June 19-20, 2010
New York City
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 …

By Suz Lipman,
Social Media Director for the Children & Nature Network

The Obama Administration is recognizing the importance of the outdoors to people’s health and well-being, with two important new programs: The White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors and First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign to eradicate childhood obesity.
The White House Conference on America’s Great Outdoors will be held Friday, April 16. C&NN President Cheryl Charles, C&NN Associate Rue Mapp (Outdoor Afro) and other movement leadership will be in attendance. President Obama is scheduled to deliver remarks to the …

I met Julia last fall at the Breaking the Color Barrier Conference in Atlanta, Georgia where she did a dazzling job as conference moderator. When I heard about her idea back then for Highway to a Husband, an adventure across the country to explore outdoor spaces and find a mate, I wondered how anyone as beautiful as Julia might have trouble in the man department? Well, Julia explains why here in this sneak peek into her fun and unfolding adventure in a recent interview with Outdoor Afro:
Why Highway to a Husband now?

Well, I …

The reach and audience of Outdoor Afro is greater than ever before, and comprised of a diverse, smart mix of folks who hail from all over the globe. These last few weeks have represented some compelling milestones for the Outdoor Afro community:

1 Year Old
100 Blog Posts
1000 Facebook Fans
…and did I mention a trip to the White House? (more about this later)

But this site would not have grown without the influence and support of some very amazing and inspiring individuals. The first conversation I had that started the OA journey in earnest was with Dr. …

that it almost makes me fly to be on the same blog page as her…
Momma and Miss J
I’m talking about Ms. Bar B., fellow Cal student and mom extraordinaire. I credit her as a key instigator who opened a window into the world of “blogging while black”, but most importantly she helped to re-awaken in me what was there all along: a genuine desire to connect people with resources that make a positive difference in their lives. Since starting Outdoor Afro almost a year ago, she has represented a steady …

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 …

People are going nuts over a quiz I put together almost a year ago. I actually forgot about it until recently, and remembered it while taking someone else’s goofy quiz.
Wanna know your style of Outdoor Afro? Need some new ideas for outdoor fun?
Answer five easy questions to find out!

What Type of Outdoor Afro are You? » quiz school

Outdoor Afro is now published using WordPress and the Blogger site is now a relic of the past.
So why make the change?
As several of my blog friends know, I went to a WordPress Word Camp event last Spring here in the San Francisco Bay area and was inspired by the ways the Wordpress platform had options to design and expand the Outdoor Afro site. Blogger was very easy to use, but it felt limiting on the design and functionality side, and I wanted more technical involvement with the development of …

Digital Strategist Cheryl Contee, MC Hammer, and Rue, TWTRCON SF 2009
You should know by now that I am passionate about the outdoors, but I also go nuts over social technology that connects people with the messages they care about. The combination of these two non-tangible loves of mine was the genesis for this blog. And this week has been especially inspiring and productive for me around both topics.
On Thursday, I met with Dr.Carol Finney, a dynamic Professor in the College of Natural Resources at Berkeley. My jaw hit the floor …