there was a time when I would see
African Americans is such an infrequent
rate that when I saw them it was just
that silence and that was once every
month or so when I first came here but
now my expectation is that every day I’m
here and at my job I will see an
african-american in 2013 after visiting
several national parks and not seeing
people of color not seeing African
Americans I started to grow concerned as
to why that is so I asked is this a
problem for the Park Service and the
Park Service will openly admit to this
being a problem they just don’t have the
means to solve it so we’ll take
grassroot organizations such as mine to
come in and engage communities of color
in these outdoor spaces their families
haven’t taken them to places like this
because their families don’t believe
that that there’s a cultural connection
or that these places are places for them
because the key thing to keep in mind is
that African Americans would come out of
a history of exclusion not inclusion so
it’s nice for us to actually receive an
invitation and and so that there’s a
sense of safety that when we get there
we’ll be treated fairly and we’ll be
treated with respect
there are african-americans right now
who have become the director of the
National Park Service I’m referring to
buffs and there are African Americans
who are right now chief Rangers but they
are in general unknown to the larger
culture of African Americans so there
needs to be a little bit more clarity
and an expression of the accomplishments
that these pioneers have made before
there was a National Park Service in
1916 it was the US Army there took care
of all the national parks and it just so
happened that during that period there
was the 9th cavalry which was an
all-black unit the Buffalo Soldiers were
African American soldiers that were
allowed to join the regular US military
after the end of the Civil War so they
went to Yosemite and protected it from
poacher
protected it from people who will start
forest fires and and part of that whole
history has been sort of lost in way
American history stop I never saw people
that really looked like me on the trail
you know I was fortunate enough to you
know have a father that was a lover of
nature too
and so at a early age I remember one of
our first national parks we went to
Yosemite and I was just blown away and
we hiked up to the Falls and I’ve been
hooked I’ve been hooked ever since
it’s important for people of color to
develop or reestablish relationships
with the outdoors so that in 15 to 20
years when people of color are the
number one demographic in the country we
will have established those
relationships when Olivia is an adult
and she’s my age I really hope that
these parks are preserved giving her
this introduction now I hope that this
seed is planted so deep within her that
you know you know we never know we may
be raising one of the world’s you know
conservationists but this is just
beautiful it’s beautiful and we need to
protect it
[Music]
you
African Americans is such an infrequent
rate that when I saw them it was just
that silence and that was once every
month or so when I first came here but
now my expectation is that every day I’m
here and at my job I will see an
african-american in 2013 after visiting
several national parks and not seeing
people of color not seeing African
Americans I started to grow concerned as
to why that is so I asked is this a
problem for the Park Service and the
Park Service will openly admit to this
being a problem they just don’t have the
means to solve it so we’ll take
grassroot organizations such as mine to
come in and engage communities of color
in these outdoor spaces their families
haven’t taken them to places like this
because their families don’t believe
that that there’s a cultural connection
or that these places are places for them
because the key thing to keep in mind is
that African Americans would come out of
a history of exclusion not inclusion so
it’s nice for us to actually receive an
invitation and and so that there’s a
sense of safety that when we get there
we’ll be treated fairly and we’ll be
treated with respect
there are african-americans right now
who have become the director of the
National Park Service I’m referring to
buffs and there are African Americans
who are right now chief Rangers but they
are in general unknown to the larger
culture of African Americans so there
needs to be a little bit more clarity
and an expression of the accomplishments
that these pioneers have made before
there was a National Park Service in
1916 it was the US Army there took care
of all the national parks and it just so
happened that during that period there
was the 9th cavalry which was an
all-black unit the Buffalo Soldiers were
African American soldiers that were
allowed to join the regular US military
after the end of the Civil War so they
went to Yosemite and protected it from
poacher
protected it from people who will start
forest fires and and part of that whole
history has been sort of lost in way
American history stop I never saw people
that really looked like me on the trail
you know I was fortunate enough to you
know have a father that was a lover of
nature too
and so at a early age I remember one of
our first national parks we went to
Yosemite and I was just blown away and
we hiked up to the Falls and I’ve been
hooked I’ve been hooked ever since
it’s important for people of color to
develop or reestablish relationships
with the outdoors so that in 15 to 20
years when people of color are the
number one demographic in the country we
will have established those
relationships when Olivia is an adult
and she’s my age I really hope that
these parks are preserved giving her
this introduction now I hope that this
seed is planted so deep within her that
you know you know we never know we may
be raising one of the world’s you know
conservationists but this is just
beautiful it’s beautiful and we need to
protect it
[Music]
you
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