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 …

Last week, Outdoor Afro had a chance to chat with Audrey Peterman, author, motivational speaker, and founding organizer of the monumental Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors Conference held in Atlanta, Georgia last September.
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 …

Snowboarding is not just for the fellas. Outdoor Afro caught up with Tomar Brown (30) and Karen Anderson (36), of Washington D.C. who have found excitement and fun on the slopes.
Tomar and Karen
When asked how they each got involved with snowboarding together they said it started with rugby, which they have played competitively for the past ten years, and is where the two met and became a couple. “Rugby seems to have started a lot of things for us,” said Brown with a laugh. In the off-season she explained that …

“You can’t cannot determine the ancestors you inherit, but you can completely determine the kind of ancestor you’ll be.” – Grown in Detroit
Take a look at how Detroit teen moms are reclaiming abandoned neighborhoods and creating farms to feed their children in the film, “Grown in Detroit”, by independent Dutch filmmakers Mascha & Manfred Poppenk.

Trailer ‘Grown in Detroit’ from Mascha Poppenk on Vimeo.
To learn more, visit the film website: http://grownindetroit.tv

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.
<A HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Foutdafro-20%2F8001%2F106cc75f-7426-481a-8472-44b7b0872fa3&Operation=NoScript” mce_HREF=”http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&MarketPlace=US&ID=V20070822%2FUS%2Foutdafro-20%2F8001%2F106cc75f-7426-481a-8472-44b7b0872fa3&Operation=NoScript”>Amazon.com Widgets</A>
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As many of you know, Frank and Audrey Peterman have been at the …

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 …

In the spirit of Dia De Los Muertos,  All Saints Day, and of course The Outdoors, here is a re-post from last April about a Bay Area cemetery park I visited with a friend, filled with famous and founding Californians. Re-enjoy!
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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 …

I am still trying to wrap my mind around all that I saw and experienced in Atlanta these past few days at the Breaking the Color Barrier in the Great American Outdoors Conference. To distill everything into a few lines would be impossible. Because several Outdoor Afro readers were unable to make the event, over the next few days I’ll share my experiences at the conference in words, photos, and video in three parts to convey highlights of this momentous event. Special thanks to Dudley Edmondson for partnering with me …

Cindy Hopkins
Guest Blogger Cindy Hopkins thinks so! Read her thoughtful reflection on outdoor diversity below:
My husband and I enjoy spending time in our yard. It began simply as exercise and an interest in native plants, but as the landscaping matured, we discovered another wonderful benefit – we had birds! I honestly came to believe that the birds began to “speak” in response to our voices too. Or rather, they sang. The Costa’s hummingbird or the Verdin usually begin a song followed by the Black-Throated Sparrow.  All together they create a delightful harmony …