Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Interview, National Monuments, National Parks, The Joy Trip Reading Project, Unhidden / 28.08.2023

A few minutes before our online discussion, National Park Ranger (Retired) Betty Reid Soskin and I spent some time getting reacquainted. She was to be a guest on The Joy Trip Reading Project to talk about her memoir “Sign My Name To Freedom”. After her daughter Di’Ara got her settled in front of her computer, we smoothed out a few minor technical difficulties with our Zoom connection. We then chatted amiably as one by one the attendees populated the waiting room....

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Destinations, Diversity, Essays, Outdoor Recreation, Private Land, Travel, Unhidden / 31.07.2023

There is such a thing as coincidence. But it is only when overlapping events are put into their proper context that we can draw substantive meaning from otherwise random occurrences that happen simultaneously. I was recently asked to give a lecture on the campus of the Bay View Association in Petoskey, Michigan. Under an endowment established in the memory of Donald B. Loyd, a 4th generation resident of this resort community just south of the Upper Peninsula, I was invited to share my work on making outdoor recreation...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Appalachian Trail, Black Lives Matter, Continental Divide Trail, Diversity, Hiking, Interview, Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Retailer, Pacific Crest Trail, Walking / 26.06.2023

Having served in the United States Army through the Iraq War, Will “Akuna” Robinson suffered from severe bodily injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. When he returned home in 2003 after a tour of duty in Al Asda near the Syrian border, he found civilian life challenging and was full of despair. As he struggled through physical and occupational therapy, trying to manage chronic pain, he self-medicated with drugs and alcohol to make it through each day. Thankfully, he found support where he was raised in Southeastern Louisiana near...

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Black Lives Matter, Books, Diversity, The Joy Trip Reading Project, Urban Agriculture / 28.04.2023

On Thursday April 27, 2023, at 5PM Central Time The Joy Trip Reading Project was honored to host an online discussion with Leah Penniman, author of "Black Earth Wisdom ~ Soulful Conversations with Black Environmentalists" Leah is a Black Kreyol farmer, mother, soil nerd, author, and food justice activist from Soul Fire Farm in Grafton, NY. She co-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010 with the mission to end racism in the food system and reclaim our ancestral connection to land. As Co-ED and Farm Director, Leah is part of a...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Buffalo Soldiers, Diversity, National Parks, Podcast, Public Land, Yellowstone / 18.04.2023

For those of us who really love bicycles, I think what we enjoy most is the sense of freedom we get from travel on the open road under our own power. This mechanical device allows us to engage both our minds and bodies to pedal long distances on just two wheels so that we can explore the landscape of the modern world. But through our journeys over lightly trafficked rural roads, as we roll past obscure old towns and villages, we can also reveal the compelling memories of...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Essays, National Monuments, National Parks, Outdoor Recreation / 10.04.2023

On April 3, 2023, the National Park Service formally announced two groundbreaking reports that detail the history and progress of equitable access to public land from 1916 to 1965. Spanning the time from the creation of the NPS through the height of the Civil Rights movement, these studies offer great insight into the “tragedy and resilience of Black recreation”. https://www.nps.gov/orgs/1207/national-park-service-publishes-two-historical-studies-surfacing-tragedy-and-resilience-in-black-recreation.htm As I’m pouring though these remarkable documents on this beautiful Easter Sunday Morning, I was reminded by historian Christina Pronenza Coles that on this day, April 9, 1939, contralto Marian...

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