Healing hikes: How one Oakland organization is making Black lives matter in nature – San Francisco Chronicle

Hopeful. Alive. Connected. Joy.

Those were all words used to describe how a group of Bay Area residents felt during a closing circle after kayaking in Richmonds Marina Bay on a recent Saturday. Some attendees had kayaked before. For others, like Marisa Brown, it was their first time.

The group was part of a local meetup hosted by Outdoor Afro, a national organization founded in Oakland that connects Black people to nature and celebrates the contributions of Black people to the outdoors. The Bay Areas chapter of Trackers Earth, an organization that offers outdoor programs and summer camps for children, provided the kayaks for the event.

Brown, of Oakland, has been hiking and paddling with Outdoor Afro since last year. She said theres a sense of belonging at each meetup that she values.

It makes a difference when you see another person of color, said Brown, who identifies as biracial. You start to build a community, you start to see people at different events, you start bringing your friends.

Its what Rue Mapp envisioned when she first created Outdoor Afro as a blog in 2009. The Oakland native would search for groups to find other outdoor enthusiasts like herself.

I found that, especially as I got out away from the city, Id be the only Black person on those trips, Mapp said.

It was different from the experience she had as a child visiting the redwoods in Oakland with her family and her fathers ranch in Lake County on weekends. Her father, she said, would often invite family and friends from church to their ranch.

I got to experience up close and personal this wonder that people would experience when they were able to see stars at night that they wouldnt otherwise see in a polluted city, Mapp said. Or just remarks about how fresh the air was, or how quiet and peaceful it was.

I had this value of connecting to nature and hospitality that were rooted in my childhood experiences, she added.

Outdoor Afro is open to everyone, she said, but its specifically focused on the Black American experience.

Black people in the U.S. have been systematically excluded from public lands and the outdoors. According to a recent report, Black families are more likely to live in areas with less access to nature than white families.

For Mapp, the court case brought by John Harris in San Francisco in the late 1800s established the importance of access to the outdoors.

Harris, who was Black, was denied entry twice to the newly opened Sutro Baths despite paying the entrance fee in 1897 months after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld racial segregation laws under the separate but equal doctrine in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case.

Harris filed a lawsuit with the San Francisco Superior Court under the Dibble Civil Rights Act, which became the Unruh Civil Rights Act in 1959 and was recognized as Californias first civil rights act, according to the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy. The court ruled in Harris favor although he received significantly less in damages than what he sued for.

Its because of his sacrifice, in the similar way that I think about the Harriet Tubmans of our world, that we stand on the shoulders of and that (Outdoor Afro) is honoring, Mapp said.

After the killings last year of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery and during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately affected Black communities Mapp said Outdoor Afro has provided a space for Black people to heal.

The organization regularly hosts Healing Hikes, which the group started in 2014 when protests erupted after the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Last year in February, Oprah Winfrey highlighted the group on her wellness tour and joined them for a healing hike at Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.

For Julius Crowe Hampton, Outdoor Afro is a way of making Black lives matter in nature.

Its just so beautiful to have a refuge and to really do that healing work in nature, said Hampton, who identifies as Black and is a regional leader for Outdoor Afro. I love the fact that we center joy and healing and community.

Abram Jackson, who attended the Saturday meetup, said each event is an opportunity to learn about Black history.

This organization connects us to the history that we have in the outdoors space, said Jackson, who identifies as Black. Its a reminder that we are part of this and not an add-on, he said.

Participants paddled their boats from Marina Bay Yacht Harbor in Richmond Inner Harbor, which is near the historical Richmond Shipyards District. There were moments of stillness and calm when participants just soaked in the cool breeze and skyline view of San Francisco.

Abu Baker, a local leader with Outdoor Afro, gave a brief history lesson on the Kaiser shipyards and the fight to hire Black workers after World War II. Participants also paid respects to the native Ohlone people of Brooks Island, where participants kayaked nearby.

Baker said he enjoys not only teaching participants about the outdoors, but learning from them as well. A woman who is a botanist has joined Bakers hiking meetups and teaches him about plants and ecology, he said.

I like learning from others, especially people of color, said Baker, who identifies as Black. To be able to go outside safely and connect with people in a supportive social and healthy way is just priceless.

After protesters took to the streets last summer to demand justice for Black Americans killed by police, many industries and institutions in the U.S. had a reckoning on race, including environmental groups. In July, the Sierra Club apologized for its substantial role in perpetuating white supremacy, re-examined the organizations racist history and said John Muir, the clubs founder, was racist.

For Mapp, last year made it clear that Outdoor Afros work was more important than ever.

We didnt have to pivot our messaging. We didnt have to redefine who we were, Mapp said. It was a moment that helped us to understand the relevancy that weve always had, but especially in that moment.

Daria McKnight, an instructor at Trackers Earth and participant of Outdoor Afro meetups, said it had been her dream to connect both organizations. When she started working for the organization four summers ago, she said she noticed a lack of diversity.

As a result of the Black Lives Matter movement and the pandemic, the organization has been working on its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

Theres some companies coming out of COVID and Black Lives Matter [protests] and not making any changes, said McKnight, who identifies as Black. Im really proud of [Trackers Earth] for the growth. I think its better late than never.

For the closing circle Saturday, McKnights words were hopeful and encouraged. She said she hopes the relationship between both organizations will continue.

Jessica Flores is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jessica.flores@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jesssmflores

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Healing hikes: How one Oakland organization is making Black lives matter in nature - San Francisco Chronicle