Originally posted Thanksgiving, November 25th, 2009…Enjoy!

flickr.com/prettywarstl: a nice plate!
Thanksgiving in my family is more than the delicious turkey, pies, and cobblers my sister Delane makes; it is also a celebration of food that preserves the memories and experiences of those who have passed on, symbolized through the remaking of family recipes…Cherrie’s dressing, Ella mae’s Pea Salad…the matriarchs of my family pulled greens from their garden for dinner, they plucked the feathers of fresh foul, and cleaned the fish they caught in local lakes for Friday fish fries.
Our family also has …

Contributed by Brother Yusuf Burgess

This event is part of Children and Nature Network’s   Serve Outside September Campaign. The Green Tech High BOYS OUTDOOR LEADERSHIP TEAM (BOLT) will participate in the clean-up and landscape improvement of one of Albany, New York’s African American historic landmarks. The Stephen and Harriet Myers House (official name: Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence) is a historic home located in Albany County, New York. It was built in 1847 and is a 2 1/2-story brick townhouse in the Greek Revival style. It is three bays wide, …

Our last stop before turning in our teardrop trailer on Sunday was to check out nearby Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park. It was our intention to learn about gold panning and history of the California Gold Rush.
James W. Marshall discovered gold in 1848 on the South Fork of the American River in the valley known as Cullumah by the Nisenan Indians who lived in the area sustainably and peacefully. But Marshall’s discovery led to the greatest mass movement of people in the Western Hemisphere, and it was the …

Outdoor Afro Zoe Polk shared with us today a photo where she was Spotted on Sunday (SOS) at the Sutro Baths. From thier website, the Sutro Baths are:
“…a hallowed place in San Francisco, modern ruins on the edge of the continent. Crashing waves, labyrinthine structures, wild lilies, cliff-lodged cypress trees reaching towards the ocean, a thundering cave…”

Thanks for sharing Zoe!
Where were YOU spotted on Sunday in the outdoors?

Join National Park Service ranger Betty Reid Soskin and Rue Mapp of the social network Outdoor Afro as they discuss the state of African American participation in our national and regional parks.
I am honored to share the stage with Ms. Betty Soskin, who will share personal memories of East Bay life and working conditions during World War II and show a short film about Richmond’s Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.

Following Ms. Soskin’s presentation, I will highlight the variety of city and regional parks in the …

A great list contributed by Harriet Gordon, who runs a site to help people research Human Services careers. Clearly, Harriet likes to hike too!
Whether you are looking to have an adventurous weekend or cross something off of your bucket list, nature is, and probably should be, involved. One of the best ways to get back to it is to go on a hike. With literally thousands of trails taking anywhere from hours to months to complete, it can all be somewhat to very confusing. With little …

The First African-American Woman on Record to Reach North and South Poles!

Outdoor Afro fans learned about Barbara Hillary back in 2009, she not only survived lung cancer, but also took on a trek hardly imaginable to most to the North Pole on skis at age 75!
Here is our Talk Tuesday Blog Talk Radio interview with Hillary from July, 2009 where she humorously shared how it is possible and necessary to live up to ones potential:

Listen to internet radio with outdoorafro on Blog Talk Radio
Not willing to remain still, this month the venerable Hillary …

It’s important to remember that Martin Luther King Jr. led a movement that was results driven with little rest toward a vision of equality and justice to benefit everyone. In the spirit of King’s work, celebrating his birthday as a day of service to address the practical, environmental, and spiritual needs of our community makes every bit of sense.
In 1994, Congress designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a National Day of Service to recognize the legacy of King in a new and active way. It is often referred to as “a …

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 …

Erik S. Lesser for The New York Times
Check out this intruging New York Times article brought to my attention by an Outdoor Afro community member about The Negro Motorist Green Book, a book that helped black people find where and how to move about the United States for travel and leisure in the Jim Crow era. Living in these Obama tinted times, it can seem like a distant concept that in the lifetimes of our parents and grandparents, where black people might go to eat, spend a night, or merely venture …