Recently, I had the pleasure of spending time on Maryland’s Eastern shore with colleagues, Akiima Price, Chief of Education Programs at the New York Restoration Project, David Greaves, the Black Employment Program Officer for the EPA, and Nick Clemons, a National Park Ranger at Assateague Island National Seashore. Hosted and organized by the Maryland Coastal Bays Program and Assateague State Park, Get Out! Get Green! Get Paid! was an important opportunity to connect with nearly 200 youth, ages 14-25, to help them consider a sustainable career and lifestyle within nature.

The Maryland Coastal Bays Program …

Last spring, I helped to organize a local event as part of a national campaign to get people connected to nature. As much as I wanted to share how wonderful the event was, how well attended and rich the experience, until now I was unable to do so because there was a part of the experience that day that pained me, and has since sat like a lump in the back of my throat.

All the time I hear reasons why African-Americans do not engage with the outdoors. From experience, I …

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 …

The Nature Conservancy is doing some terrific work to help youth connect to the outdoors and foster the next generation of environmental leadership though its LEAF program — Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future, a comprehensive environmental leadership program for teenagers and their educators.
Brigitte Griswold, Outdoor Afro friend and Director of Youth Programs says, “The Program brings students from all different backgrounds to work together towards a shared set of conservation goals. For many of these urban youth, it’s their first time living outside of the city, their first …

Chris-Tia Donaldson, Author

People always ask me who visits Outdoor Afro? Well, here is a snapshot of who Quantcast thinks you are (don’t ask how they come up with these numbers), although the data is actually pretty consistent with my own survey results from last year:

Compared to other websites, a significant number of you are African-American women making more than 100K/year, and grad school educated. Also according to the site, you are likely to enjoy topics such as travel, politics, sci-fi, fashion, and non-profits. Many of you have young children, but because …

It sure has been a great week to love the outdoors and be African American! Last Friday and today, as I tuned in to Oprah and Gayle to see their adventure in Yosemite National Park, I was completely enamored. Beyond the expected funny quips and comical equipment mishaps, I experienced (as if for the first time) a magical moment: moving images of people who looked like me enjoying a National Park.
The show theme was prompted by Outdoor Afro friend Shelton Johnson by a letter he wrote a couple of years …

Recently Outdoor Afro partnered with Bay Area groups, Red, Bike, and Green, and Take Back the Mic Bay Area to form Roots and Grooves, an outdoor experience to inspire new audiences to connect with local outdoor spaces and each other. Our group of about twenty people (including some amazing kids!) camped overnight at Del Valle Regional Park, which is a part of the East Bay Regional Parks System.
Here is one camper’s impression of the trip:

It was a real treat to get away from the city and connect with nature. Kids dug …

A memo from National Parks Director Jonathan B. Jarvis shares:

“On October 29 and November 1, Oprah Winfrey will devote two entire shows to her overnight camping trip in Yosemite National Park earlier this month. Ms. Winfrey’s visit originated with a letter of invitation from Park Ranger Shelton Johnson. While in the park, Shelton shared his Buffalo Soldierpersona – Elizy Bowman – at an evening campfire chat with Ms. Winfrey and others staying at the Lower Pines Campground in Yosemite Valley.
While the shows highlight Ms. Winfrey’s visit to the Mariposa …

Remember the Outdoor Nation Youth Summit of over 500 youth from all over the US last June in New York City’s Central Park I attended? Well, the event organizers, the Outdoor Foundation, just released the data collected from the participants, and the findings are fascinating, resulting in a report that offers five top recommendations to President Obama to inform his America’s Great Outdoors Initiative including:

1. Engage, Employ and Empower Youth by working with Outdoor Nation and its community of Outsiders.
2. Engage Youth in the Outdoors during the School Day by collaborating …

The Natural Leaders Network has joined forces with Sierra Club’s Serve Outdoors initiative to remember and honor September 11th through outdoor service. For the generation that came of age after 9/11, 2001, service has become an important part of life. For many, service means standing up for our neighborhoods, our communities, our country and our natural world. Through service, diverse young Americans are taking the lead in building a foundation for a healthy and equitable future.
For so many of us, the outdoors is a place of solace and refuge. …