Check out this guest blog by friend Dudley Edmondson from his blog, Fit Guy Outdoors, which currently highlights a birding trip from the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival that includes some more Outdoor Afros you may recognize!
left to right: Drew Lanham,Dave Mapgiong, Roy Rodriguez,Douglas Gray, Jeremiah Alexander, Me
Had the pleasure last week of being invited to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival in southern Texas. Had no idea that I would have so much fun. I was flown in to accompany attendees to designated birding location and help them identify …

While leading a team building exercise (birdwatching of course) at work a few months ago, the group encountered this month’s Bird of the Month. Someone said to me, “I didn’t know we had birds like that around here.” This month’s bird elicits that kind of comment from folks who’ve never seen it before, even though it is actually quite a common bird. Matter-of-fact, it is one of the most widespread birds in all of North America.
The featured bird of the month is the large and loud Belted Kingfisher.
While leading another …

The Black Cowboy Association began its Oakland parade tradition back in 1975, sponsored by various community organizations over the years as a showcase of civic pride that pays homage to the southern country roots of many area residents. The Black Cowboy parade is always held each year the first Saturday of each October.

The horses of the parade were simply stunning and extraordinarily groomed. Riders in fanciful to serious garb came in both genders and in all ages, and the parade MC kept up the excitement on the mic with his …

Green Tech High Charter School Students in Albany, New York Get Youth Outdoors and Prepared for “Green Youth Leadership”
Brother Yusuf Burgess, Outdoor Afro Contributor
Black Forest Lodge – Cornwall, NY

This summer the Green Tech High Charter School’s BOYS OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (B.O.L.T.) was successful at getting 18 participants certified in Outdoor Leadership by the Sierra Club. This Outing Leadership Workshop was held at the Black Forest Lodge, in New York’s Catskill Mountains. This place is worth visiting just for the locale and the lodge itself. It’s close to Bear Mountain and …

Douglas “Birdman” Grey, Outdoor Afro Contributor

If you haven’t noticed…birds tend to fascinate me. This month’s feathered friend is like no other. It must be the engineering side of me that marvels at the feats of this month’s tiny avian creation.
We in the engineering world often use the term “operational parameters” when describing a machine or system’s capabilities. It is the operational parameters of this month’s bird, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which fascinate and marvel me. Here are just a few of these interesting parameters to which I refer:

They’re able to fly …

As Outdoor Afro has grown, I have been delighted by the swell of women represented in both the digital and “real” community who love all aspects of the outdoors. It’s been so refreshing to see women, especially brown women, as “doers” when it comes to outdoor recreation, since traditionally the images of bike riders, climbers, birders, kayakers, and other outdoor adventurers visible in the popular culture have been men — and not the brown ones! But being the classic Libran I am, I crave balance, and recently felt inspired to …

Nestled in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Swindler Cove Park represents the crown jewel among New York Restoration Project’s (NYRP) public park projects, encompassing five beautiful acres along the Harlem River.

“Check out the Swindler Cove camp graduates! Behind them is a children’s garden, which was planted and cared for by 4th graders during the school year, but tended and harvested through the summer by these summer campers. Food from the garden was used in all of the camp meals prepared over six weeks!”
–Akiima Price, Chief of Education Programs, New …

This week was event-filled for Outdoor Afro where we connected with friends, family, and the community to have fun, and expand the message of outdoor engagement.
The week began with some high-flying times with family and close friends for the Berkeley Kite Festival on what felt like the windiest day of the year. Even if you did not have a kite of your own, there were many beautiful and dynamic kites to see. Some highlights included the kite candy drop; pony rides provided by African American cowboys (more on this …

Looking for something fun to do with friends for Memorial Day, we finally decided to visit the Tilden Park Botanical Garden in Berkeley, California.
Courtesy of the Friends of the Regional Park
A botanic garden is a terrific place to go for an easy refuge from nearby urban spaces, and a chance to visualize the diversity and importance of plants in a natural environment.
Spanning ten acres, the Tilden Park Botanical Garden was designed in the 1940′s as a preservation area, and showcase of California plants including rare and endangered grasses, shrubs, trees, …

I met Angelou last year at the Breaking the Color Barrier Conference, although I got to know her better recently during our time in Washington DC last month.

Angelou’s work as Executive Director of Greening Youth Foundation is changing the world. I hope you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I did!
What experiences did you have as a youth that influenced how you view and protect natural spaces today?
Although I grew up in the densely populated concrete streets of Jersey City, New Jersey; I spent every summer of …