Outdoor Recreation Embracing the outside with objective – MSR Information On-line By News Desk - December 23, 2022 0 11 FacebookTwitterPinterestWhatsApp Related
 100vw, 578px” data-lazy-src=”https://i0.wp.com/spokesman-re corder. com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/MIM.21.jpg?resize=578%2C326&is-pending-load=1#038;ssl=1″ srcset=”data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP// /yH5BAEAAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7″/>Members of Melanin in Motion </p>
<p>When I was assigned this story on Melanin in Motion (MIM), I looked at their website and Facebook page in half disbelief. “What?” I figured. Black people don’t like being outdoors – especially in winter. We might go fishing, but camping, skiing, and hunting? We just don’t really get into all of this. </p>
<p>“What an ignorant assumption” was my next thought. Then I immediately wondered why I should go along with it and believe a commonly accepted assumption or urban myth that African Americans don’t enjoy participating in outdoor activities.</p>
<p>I remember the last season of The Oprah Winfrey Show about a decade ago. There was this camping series she did with her best friend Gayle King, who is now a major morning reporter on national television. </p>
<p>The purpose of the series was to encourage African Americans to participate and enjoy all that nature has to offer. They were even assisted by African-American park rangers when they camped in Yosemite Park. </p>
<p>It was fun watching them shop for the latest camping gear and get advice from all the experts, but they never answered the question, ‘why was this show necessary? Why have black people largely avoided nature?” </p>
<p>You know, with the historical tales of the Underground Railroad, Lewis and Clark, and the great Jean Baptiste du Sable, to name a few, that our very freedom depended on a full knowledge of navigation and wilderness survival.</p>
<p>As I researched the topic, I learned that in the past, an African-American family who went camping, hiking, or hunting often faced horrifying encounters that often ended in assault, injury, or even death. </p>
<p>Are you thinking of grizzly bears, mountain lions or venomous snakes? think again Think of lynchings, beatings, and written and unwritten segregation laws that effectively prohibit black people from enjoying the beautiful scenery and connection to nature that America has to offer. </p>
<p>As late as 2020, climbers were still finding remnants of this racist history when, for example, in Wyoming they discovered climbing routes with offensive names such as “Slavery Wall”, “Happiness in Slavery” and “Welfare Crack”. </p>
<p>The information about the dangers and obstacles African Americans have had to endure to enjoy the great outdoors is out there and still being uncovered. Understanding this story allowed me to fully appreciate the existence of Melanin in Motion.</p>
<p>Founded by Anthony Taylor and Lynnea Atlas-Ingebretson as an initiative of the Cultural Wellness Center in partnership with the Loppet Foundation, REI Cooperative Action Fund and The House, this Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) organization calls itself a “movement movement “.</p>
<p> Their goal is simple: to connect Black people with opportunities to experience nature, with a belief that black bodies in motion are the “ultimate expression of freedom.”</p>
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