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 …

The Tennessee Aquatic Project is a youth organization that engages at-risk and inner city youth with a wide range of outdoor and civic activities to enhance personal development.

After meeting up at the Breaking the Color Barrier Conference last September, Ken Stewart of the Tennessee Aquatic Project (TAP) and Jerry Bransford, a Mammoth Cave National Park guide, decided to join forces and send over sixty youth on a trek up to the Caves. The youth were able to hear first hand the intriguing story of Bransford’s slave ancestors who were important …

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 …

Just for a moment, close your eyes and conjure up an image of a park ranger…got it? What picture comes to mind? For some, an immediate image is the no-nonsense Ranger Smith, the nemesis of Yogi Bear. But there is nothing at all fictional about Ranger Marty Smith, Park Ranger of the Martin Luther King National Historic Site.
Ranger Marty Smith
Smith, a Detroit native, visited national parks occasionally with his family, but never imagined he would grow up to become a steward of one. But fate stepped in when a college …

“Leave it as it is. You cannot improve on it. The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.”  — Theodore Roosevelt on the Grand Canyon.

The long anticipated Ken Burns film premier is almost one week away. One of the many things to appreciate about this comprehensive work about our National Parks, are the stories of people of color who were an instrumental and unsung presence in park founding and preservation. Here is a clip from the documentary that features Outdoor Afro hero Shelton Johnson, …

The Eames House, Southern California
I spent the brief plane ride to Los Angeles last week drooling over a copy of Dwell, a forward looking magazine of modern design, and when I arrived at my friend’s  Hollywood bungalow, she pointed out that the house behind hers was the Freeman House, a Frank Lloyd Wright. So Mid-Century Modern design was a running theme of the weekend and triggered my imagination about the ways my future crib can embody a love for the outdoors.
What resonates with me about Wright is that he understood …

Here is a video of the well publicized interview with Shelton Johnson, the only African American Park Ranger in Yosemite. He links the lack of African American participation in the outdoors to the “scars of slavery”. What do you think?

You may also listen to my interview with Shelton on BlogTalkRadio

Today’s fabulous show featured African American Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. Click below to hear the entire show from this week!

Photo courtesy of Dudley Edmondson from his Book Black and Brown Faces in America’s Wild Places

After getting married and starting a family of my own, camping took on a new meaning. For just a short drive and little money, I found camping was one of the most economical ways my new family could take a vacation. During these years I collected essential camping gear, like our first family-sized tent and propane stove from local garage sales and eBay — my family still uses these items today.
But as my family grew, so did the effort of camping. Thus the city of Oakland’s Feather River family camp, …