Diversity

Adventure Media Review, Diversity, Expedition Denali, Guest Contributor, National Parks / 12.03.2012

“Artists have gone with us into the Arctic and I have heard them rave over the wonderful beauties of the scene, and I have seen them at work trying to reproduce some of it, with good results but with nothing like the effect of the original…”it is color run riot”’   ----from A Black Explorer at the North Pole, pg. 67, by Matthew A. Henson   African Americans have been explorers and adventurers from the very beginnings of our republic.  People of African descent accompanied many of the earliest Spanish explorers including...

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Adventure Media Review, Climbing, Commentary, Diversity, Expedition Denali / 07.03.2012

[caption id="attachment_6951" align="aligncenter" width="541"] Cheleas Griffie on Separate Reality, Yosemite Valley (photo by Greg Epperson)[/caption] When it comes to diversity in outdoor recreation it seems there are simply those who don’t care. After 400 years of racial strife and oppression throughout American history I’m sure we’d all like to put it behind us. In fact most of us likely spend time outside to get away from all the socially charged bickering back and forth between one ethnic group or another. I get that. But please, don’t tell me, a...

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Climbing, Diversity, Expedition Denali, Expedition News / 24.02.2012

[caption id="attachment_6921" align="alignleft" width="300"] NOLS Denali Expedition participants Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Chelesea Griffie, Philip Henderson, James Mills & Stephen Shobe[/caption] For the first time a team of African-American climbers is assembling to make a bid for the summit of the tallest peak in North America, Mount Denali. To be lead by the National Outdoor Leadership School in 2013 this expedition aims to encourage minority youth to enjoy outdoor recreation as part of an active lifestyle as well as create a cadre of role models for careers in environmental protection. Also known...

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Adventure Media Review, Art, Climbing, Commentary, Diversity / 07.02.2012

I believe in symbols. The Endless Knot is a captivating image that illustrates a guiding principle of the Joy Trip Project. Everything is connected and united into a dynamic whole of infinite possibilities. As an expression of art I hope to share my vision of the Endless Knot to raise funding for an upcoming project. I’ve been invited to take part in a historic climb to put the first all-African-American team on the summit of Mount Denali. As one of the few people of color working in the outdoor...

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#ORSummer, Business, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Gear Whore Confessions, Outdoor Retailer, Summer / 15.08.2011

I spent more than a week trying to get Chris Keyes to return my calls. So when the senior editor at Outside Magazine reached out to shake my hand during the breakfast meeting of the Conservation Alliance I was naturally thrilled. It’s at these events during the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market when the distance between professional relationships shrinks and contact can be made face to face. But the depth and strength of any relationship should never be taken for granted. And as I discovered it’s usually best to truly connect with a person before you try to game an exchange of business cards into something more than the meeting of two people.
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Book Review, Diversity, Environmental Justice, Sierra Club / 11.08.2011

From Emancipation Day through the first decade of the 20th century, Gloryland spans the arch of freedom. In his premiere novel veteran National Park Service ranger Shelton Johnson chronicles the path of an African-American man born mere hours after the abolition of slavery at the end of the Civil War. Narrated by lead character Elijah Yancy the story unfolds in the years that follow to track his life’s course to become empowered by the liberty to be found in service to his country and communion with nature. Fleeing the...

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