Outdoor Afro had the wonderful experience this past weekend to be a part of Outdoor Nation, a youth summit designed to reconnect America’s youth to the great outdoors and inform organizations of what youth care about most. This was also the first official listening session as a part of Obama’s Great Outdoors Conference this past spring.

The event began with a mixer Friday night sponsored by Backpacker Magazine. Leadership from The North Face, VF Outdoors (TNF parent company), The Natural Leaders Network (Children and Nature Network), New York Restoration Project, Student Conservation Association, Bay Area Wilderness Training, New York Parks Recreation, Sierra Club, American Hiking Society, and many others gathered on the rooftop of the Arsenal Building in Central Park. Everyone seemed to enjoy the warm summer sunset, great libation, and engaging conversation that expanded networks, considered the barriers of outdoor engagement, and anticipated the hundreds of youth set to arrive the following day.

Saturday’s events began at noon in the park and the public turnout was amazing! Thanks to much local publicity, many hundreds of people, including several families with children, came and participated in rock climbing, kayaking, trampoline jumping, and hoola-hooping, as part of a treasure hunt to engage with the activity vendors and the various orgs. Each interaction earned stamps in the event’s passport booklet to win prizes. I had a blast working with Kyle McDonald, CEO and founder of Bay Area Wilderness Training at The North Face Planet Explore table to share with the public how to use the social network to connect with regional and local organizations’ events and activities.

Later that afternoon was the official start of the Youth Summit in an outdoor tented area of the park. Nearly 600 youth from all over the Unites States came to town representing several organizations to share what they cared about related to the outdoors. About 35% of those youth were youth of color, many visiting New York City for the first time. Outdoor Afro connected with Brother Yusuf and his stunning youth group from Albany’s (NY) Green Tech High Charter School, Mickey Fearn, Deputy Director of the National Parks, and Bay Area friends Steve Hagler of the Stewardship Council, Zakiya Harris of Grind for the Green, Ernesto Pepito of the Crissy Field Center, and many others for an impromptu reunion.

After an introduction and welcome by event organizers and sponsors, such as North Face CEO Steve Rendle, the youth were divided into various organizational themes or “tracks” to help guide their brainstorming process. Themes such as Diversity, Health and Active Lifestyles, Media and Culture, Careers, Service, and Recreation/Education were matched with issue experts who helped guide conversations that revealed a depth of thought and sophistication these youth had when contemplating how they care to engage with the outdoors – or not. Importantly, ideas generated by these youth can help them to apply for the newly minted Explore Fund,  a $2,500 grant to spark and sustain outdoor youth participation where these kids live. The evening concluded with a youth pizza mixer at the North Face offices hosted by the Sierra Club and Juan Martinez and the Natural Leaders Network contingent.

The following morning, White House officials from the Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Labor and the National Parks facilitated the listening session to brainstorm answers to core questions; identify opportunities, and there were more in-depth track discussions to review and prioritize the top ideas of these sessions. Check out the Outdoor Nation website for more details about the conference outcomes.

It was a tremendous opportunity to hear youth voices, such as the African American young lady from environmentally impacted Bay View Hunters Point (San Francisco, CA) who lamented that she grew up thinking that asthma was normal because “every child in the community had it,” she said. With so much disheartening news related to the Gulf and its recovery, it was affirming to witness a return to the conversation of outdoor engagement among youth as one important step to help ensure a future of environmental recovery, sustainability, and justice.

A very special thanks to The North Face for making it possible for Outdoor Afro to take part in such an important and ground-breaking event.

I had the fortunate opportunity to attend the  Bay Area Open Space Council Conference organized by Breaking the Color Barrier alumna and Executive Director Bettina Ring to celebrate and reflect on 20 years of conservation in the Bay Area and beyond. At the capacity filled event in the beautiful Presidio Club House was a dynamic mix of individuals and organizations who shared a range of data and stories: from the good news of how the San Francisco Bay Area has benefited from preserving its open spaces, to the sobering reality of childhood obesity and other health problems plaguing urban youth today because of a lack of connection to the spaces in their own neighborhood.

Thus, the conference represented a thoughtful look back at battles won and lost, but also a look forward to what is possible through fostering new collaborations that stretch beyond business as usual. Over the course of the day, we consistently heard the message of how engaging underserved and diverse communities is no longer an option, but intrinsic to the ecological survival of all, echoing what is commonly known about the benefits of plant and wildlife diversity. Therefore this conference underscored a necessary shift from simply preserving acres to preserving the people who live on them.

Elizabeth Goldstein, President of the California State Parks Foundation shared compelling California State Parks data that proves that people care about their local parks “no matter their financial circumstances, background, or where they live,” she said. The across-the-board support of the upcoming ballot measure that begins to address a decade of repair and maintenance backlogs and threats of park closures proves this.

The health benefits of outdoor engagement were also highlighted by Daphne Miller, MD, who shared that in addition to the known physical health benefits, there are some in the medical community who believe that time spent in outdoor spaces is beneficial for those suffering from depression, starting with just five-minutes a day outside.

Also in the building were Outdoor Afro favorites Dr. Carolyn Finney of UC Berkeley, who moderated a dynamic panel of youngish adults, like Ernesto Pepito from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, regarding the cross generation challenges and potential for collaboration, and Hazel Wong of The Nature Conservancy, who shared how the ballot is a powerful conduit to land, wildlife, and water protection.

New friend Laurie Schoeman also passionately related her experiences on the front line of the financial, environmental, and demographic hardships facing Bay View Hunter’s Point residents in San Francisco. Her silver lining is the recent opening of a green, community staffed EcoCenter at Heron’s Head Park that came into fruition in spite of debilitating state funding obstacles.

Other conference highlights included a touching video retrospective of the Bay Area conservation movement, Golden Gate National Recreation Area Superintendent Brian O’Neill (1941-2009) and Conservation Legend Edward Wayburn, narrated by Doug McConnell of Bay Area Back Roads. A concluding poetry reading by Poet Laureate Robert Hass wowed the crowd with poems authored by children. Those poems proved to us all how powerfully youth connect to natural spaces when given a chance.

Overall, the conference was profoundly engaging, bringing together friends old and new.  I was delighted to hear throughout the day an echo of the message heard in Washington DC last month: connection and engagement with natural spaces is for everyone — and I am looking forward to seeing and taking part in next steps to make this vision a reality.

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 culture promotes the idea that you’re “over the hill” when you turn 40, and you can expect your physical attributes to decline.

Frank Peterman

I think in many cases it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. What if we were visualizing ourselves as the Christ within us, what an inspiring idea that would be. The parks are very accessible for differently-abled people. They are federal properties so of course they have to comply with federal rules. You know the amazing thing? Some of the parks are so huge – Yellowstone is ten times the size of New York City – so you can just drive around in your car all day if you choose, and just gape at the natural wonders if you didn’t have the luxury of getting out and hiking.

Rue: What do you think is the most pressing problem facing our National Parks today, and what partnerships are necessary to solve them?

Almost 50 percent of the American public does not know they exist, therefore, they can’t visit them. Fall in love with the Earth and fall in love with yourself! No matter how negatively you have been programmed, standing before the majesty of the Grand Canyon, you see and feel the truth of your being – that you are a minute, individualized portion of creation, ..”a child of the Universe…like the sun and the stars, you have a right to be here.”

Because people don’t get that experience, they don’t get to see how climate change is affecting the parks, from the rising sea levels eating away at Everglades National Park in Florida to the changing temperatures making it untenable for the 2000-year-old Giant Sequoias to survive in Sequoia National Park, in California. Because people don’t know, they don’t get the urgency to care passionately, and to try to do something about it. The love and care we feel as a result of experiencing them, the searing conviction in our souls, motivates Frank and me to keep on keeping on, keep on spreading the word.

Audrey and Former NPS Director Bob Stanton

Seeing the relics of the Anasazi Indians from over 10,000 years ago in Bandelier National Park New Mexico, we realize that one day our descendants are going to look back at our culture too. What are they going to think? That we used up everything and condemned them to an inhospitable planet? God knows I don’t want our great-grandchildren to suffer that fate. We know from the conference that there are multiple community based-groups reaching out to the public land managers, and these are the partnerships that need to be formed, strengthened, expanded: the public land managers using our tax dollars to support our organizations on the ground that has the ear and the trust of the community, that knows the needs, and literally, can do the work that is required that the agencies cannot do by themselves.

Rue: Thanks Audrey for sharing with the Outdoor Afro community!

Audrey: You’re welcome!

To learn more about Frank and Audrey and their journey to discover the  our National Parks, and help them to spread the word to others, show your support by buying their book:

Legacy on the Land

Also, check out her recent interview on a local PBS affiliate

What is your favorite National Park?

Whether it be a family camp, like Oakland’s Feather River Camp in Northern California, or Camp Atwater on the East Coast, there are many opportunities to connect with the outdoors that require you to act now as spaces are already filling up!

Check out this neat Family Camp PSA:

Also consider making reservations now for your favorite campsite for tent camping. For example, popular Samuel P. Taylor State Park’s reservation line is red-hot during the winter months that fill the camp solidly after Memorial Day weekend through early Fall.

So call your friends and family members now and organize your calendars to go camping this summer at your local state or national park!

Where will you go camping this year?

Not sure? Find a camp that’s right for you!: American Camp Association

Audrey Peterman (Photo: ncpa.org)

Here is the first of two parts of our delightful interview:

Rue: In the past several years you have cultivated a life where your interaction with natural spaces is a part of who you are. How did this happen?

Audrey: In a sense, it’s about returning to my roots. I grew up in the country in Jamaica, sitting on the banks of a stream in the woods to do my homework, walking miles with other children and adults to collect wood for cooking fires. So I always had an appreciation the wonders of nature, and the interconnectedness of things.

Drinking Warm Coconut Milk Recently in Jamaica

When I moved to New York with my 7-year-old daughter, Lisa, I still sought that contact with the natural world, organizing picnics in the local parks. Bear Mountain in upstate New York was my favorite. The really big reconnection came after I moved to Florida, met and married Frank, and we took off on the great adventure to “discover America.” We found so much more than we could have anticipated, and the grandeur of the scenery really impressed itself upon my heart – made me feel as if I was literally seeing the face of God, his perfection, His purity, His incomprehensible size. Some of the natural formations in the parks, like the Grand Tetons, are so high the tips are often covered with clouds, and the bulk is like a solid wall extending for miles. Acres of wildflowers of every color and description explode in the valley at their feet. I tell you, you can’t get tired from seeing so much beauty.

I take those experiences with me everywhere I go, and I see the face of God in the trees, in the skies, in the people. I am not thinking about the past, I am not thinking about the future. I am just in silent communion with God in the greatness of His creation – NOW.

Frank and Audrey, Photo: Dudley Edmondson

The Petermans

I have to disclose up front that I am pretty biased about these three book recommendations because I am privileged to know each of the authors as partners through the development of Outdoor Afro and our shared passion for people of color and the outdoors. But aside from my excitement and gratitude for these folks, they have each produced some pretty extraordinary work well worth buying for your loved ones this holiday season.

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As many of you know, Frank and Audrey Peterman have been at the forefront of outdoor conservation and advocates for greater diversity in our National Parks. Their recent ground breaking conference energized and organized a constituency that supports more people of color to get out and enjoy our natural resources. The work of this couple, and their enlightening book, Legacy on the Land, will inspire you.

$19.95 USD – Click to Purchase!

Shelton Johnson has been with the National Parks as a ranger for decades, but his recent appearance in the Ken Burns Documentary and recent meeting with President Obama, brought his role as a conduit of historical Yosemite’s Buffalo Soldier to new audiences. His book, Glory Land, is a beautifully written historical narrative that’s fun to read aloud.

I blogged about Dudley Edmondson some months back, and since then we became good friends. But every now and then someone will come up to me with a copy of his book The Black & Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places and ask, “have you seen this before?” Well, indeed I have! And it enjoys a prominent spot on my coffee table so my guests and kids can look at amazing photos of people of color in wild spaces whenever they want.

Three different books about similar passions to engage everyone in your family. Can’t decide? Go to your local, independent book store and buy them all!

Thanks for sharing Marica Woods! — and great job Blair Underwood!

We have work to do!

Blair Underwood, Pacific Cinerama Dome

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My friend Miles did a little more research on William T. Shorey after reading about him in a previous blog of mine and learned Shorey was buried in the Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland. So Miles invited me to trek to the cemetery last Friday afternoon to find the Shorey grave. To our pleasant surprise, and with the help of a map provided by the cemetery office, we found that this churchyard-graveyard-park-garden was the resting place of many of the most important women and men of California history.

Built by Frederick Law Olmsted, who also planned Central Park, and protected Yosemite Valley from human impact, the space has sweeping views of the bay from most of the many meandering paths. The wide ranging aesthetic of the funerary monuments inspire both awe and curiosity. It was intriguing to observe how the posthumous fame of certain figures contrasts sharply with the simplicity of their burial marker. For example, women such as Jane K. Sather and Julia Morgan, did not even have graves of their own, but were shuffled in with the names of parents or other family members, which may have been the standard burial treatment for women of their time.

And Thomas Hill, a seminal American landscape artist, along with Henry Durant, the founder of the University of California (Berkeley) are each buried with the most economical symbols – but both my friend and I (fellow Golden Bears) tsk, tsked that the university could have done a lot more to provide Durant with better burial props! …On the other extreme however, railroad tycoon Charles Crocker’s crypt on ‘Millionaires’ Row’ delivers to visitors maximum pomp and pageantry (see pictured above).

The list of interred Californians, of all walks of life, is impressive and endless. And while I would never categorize myself as a graveyard browser per se, the Mountain View Cemetery is indeed successful at “transcending the division between man and nature”. It was a real delight to explore, my companion and I were humbled by the accomplishments of fine Californians; their significance to the state — in relation to our own lives.

Bottom line: I definitely recommend a visit to this tranquil, historic jewel of Oakland! Bring comfortable sturdy shoes and allow at least two hours for your visit to find grave sites of interest. Alternately, you can check their calendar for official tours. Car parking is free and the site is open from sunrise to sunset.

Roberts Kids

Part I

Part II

Part III