Hi everyone,
This past weekend, I was meant to go elk hunting. And I was VERY excited about it. Growing up on the East Coast, hunting was something I knew very little about but had very strong opinions about. I don’t know when I was first exposed to the idea of hunting, but on principle I was against it. Killing animals for sport seemed unnecessarily cruel. When I got older, my issue with hunting became more complex. I came to understand the connection between hunting and our food system, but I also saw how hunting intersected with white supremacy and patriarchy.
According to the 2022 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation, the latest data available, “in 2022, 14.4 million people 16 years old and older enjoyed hunting within the United States. Of the U.S. population 16 years old and older, 9 percent of males, 2 percent of females, and 4 percent of other genders enjoyed hunting in 2022. Of the 14.4 million participants who hunted, 77 percent (11.0 million) were male, 22 percent (3.1 million) were female, and 1 percent (0.2 million) were another gender. Of that percentage of hunters, 11.1 million were white and 1.5 million were African American.” Hunting in the United States is disproportionately white and male.
It wasn’t until I moved to Washington in 2021 and learned about Hunters of Color, a national non-profit organization founded in August 2020 by Jimmy Flatt, Thomas Tyner and Lydia Parker to increase Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) participation in hunting, conservation and food sovereignty, that I began to expand my understanding and world view. I was made aware of the fact that hunting is an ancestral tradition for many Black and Indigenous people that connects them to the land and represents food sovereignty and self-determination. This topic is, of course, far more complicated than I’ve outlined here and requires much deeper exploration than I can get into in less than 1,000 words, but I have become far more open and understanding about hunting. And eager to learn more about the Black and brown people involved in it.
This past weekend, I was set to go to Eastern Oregon to film with Kenny Hamlett, a Black hunter, as he hunted for elk in his efforts to become more self-reliant and less dependent upon the commercial food system. I can’t be certain how I would have actually felt if the hunt were successful — seeing an elk die would no doubt lead to a deeply visceral and uncomfortable reaction — but I was looking forward to experiencing a powerful tradition and way of life so unlike my own.
If you live in the Pacific Northwest, you know why this hunt didn’t happen. The PNW is currently experiencing the worst fire season in 30 years with several raging fires here in Washington. From the BBC:
"Wildfires have forced around 60,000 people to evacuate parts of Washington state, destroying hundreds of buildings and leaving thousands without power.
Three major blazes continued to burn around the city of Spokane on Monday, with officials warning that the fires had not been contained.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown described the situation as ‘the worst natural disaster our region has faced’, adding that authorities were assessing the extent of the damage and were ‘still discussing the potential for lives to be lost’.”
My thoughts are with everyone experiencing the devastating effects of the fires and I’m sending deep gratitude to the brave people who are continuing to fight the fires on our behalf.
Scientists link the increase in severity and frequency of wildfires across the globe to human-driven climate change and historical land management practices. With increased drought and decreased snowpack, there is very little to prevent small fires from very quickly becoming out of control. Cascade PBS recently did an episode of The Newsfeed called “Will skiing in Washington exist in 20 years?” where a climatologist shared that the state gets most of its fresh water throughout the year from its snowpack, so when we don't get any snow up in the mountains in the winter, we experience droughts and the fire season can be much worse.
Of course, lives lost are a far bigger price to pay than a shorter ski season — there’s absolutely no comparison — but all of these issues are ones we will continue to face in the PNW until we have a more comprehensive and drastic response to the climate crisis.
Behind the scenes
My son recently turned 7 years old and I’ve been reflecting on all of the adventures he’s been able to join me on through Out and Back. When I think about the power of representation, my son has grown up believing that it’s normal and quite frankly mundane to do activities outdoors. My son also believes it is completely normal to see his mom on TV and billboards! Filming this show has been a life-changing and beautiful experience for me, no doubt, but also my son.
Recap
REI recently featured me in a blog post on their website highlighting the work that I’ve done in the running and outdoor industries over the past 10+ years. From their website:
“[The] instinct to remove barriers—to make movement more accessible and adaptable—is the thread running through everything Désir has built. In 2013, she founded Harlem Run, a New York City run collective, to give Black and brown runners—and those who felt like outsiders in the running world—a place to show up exactly as they are. Nearly a decade later, she published Running While Black, a memoir and cultural history exploring Désir’s personal relationship to running, the sport’s exclusionary racial history, and how greater inclusion in the fitness industry could serve as a model for broader social change. And last year, she founded the We Out Here Trail Festival, a trail race designed for runners from underrepresented communities. At its second annual event last month, 250 people registered and over 160 finished the race.
After more than a decade of this work, Désir thinks about movement not as performance or optimization, but as a practice of joy and longevity, as well as an opportunity for the sort of community-building that’s especially important right now.”
Get Outdoors: Upcoming events
Out and Back will be featured in TWO incredible festivals this summer and we hope you’ll join us there!
- Seattle Black Nerd Festival - Aug. 28-30th at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute. Out and Back guests will be featured on a panel on Sunday, August 30th. The best part is that the event is free! SBNF brings fans, artists and creators together to celebrate anime and gaming, science fiction, technology, filmmaking, cosplay, music, and more, creating a space for Black creativity, curiosity and connection.
- Bumbershoot Videorama - Sept. 5th and 6th. Out and Back will be part of the Bumbershoot Videorama at the SIFF Film Center. Season 4 Episode 7, "Belonging on the Green," will be screened both afternoons along with a Q&A on Saturday at 2 p.m. Note: No outside tickets will be sold — only Bumbershoot pass-holders will be able to attend the screenings — and the festival is almost sold out.
- Big Day of Play – August 15th at Rainier Playfield and Mount Baker Rowing and Sailing Center. Presented by Seattle Parks & Recreation's Get Moving Initiative, this event is a celebration of Seattle's diversity and it encourages neighbors, communities and families to have fun, build relationships and be active together.
- Sirius Astronomy at Camp Long – September 11th and 12th. Join Sirius Astronomy for stargazing and adventure at Camp Long in West Seattle.
See you outside,
Alison
