Urban Parks

#BlackLivesMatter, Book Review, Books, Diversity, Green Economics, Sustainable Living, The Joy Trip Project Reading Circle, Urban Parks, Urban Revitalization / 27.10.2022

Through of the much of the last century, urban neighborhoods populated by Black and brown people, have been defined as places where not to live. Our long history of redlining, deliberate housing discrimination, crime, environmental pollution and benign neglect has systematically made residing in these communities of color undesirable. Success for the brightest and most talented individuals born in these areas is most often expressed by how far their education, talent and hard work can allow them to escape from the sidewalks, streets, shops and storefronts that their...

Breaking News, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Healthy Living, Madison, Running, Uncategorized, Urban Parks / 08.05.2020

On a beautiful spring morning in Madison, Wisconsin a group of citizens gathered in protest. Outraged by the horrific murder of Ahmaud Arbery of Brunswick, Georgia on February 23rd of this year, they came together in solidarity to demand justice. Though they carried no signs nor shouted slogans, their message was clear. Along the pedestrian path on the shores of Lake Wingra they came to exercise a basic human right, to do the very thing for which Arbery was apparently killed: Jogging while Black. Organized by Aaron Perry,...

Adventure Activism, Charitable Giving, Commentary, Environmental Protection, Ice Age Trail, Kids in Nature, Madison, National Forests, National Parks, Outdoors For All, Public Land, The Pathways Project, U.S. Forest Service, Urban Parks, Walking, Wisconsin / 03.06.2019

Much of the joy in my life I owe to the generosity of strangers. The advent of social media has merely expanded my capacity for building relationships with people I hardly know. For as long as I can remember I’ve enjoyed the benefits of an existence vulnerable to the whims of fate. With a vague notion of what the future lay in store, I’ve pretty much trusted in the naive belief that everything will just work out for the best. Many of my adventures have been made possible...

Diversity, Latino Outdoors, Urban Parks / 16.05.2017

[caption id="attachment_2064297" align="aligncenter" width="590"] Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook park aid Jamise Caesar (right) leads a nature hike for Latino Outdoors in Los Angeles[/caption] There are times when my faith in a bright future is renewed. On a recent visit to my childhood home in Los Angeles I had the pleasure of meeting Jamise Caesar, a park aid at the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook. Not only does this wonderful young lady come from my old neighborhood, she is also a fellow graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with a...