces present that day, her organization succeeded.
Our party wheel barrowed steaming compost, carefully laid railroad ties, edged raised beds of edible native plants with mulch, and planted several half-gallon pots of the venerable purple collard greens.
Adding to the mix of helpers was a goat trimming the nearby grass and some chickens adding value to the soil. For most of the morning and early afternoon it rained, but the entire group worked steadfast and in good humor, serenaded by the beats of the local hip-hop station. Most present knew this event was merely the beginning. These Kennedy High students will learn how to manage the farm and its produce, earning college credit along the way. And most importantly, lay a foundation for a healthier, sustainable community.
To learn more about Urban Tilth and how you can support their efforts to create sustainable foodways, check out their website!
Watch Video Footage
Outdoor Afro Blog Carnival!
Welcome to the Inaugural Edition of the Outdoor Afro Blog Carnival!
Wooo hooo....confetti falls...
It's about the youth...
Brown and Green
Dianne Glave presents Mother, Lumberjack, and Turpentine!? posted at Rooted in the Earth: a companion blog to her forthcoming book Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage coming out in August 2010. She talks about the ambivalent relationship between African Americans and trees, and weaves in her own family history that notes some generational shifts relating to trees and the outdoors:
Getting Outside
Jehan became a fan of the Outdoor Afro Facebook page and I found her blog, and fell in love! Here is her post: A Walk in the Woods posted at "She pulled in her horizon like a great fishnet..." that chronicles the stirrings of love for the outdoors she experienced as a child; feelings that guide her to this day.
Technorati tags: outdoor afro carnival, blog carnival.
Buffalo Soldiers Get Congressional Recognition
Every Moment is Now - Part 2
Here is Part Two of my interview with Audrey Peterman, author, Breaking the Color Barrier Conference Founder and inspirational speaker.
Rue: For some, physical mobility might decline after mid-life. What might you suggest to someone who feels they are not physically able to enjoy a National Park?
Audrey: Mobility declines after mid-life? It’s not a necessity. I was on blog radio this week with a 78 year-old black man who recently competed in two categories in the Senior Olympics. It really vexes me how our culture promotes the idea that you’re “over the hill” when you turn 40, and you can expect your physical attributes to decline.
I think in many cases it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. What if we were visualizing ourselves as the Christ within us, what an inspiring idea that would be. The parks are very accessible for differently-abled people. They are federal properties so of course they have to comply with federal rules. You know the amazing thing? Some of the parks are so huge – Yellowstone is ten times the size of New York City – so you can just drive around in your car all day if you choose, and just gape at the natural wonders if you didn’t have the luxury of getting out and hiking.
Rue: What do you think is the most pressing problem facing our National Parks today, and what partnerships are necessary to solve them?
Almost 50 percent of the American public does not know they exist, therefore, they can’t visit them. Fall in love with the Earth and fall in love with yourself! No matter how negatively you have been programmed, standing before the majesty of the Grand Canyon, you see and feel the truth of your being – that you are a minute, individualized portion of creation, ..”a child of the Universe…like the sun and the stars, you have a right to be here.”
Because people don’t get that experience, they don’t get to see how climate change is affecting the parks, from the rising sea levels eating away at Everglades National Park in Florida to the changing temperatures making it untenable for the 2000-year-old Giant Sequoias to survive in Sequoia National Park, in California. Because people don’t know, they don’t get the urgency to care passionately, and to try to do something about it. The love and care we feel as a result of experiencing them, the searing conviction in our souls, motivates Frank and me to keep on keeping on, keep on spreading the word.
Seeing the relics of the Anasazi Indians from over 10,000 years ago in Bandelier National Park New Mexico, we realize that one day our descendants are going to look back at our culture too. What are they going to think? That we used up everything and condemned them to an inhospitable planet? God knows I don’t want our great-grandchildren to suffer that fate. We know from the conference that there are multiple community based-groups reaching out to the public land managers, and these are the partnerships that need to be formed, strengthened, expanded: the public land managers using our tax dollars to support our organizations on the ground that has the ear and the trust of the community, that knows the needs, and literally, can do the work that is required that the agencies cannot do by themselves.
Rue: Thanks Audrey for sharing with the Outdoor Afro community!
Audrey: You're welcome!
To learn more about Frank and Audrey and their journey to discover the our National Parks, and help them to spread the word to others, show your support by buying their book:
Also, check out her recent interview on a local PBS affiliate
What is your favorite National Park?
Now is the time...
….to register for camp!
Whether it be a family camp, like Oakland’s Feather River Camp in Northern California, or Camp Atwater on the East Coast, there are many opportunities to connect with the outdoors that require you to act now as spaces are already filling up!
Also consider making reservations now for your favorite campsite for tent camping. For example, popular Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s reservation line is red-hot during the winter months that fill the camp solidly after Memorial Day weekend through early Fall.
So call your friends and family members now and organize your calendars to go camping this summer at your local state or national park!
Where will you go camping this year?
Not sure? Find a camp that's right for you!: American Camp Association