My six-year-old son Billy and I recently had the privilege to lend a hand to “raise” a garden at Kennedy High School in Richmond, California. We arrived mid-morning at a southern exposed site nestled near the school’s track. The work area swarmed with students, school staff, parents, and Urban Tilth, the organizing non-profit who produced the day as part of its project, 2 Farms in 2 Days.
Not too little to help
The intention behind this weekend event aims to produce real, productive farms that, according the organization’s website, “grow food that directly changes the food …

Welcome to the Inaugural Edition of the Outdoor Afro Blog Carnival!
Wooo hooo….confetti falls…
So what is a Blog Carnival anyway? Well, I learned it is a terrific way to spread your blog wings into new topics, while connecting with more people. And that’s all I needed to know before signing up!  But I also recognized the term ‘carnival’ has a cultural meaning for some that is different than the experience of a spin on the ol’ ferris wheel. So I decided to honor the festive connotation of another kind of Carnival …

Audrey Peterman
Here is Part Two of my interview with Audrey Peterman, author, Breaking the Color Barrier Conference Founder and inspirational speaker.
Rue: For some, physical mobility might decline after mid-life. What might you suggest to someone who feels they are not physically able to enjoy a National Park?
Audrey: Mobility declines after mid-life? It’s not a necessity. I was on blog radio this week with a 78 year-old black man who recently competed in two categories in the Senior Olympics. It really vexes me how our …

The Great Backyard Birdcount February 12-15, 2010

Believe it or not, before I started working at Golden Gate Audubon months back, I had never heard of the concept of everyday people counting birds in their own backyard as an important way to contribute to real scientific research.

So imagine my delight to hear about Cornell University and National Audubon’s annual outfit:  The Great Backyard Birdcount, where novices like me can learn about local birds, make a meaningful contribution to avian research, and learn cool bird facts to impress friends at cocktail parties!
They have …

Rubén and a watershed model
Like many others around the country, this year I spent the Martin Luther King Day Holiday in service of my local community. I chose to do restoration at the aptly named Martin Luther King shoreline in Oakland, California. The area is located just a stones throw away from a congested freeway and sports complex, and is a gorgeous natural environment teeming with local birds and other wildlife that connects to the beautiful San Francisco Bay.
Sunset at the MLK Shoreline Courtesy of the EBRP District …

In an interview yesterday with Dianne Glave author of Rooted in the Earth: Reclaiming the African American Environmental Heritage (August 2010), she shared some of her insights with me about the movie Avatar, and its connection to people of color and the environment.
So you finally  saw Avatar! What are some of your initial thoughts?
Many people were raving about Avatar, so I had to see it! And while director James Cameron is breaking his own record [over Titanic] with more than a billion dollars in gross sales, I was pleasantly surprised by something …

As you know, my nephew Antione got married just a few months ago, and he and his new wife Christine departed for a honeymoon in Hawaii right after the ceremony. After checking out their vacation videos at the recent family Thanksgiving gathering, it was clear and admirable to me how the two embraced the local, wild environment as a big part of their new connection to one another as husband and wife. The following video shares the good humor and ecology they experienced while visiting the Kahua Institute in Haiku, …

Clothesline Photo: Renee Gunter
I was going to write about sustainable landscaping – and I still will, but something else came up:
The Laundry.
Washing clothes is actually my least favorite chore right along with mopping the floor, taking out dripping trash, and investigating that “noise” in the middle of the night. Thus, I view the laundry task through a ‘necessary evil’ lens. But I like when it’s done. The problem is, it’s never done! I think I handle laundry fairly well for a household of four, but every time I get the …

“Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”  — Theodore Roosevelt on the Grand Canyon.

The long anticipated Ken Burns film premier is almost one week away. One of the many things to appreciate about this comprehensive work about our National Parks, are the stories of people of color who were an instrumental and unsung presence in park founding and preservation. Here is a clip from the documentary that features Outdoor Afro hero Shelton Johnson, …

Christine, Pastor Betty Clark, and Antoine
I have always thought of the outdoors as an ideal setting to wed, and last weekend my nephew Antoine and his lovely fiancé Christine embodied the magic of outdoor nuptials in a beautiful beach side ceremony. The two met and fell in love years ago as camp counselors at the Bar 717 Ranch Camp, located in Northern California.
My Growing Family
The setting was a stunning public beach in Santa Barbara, located about an hour north of Los Angeles. In addition to the invited guests, scores of …