Listening, and embracing the freedom of Nature

One of my favorite celebrations is Juneteenth, June 19. Today, in 1865, enslaved Black Americans were emancipated. As a backpacker, I find it fitting that the newly freed Blacks rejoiced by going outside. Inherently, people know that to find peace, we need the outdoors. Nature, the great teacher, often reminds me, “Shhh….be quiet and listen.” 

I am amazed by how much I’ve learned in my short tenure with Nature. I didn’t grow up with an appreciation for Nature. It evolved and expanded over time. As I gear up for my trek along the John Muir section of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), like many hikers, I find myself devouring books, articles, and videos about other hikers. I have learned a lot from the hiking community, such as the importance of Leave No Trace and navigation skills. Yet, there is limited information on how to mitigate being an Afro-Indigenous Black female, lesbian, or hiker with a disability.

I need to know that I’m not planning my resupply in a town where I will encounter overtly racist or homophobic people, and I need up-to-date information about recharging my medical implant. If you think this is not an appropriate topic for outdoor recreation, you have two options: stop reading or remember the lesson I’ve learned from Nature: “Be quiet and listen.” 

To those of you who decided to be quiet and listen, I’ve been disheartened to read various social media comments to the post denouncing or dismissing the experiences of others. Many of those folks speak words of hate and ignorance while proclaiming that the outdoors is “free,” “open,” and “inclusive.” Don’t get me wrong, Nature is the most inclusive place I’ve ever been, but She is not devoid of people or their ideologies and mindsets. The same folks who spew hate, racist, homophobic rhetoric and enable others to do so don’t trade their beliefs for a pair of trekking poles. The trailhead isn’t a magical portal that frees one of their biases nor a mystical road devoid of personal experiences. Wherever we go, we take ourselves and our baggage with us. 

I want to address the folks who want to say that politics has no place on the trail and no business in outdoor recreation articles like this and “I don’t see racism, so it doesn’t happen.” Throughout history, parks and trails across the country have been conceptualized, created, and managed by predominantly white men who held racist beliefs. People of color and marginalized folks were rarely considered major stakeholders in outdoor recreation. Historically, people of color have experienced segregation from a multitude of park agencies. 

First, you don’t have to experience or observe racism or discrimination directly; instead, you can trust those affected when they tell you it’s a problem. Second, it is impossible to remove these social dynamics from the trail. As many people comment, “Trees aren’t racist,” but the parks and trails that people built are based on racist ideologies and practices. This means that they are, at their core, institutional. I am an Afro-Indidenos Black woman, a lesbian, and I have a disability. I am not “politics!” I find it absurd to hear that racism doesn’t exist in the backcountry, on trails, or at our national parks because the trail is a legacy of racism. One might argue that these things happened long ago, and things are better now, and the outdoors is inclusive. Sure. However, that doesn’t reflect my experiences, which have been echoed in various comments on the aforementioned posts. 

My formative years were spent as one of only a handful of Afro-Indidenos Black students at predominantly white schools. I was taught history that excluded my ancestors before slavery and reduced them to a 28-day curriculum in February. I was never taught about York, a Black man who led the Lewis and Clark expeditions, or Matthew Hensen, the first person and the first Black man ever to reach the North Pole. During show and tell, my classmates would bring photos and memorabilia from camping trips and visits to National Parks.

I’ve known about camping and hiking, but none of the people I ever saw in pictures, textbooks, or magazines looked like me. They were white, able-bodied, and mostly males. I’d rarely see women in the outdoors or anyone of color. I associated Nature with whiteness. I didn’t have a teacher or anyone else to teach me otherwise. I have since learned that It’s not Nature that is discriminatory.

On record, my kin originates from the Deep South, the backwoods of Louisiana. My ancestors were enslaved and forced to work in cotton fields — later, in those same fields, my Great Aunts and Uncles would go to play before landowners would forcibly remove them. Little consideration was given to the fact that it was the one place they knew intrinsically. As a result, my kin never encouraged us to connect with Nature, at least not for recreation. I learned, however, the importance of being outside for celebrations. Birthday celebrations, cookouts, and barbecues are ways my relatives readily embrace the outdoors together. We understand the freedom that being outdoors affords. 

However, to find peace in the outdoors, we need to have respect. 
“Shhh….be quiet and listen” and believe other peoples’ experiences. 
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Updated @2025 Originally posted: Pacific Crest Trail Association