Windows to the Wild: Nobody Owns The Outdoors

The modern narrative of African Americans embracing the great outdoors is often hard to find, but the national organization Outdoor Afro is seeking to change that. With over 60 leaders in 28 states, they’re inspiring thousands of participants across the country to get outside. Windows to the Wild host Willem Lange recently met with a group of hikers from the Outdoor Afro community in Boston on a hike up Tuckerman’s Ravine.

 “We celebrate and inspire black leadership in nature,” says Chaya Harris, an Outdoor Afro leader and teacher from Boston. Harris says she wants people to “feel empowered to get outside because the outdoors are for everyone.”

 Harris notes, however, that common assumptions about the wild don’t always reflect that goal. “A lot of places that you go there’s indigenous history, there’s black history, but we don’t always hear those stories.”

 Sharing these stories and increasing representation of people of color in narratives about the outdoors is essential, says Outdoor Afro participant Cacilda Texeira. “It’s a Catch-22, because people don’t see other people who look like them doing this. They think ‘maybe there aren’t people of color out there doing this, maybe this isn’t for me.’”

 Which is why Harris says she wants “people to know that we are out there connecting with nature – hiking, camping, fishing, skiing – you name it."

 On this trip, the goal is not only to reach the summit, but also to honor a woman formerly enslaved by the Washingtons and who escaped to Portsmouth, N.H., Oney "Ona" Judge Staines. With Ona's struggle for freedom fresh on their minds, the group of hikers tackled this hike with the same fierceness. The weather is pleasant to start, but turns wet and windy as they near the halfway point. The group decides not only to continue on but to take a detour on a more challenging section of the trail.

 Windows to the Wild producer and videographer Steve Giordani says that he found this decision to be the most compelling part of the adventure. "It made the operations of our cameras more difficult, but I totally admired them for making this choice.”

 It’s a choice that highlights why ensuring that nature is a place for everyone is so important to these hikers. Harris says that being an Outdoor Afro leader has taught her to appreciate her own strength. "I’m more resilient than I thought, I can tackle challenges.”

 Scott Mays, an Outdoor Afro participant from Milford, New Hampshire, echoes this sentiment. “You realize how much you can actually do, to never underestimate yourself.”

 “Nobody owns the outdoors,” notes Harris. “Everybody should be able to access the physical, mental and emotional wellness that nature provides.”

 Harris advises that people of color interested in getting outdoors “grab some water, check a map and just go for it!” You can join Outdoor Afro on their windswept adventure up Mount Washington on Wednesday, January 10 at 7:30pm on NHPBS and online at nhpbs.org/windows.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339