The adventure sports world has long been a “white boys club.”
These BIPOC activists are working to increase diversity in the outdoors.
Actually, its a lot like awhiteboys club.
Its a whole aestheticits a culture, really, Robinson says of the overwhelmingly white industry.
And thats what needs to be broken.
Thats something that the industry gets wrong.
Evita Robinson is the founder of Nomadness Travel Tribe, an online community for travelers of color.
They dont realize that adventure and outdoors is also something that is on our mind.
And in two and a half decades,Outsidemagazine has only featured three Black women on its cover.
Because you dont know what you dont know.
It all comes back to representation and exposure.
Case in point?The National Park Serviceis 83 percent white.
People of color havealwaysbeen in the outdoors.
Teresa Baker
People of color havealwaysbeen in the outdoors, says Baker.
Its not going to change unless they push it.
All of this will help to make things exponentially better.
Evita Robinson is the founder of Nomadness Travel Tribe, an online community for travelers of color.
Theres also inherent fear, says Gay.
Youre not going to feel comfortable going into spaces where youre not sure how youre going to be received.
She explains that sometimes, these feelings go beyond just discomfort, and leave her feeling downright unsafe.
Thats not something that white people ever have to think about, she says.
Change needs to happen behind the scenes, toonamely, at large brands in the adventure industry.
Thats because making people feel included starts at the top.
There is a psychological barrier of entry that has to happen first, says Robinson.
In order for real change to happen, Black people need a seat at the table.
Whats more, alienating Black customers is simply bad for business, says Mills.
Still, says Mills, theres still much more that needs to be done.
The actual effort is coming from individuals and from BIPOC-facing institutions, he says.
Its not coming from the industry in the way that I think it should.
Which, really, is just telling the truth.
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