#BlackLivesMatter

#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Books, Capitol Christmas Tree, Choose Outdoors, Diversity, National Forests, National Geographic, National Monuments, National Parks, Unhidden / 03.12.2021

Earlier this week I met for lunch at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington D.C. with my new editor Allyson Johnson from National Geographic. A few weeks ago we finalized the details of a contract for me to write an ambitious new journal that shares the enduring legacy of Black American history as interpreted by the National Park Service. In part inspired by the Negro Motorist Green-Book published by Victor Hugo Green from 1936 through 1966, this project aims to reveal the hidden stories of our common heritage as citizens...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Commentary, Diversity, National Monuments, National Parks, Outdoors For All, Public Land, Yosemite / 04.10.2021

Long before the National Parks were established in 1916, Black Americans men and women worked tirelessly to preserve the public lands that many of us today deem sacred. Though directly engaged as combatants in the Plains Wars that displaced Native Americans for the sake of westward expansion, people of African descent, many of whom toiled under the oppressive yoke of slavery, also cherished the sweeping landscapes and natural settings where we now visit for recreation and solace. That enduring legacy of environmental stewardship continues in the present through...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Climbing, Diversity, Environmental Journalism, Everest, Outside Business Journal, Outside Magazine / 28.08.2021

Almost 60 years after the first successful American ascent of Mount Everest, a team of U.S. climbers aims to make history once again on the world’s highest peak. Led by Phil Henderson, a former instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School and a veteran Himalayan mountaineer, this group, made up of athletes from across the country, aspires to be the first all-Black American expedition to reach the summit. This new project, called the Full Circle Everest Expedition, was announced at the Outdoor Retailer Summer show this August in Denver....

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#BlackLivesMatter, #ORShow, #ORSummer, An American Ascent, Art, Black Lives Matter, Commentary, Diversity, Expedition Denali, Outdoor Retailer, Special Events / 05.08.2021

One Day One of the first annual Big Gear Show in Park City Utah, I had the great privilege of presenting to the outdoor recreation industry a commemorative portrait of Charles Madison Crenchaw, the first Black climber to reach the summit of North America’s tallest mountain, Denali. This original painting by the artist Lamont Joesph White celebrates the enduring legacy of an American mountaineer. On July 9, 1964 Charles Madison Crenchaw ascended to the highest physical point on the continent of North America. Just seven days after the...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Book Review, Books, Diversity, The Joy Trip Project Reading Circle / 24.05.2021

Tomorrow May 25, 2021 marks the one-year anniversary of the day that George Floyd was killed by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Already in the midst of the global Covid-19 Pandemic and an incredibly divisive presidential campaign year, this event ignited a firestorm of moral outrage that spanned the world with public demonstrations and protests. In the spirit of the Black Lives Matter Movement,  many of us took the time to educate ourselves on issues of social justice by reading books written by Black authors or titles that explore...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Adventure Racing, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Magazines, Sierra Club, Sierra Magazine / 11.04.2021

Adventure racer Clifton Lyles assembled his most recent team of action-sport athletes to make history. Given a chance to try out for a spot on World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji—Amazon Prime's 2020 revival of a reality series that broadcast from 1995 to 2002, hosted by Bear Grylls—the former US marine put together Team Onyx, the first all-Black American adventure-racing team. Lyles is one of a growing number of Black men and women making a name for themselves in adventure racing, an adrenaline-fueled sport that pits competitors against one another...

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