SAWS was created to help take care of wild places and make them safe and accessible for current and future generations. This means acknowledging that public lands and wilderness areas are not equitably accessible, and that there is a long history of systemic racism that has excluded, erased and harmed Black, Indigenous and people of color in the outdoors. Barriers to safe, inclusive access also exist for people who identify as LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and others.

 

SAWS is committed to doing the individual, organizational, and institutional work necessary to recognize historic and systemic racism and contribute to meaningful change in our areas of influence. By working with partners and supporting BIPOC-led organizations who are leaders in this space, we hope to do our part to create a more just outdoor community, where diversity is valued, people of all backgrounds are welcome and included, and past injustices are acknowledged and addressed in ways that create equity in access to places, resources, programs, and careers in the outdoors.

 

Throughout our website, you can find information about how SAWS is integrating Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility values and action into each of our areas of work.

 

The resources below have been helpful to our staff in learning about and building JEDI principles into our work. We invite you to join us in learning from these resources, and also welcome input on additional resources that you have found helpful.

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Articles

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• Action Now by Teresa Baker and José González

• The Perils of Being Black in Public by Carolyn Finney

• We’re Here. You Just Don’t See Us. and Out There, Nobody Can Hear You Scream By Latria Graham 

• People of Color Have Always Been Outdoors. What Can We Learn from Past Decades of Engagement by Nina Roberts and Alan Spears

• Shenandoah National Park is Confronting Its History by Kathryn Miles

• Black Birders Call Out Racism, Say Nature Should be for Everyone, Scientific American Interview with the Co-Organizers of Black Birders Week; and Black Birders Week Promotes Diversity and Takes on Racism in the Outdoors, Audubon Magazine article by Jillian Mock

• ‘Bad Things Happen in the Woods’: The Anxiety of Hiking While Black, Interview in The Guardian with Three African-American Hikers

• The Scariest Encounters Women Have on the Appalachian Trail Are With Men by Melanie Hamlett

• Environmental Health Means Being Pro-Black by Olivia Juarez

• I Would But: I am the Only Person of Color by Ambreen Tariq

• The Changing Face of Camping by Kari Paul

• An Open Letter to the Outdoor Industry on Diversity by Teresa Baker

• When Open Spaces Aren’t Open for All by Tonyisha Harris

• The Future is Female and These 40 Women Are Proof, Outside Magazine 2017 feature including a diverse group of women impacting the outdoor world

• LGBTQ+ Adventurers, In Their Own Words by Aer Parris

• Rethinking How We Celebrate American History – Indigenous Peoples’ Day by Dennis W. Zotigh and Renee Gokey

• We Want to Tell Our Own Stories: Public Lands and Indigenous Histories: Interview with Len Necefer, Founder of NativeOutdoors

• Indigenous Rights and Public Lands: A Chat with Anna Elza Brady

• How to Be An Active Bystander When You See Casual Racism by Ruth Terry

• The Miseducation of Leave No Trace - Policing Black and Brown Bodies in the Outdoors by Danielle Williams

• 5 Ways to Build a More Racially Inclusive Hiking Community by David Robles 

 

 

Books

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• Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolyn Finney 

• Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

• Engage, Protect, Connect: Empowering Diverse Youth as Environmental Leaders by Angelou Ezeilo

• The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair With Nature by J. Drew Lanham

• How to be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

• Legacy on the Land: A Black Couple Discovers Our National Inheritance and Tells Why Every American Should Care by Audrey Peterman

• Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad

• Trace: Memory, History, Race and the American Landscape by Lauret Savoy

• The Unlikely Thru-Hiker: An Appalachian Trail Journey by Derick Lugo

• White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

 

 

Webinars/Conversations

 

• 2020 Outdoor Retailer Panel: Systemic Change: What Might That Look Like in the Outdoor Retailer Industry

• Anti-racism in our National Parks, Hosted by The Joy Trip Project

• 2020 Outdoor Afro Glamp In (recorded broadcast)

• House Natural Resources Committee Hearing: Examining the Barriers and Solutions to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at the Department of the Interior

 

 

 

Other Resources

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• Public Lands in the United States: A Curriculum, including the module How Did Public Lands Come to Be? (this material was co-developed by the Avarna Group and TWS to support equity work in conservation)

• Diversify Outdoors Resource Page (has videos, articles, podcasts and books)

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and the Salience of Publicly Disclosing Demographic Data in American Environmental Nonprofits by Dorceta E. Taylor *, Sophia Paul and Ember McCoy

• 1619 Project, includes audio series

• Harvard’s Project Implicit (implicit association tests)

• Interview with Ibram X. Kendi and Brené Brown on How to be an Antiracist (1 hour audio)

• Interview with Robin DiAngelo on White Fragility (30 minutes)

• Talking About Race (text and audio/visual content), National Museum of African American History and Culture (also has a link to additional resources)

• The Venture Out Project Resource page

• Society For Outdoor Recreation Professionals JEDI page

• Essential Tips for LGBTQ Travelers in the Great Outdoors (article with great links)

• If She Can Do It, You Can Too (women’s stories, role models, voices)

• Native Land Digital (maps and learning resources)

• #HonorNativeLand Guide

• Native Knowledge 360

• NativesOutdoors Reading List for the Outdoor Industry

• Social Justice Books: A Teaching for Change Project (has curated lists of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators)

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