Diversity Tag

Book Tour, Commentary, Kids in Nature, Outdoor Recreation, The Adventure Gap / 14.03.2016

In May of 2014 I received a private message via Facebook. It was the summer after Expedition Denali and I was in the final stages of writing the book that would become The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors. Stories of the first African-American climbing team to attempt a summit of Denali, the highest peak in North America, had been widely reported in the news. And many of the climbers upon their safe return home had begun a national speaking tour in the hopes inspiring, in...

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#ORShow, #ORSummer, Commentary, Diversity / 10.08.2015

On the last day of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market I received a message on Facebook. Walking briskly down one of bustling aisles of the Salt Palace I paused for a moment to read this text. “Anything interesting come out of the diversity conversation?” The question came from my friend and colleague Teresa Baker, founder of the African-American National Parks Event and an advocate for bringing more people of color into the world of outdoor recreation and environmental conservation. Without breaking stride I rattled off a quick reply. “Only that smart...

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Diversity, High Country News, Magazines, National Parks, Yosemite / 27.05.2015

Several miles past the west entrance of Yosemite National Park, a wooden sign marks the location of an historic meeting. On May 17, 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt sat by a campfire with naturalist John Muir to discuss the preservation of America’s wild lands. Along the banks of the Merced River, near the steep granite cliffs of Half Dome and El Capitan, they talked about the creation of what would become the National Park System. One hundred and twelve years later to the day, an eclectic group of conservation professionals gathered...

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Commentary, Diversity / 13.05.2015

An awkward silence quickly grew to fill an interminable moment of sheer agony. The thunderous clicks of my own eyelids boomed in my ears as I stood there blinking back at her. There in the crowded lounge amongst the sounds of clinking glasses and casual conversation I sighed quietly in frustration. Through clinched teeth I forced a smile and searched my mind for a politic answer to her question. As the seconds ticked past without a reply it’s possible she thought I hadn’t heard her. She asked again,...

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Adventure Activism, Business, Diversity, Outdoor Recreation / 28.08.2014

In a Washington, DC hotel room I resigned myself to the image in the mirror. Years ago I swore among other things that I would never work a job that required me to wear a tie. And as I dressed for an appointment at the prestigious National Press Club in denim jeans, a long sleeve shirt and a blazer I finally abandoned my last attempt at conformity. I slipped loose the top button of my collar, grabbed my camera bag and made for the elevator. Still known in...

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Adventure Activism, Adventure Media Review, Breaking News, Diversity, Expedition Denali, Film preview, Life Out Loud / 25.06.2014

Back from the mountain for almost a year most of the members of Expedition Denali gathered as a group for the world premiere of the new film that documents their climb of the highest peak in North America. An American Ascent details the journey of the first team of black climbers to attempt to reach the summit of Mount McKinley, also know as Denali, in June of 2013. Before an excited audience of viewers in the Jefferson Auditorium at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington DC members of the team...

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