Changing the Rhetoric on Race

I am white but I wanted to break down the rhetoric that I believe exists in this country that gives white people an undeniable privilege. Both in an attempt to put my feelings, of how wrong the recent events are, into words and hopefully share some bit of information that can help move the Black People Matter movement further.

Late at night on May 28, President Trump tweeted “these THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen. Just spoke to Governor Tim Waltz and told him that the military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

In one tweet, President Trump has outlined the problem with America today and why the protestors are out in force in Minneapolis. And our failure to realize this, as a white people, is why we’re failing as a nation.

It all starts with the word “thug.”

In 2015, NPR released a segment on “The racially charged meaning behind the word thug,” in which John McWhorter, associate professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University states “When somebody talks about thugs ruining a place, it is almost impossible today that they are referring to somebody with blond hair. It is a sly way of saying there go those black people ruining things again. And so anybody who wonders whether thug is becoming the new N-word doesn’t need to. It most certainly is.”

President Barack Obama used it to describe the protestors in Baltimore, and now this.

But, what calling a group of African American “thugs” does is makes it okay for everyday people to think of every black person as a “thug,” to think that every black person has created some crime, is violent, is aggressive.

For centuries, American dialect and sentiment has been pushing forward the idea that black people are guilty. That they all have guns on them at all times, that they’re up to no good.

It’s why, in a second of decision, and minutes of acting, from a white person, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and so so many more have been murdered for going about their everyday lives, they were deemed guilty before anyone got the full story.

The impact of this rhetoric goes far beyond life or death situations. It’s why a Black Man makes $0.87 to every $1 a white man makes. It’s why black students start behind their white peers as early as kindergarten. It’s why black moms die more than twice as often as white moms during childbirth. And it’s why African Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

And every single white person, including me, is guilty of this because of our refusal to give up our privilege, our lack of trying to break down the barriers to every person of color achieving the American dream, and our lack of understanding our role in the bigger picture.

So, I believe that every person has the responsibility to be better. To at least begin to do their part to change the rhetoric of America.

Start small. Analyze your own thoughts when it comes to People of Color. Have you fallen victim to clutching your purse a little tighter when you walk past a black person or seen a person of color going about their everyday life and thought “it’s weird that person is there, they seem out of place”? Then work on changing that.

As Chris Cooper, the man who Amy Cooper called the police on for asking her to put her dog on a leash, said on the View, “take the time, and be real with yourself about your guttural reaction. We’re human, so sometimes we react poorly. But think about what made you go to such an ugly place, and address what you can do to change that hard-coded behavior.”

Then, go bigger. Bring more resources to communities where People of Color live, give people of color a seat at the highest tables and listen to their ideas, give people of color a chance to lead, treat them as individuals, support them as they loot to get someone to notice there needs to be change, and do your part to end systemic racism.

Learning materials:

75 things White People Can Do for Racial Justice

Anti-racism Resources

How Do I make sure I’m not raising the next Amy Cooper

 

Donate:

Minnesota Freedom Fund

 

Demand Justice:

Color of Change

You Won’t Come Here

You won’t come here.

You won’t make the trip to the small town six hours away from any major U.S. city, the one with a family-run snow cone truck, a small bed and breakfast and one major street.

You won’t drive along the dirt road that leads you deeper into nowhere. The one that goes from being slightly smooth to being a maze of divots and bumps that make your car defy the laws of gravity. The one that has single-handedly taken out multiple vehicles, leaving them with dents, shattered windshields, broken bumpers, and completely un-drivable.

You won’t squeeze through the tight canyons, pushing up against the sandpaper stone as you maneuver through an endless wonderland of rocks. Canyons you wouldn’t be able to find unless you were looking for them, hidden in what looks like just another desert scene. You won’t test your fear of heights as you jump through small holes on the way down or rely on friends to pull you up smooth surfaces you can’t quite climb. You won’t walk away with bruised knees and scraped elbows from testing just how hard the walls really are.

You won’t see the vibrant colors of a desert waterfall or feel the cool crisp water as you jump in from the cliff above. You might not even get lost on the way back to the car.

You won’t watch the sun set over endless canyons and breathtaking sand formations or have a late-night fire before bed. And you (maybe hopefully) won’t find a scorpion on your tent the next morning.

You won’t try and fit in one last hike before you have to head back home, squeezing adventure out of every last second and still leaving so much land untouched.

You won’t see the 75 million years of history, from dinosaur fossils to petroglyphs.

You won’t come here because when you try, this place won’t exist.

 

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is a 1.9 million acre section of protected land in southern Utah. It is known for its unique geological features, being deeply rooted in Native American culture, and the incomparable small towns scattered throughout the area. President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke plan on reducing the size of the monument or demolishing it all together, allowing developments, mining, and logging on the land. This would tear apart the natural beauty that many worship and ruin the area for future generations. We can’t let this happen. Learn more and join the fight. 

Now, More than Ever: Love Must Trump Hate

Sure, this has been said in a million different ways on a thousand different platforms over the last two days, but everyone processes Trump being elected president in their own way. And whether that’s by writing letters, angry texts, long strings of cuss words in a Facebook post or writing blogs, we need to speak out.

If you ask a Trump supporter why they voted for him, it’s because they agree with him on one issue. Maybe it’s his stance on the second amendment, maybe it’s his trade policies, and maybe they’re just sick of politics being the same old-boys club.

However, voting for Trump because you agreed with him on one single issue condones his hateful behavior. 59,937,338 in the United States support being discriminatory towards people of different races, different religions, different genders, sexual orientations and abilities so that one issue is possibly addressed in the next 4 years. (And as someone who walks the streets of this country as someone who is not a white, straight, male I hope for the lesser of two evils and that people only condone his behavior and there are not 59,937,338 racist, misogynistic, sexist, discriminatory people in the United States.)

But this problem of seemingly condoning someone’s discriminatory behavior goes beyond electing Trump as president. It happens every time we reinstate a professional athlete to a team after being accused of rape or physical abuse. It happens every time there is silence after someone says the n-word, retarded, hag, bitch, etc. It happens every time someone says an uneducated comment and isn’t taught the truth.

Now, more than ever, we need to show that we, the people of the United States of America, will not stand for hateful behavior. That a woman should be able to walk down the street without being whistled at or be able to go to a bar and get drunk without the fear of being raped. That a black man can drive city streets without the fear that being pulled over could also mean being shot. That people living with disabilities can dream big without being ridiculed.

As Jenna Amatulli points out in her article “If You’re Overwhelmed by the Election, Here’s What You Can Do Now,” we can fight hate with love. No matter which way you voted, start standing up for those that don’t have the same rights. Unless you are a racist, misogynistic, sexist, discriminatory pig, in which case, no one wants you here.

The Art of Moving Somewhere New

My dream job would be to have an Instagram famous dog. But, since I don’t have a dog at the moment, I’ve spent the year and a half since college looking for the second best job by jumping from contract work to contract work to my first “real” job. This experiment has taken me to 3 different states, 4 different jobs, and 5 (soon to be 6) different houses. Through this adventure, I’ve learned tips and tricks of moving somewhere new.

Sometimes It’s Better to Move To a New City Without Visiting

The truth is, you’ll be able to make any city or town home. Each one has its unique spots, unique characters, and lovable dive bars. When you’re exploring a city with the option of not moving there, you notice what is wrong. When you decide to move a place, you make the best of what is there.

Always See an Apartment or House Before Moving In

If you’re moving for a short period of time, this doesn’t matter as much. However, if you’re living somewhere for more than a few months, meet the roommates and see the house before you move in. Skype won’t give the house justice or show your roommates’ oddities.

You Learn to be Independent

When you move somewhere new by yourself, you learn to do a number of things you never thought you’d have to do. Think getting to your new “home” from the airport, lifting all of your belongings up several flights of stairs, getting to work by driving/biking/bussing on streets you don’t know, and even fixing toilets. It’s both awesome and terrifying.

The First Few Months are Hard

It sucks not having your go-to friends that you text when you need to grab a beer and vent after work. And it sucks that when you want to do something you don’t have anyone to ask if they want to go with you. There will also be one or two or five moments that cause you to totally break down and convince yourself that moving across the country was a mistake and you should just live with your parents until your 40. For me, this was when my housing fell through the morning I was supposed to move in the first state, when I rolled my ankle and had to walk a mile home in the second state because I didn’t know who to call, and when Dollar Rent-A-Car wouldn’t let me rent a car in the third state. But once you get past this phase, it’s easy to forget it ever happened.

Join Some Groups

Some of the best friends I met came from groups I found on meetup.com, in running clubs, or on soccer teams. You have to force yourself to get out and meet people. Then you’ll have drinking buddies for life.

Living in Los Angeles

Within two weeks, I had agreed to take an internship, move to Los Angeles and into a room in a house I had never seen. I knew a couple people in the area, but most of what I knew about LA happened in TV shows or movies. For someone who grew up in a college town, LA offered a culture shock that I wasn’t necessarily expecting.

• Everyone drives: Even though Missing Persons has a song that’s lyrics are literally “nobody walks in LA,” you don’t realize how true it is until you carpool with someone to a restaurant that is down the street.
• LA is huge: In any place I have lived, when someone says they are visiting your city, they are about 15 minutes away. When someone says they are visiting LA, they can be staying up to two hours away from you plus rush hour traffic.
• There are aspiring actors, everywhere: The first person I met in LA was my property manager, who on the side was trying to get into acting, voice-overs, and animations. He told me he was the face of T-mobile, which I later learned meant he worked the T-mobile tent at expo events. Plus, people who have established careers are also in commercials for fabric softener.
• Hollywood is prevalent: As a runner, I messed up a record number of movie and photo shoots.
• You do casually see famous people: Though I didn’t see any of the classic “A-list” actors, “The Golden Boy,” who has a net worth of $200 million was once at the same dive bar and bought rounds of drinks, which I happily accepted since I don’t think I have a net worth.
• The dating rules are very different: Guys felt it was okay to say the sentence “age is just a number” in a serious way.
• The people are awesome: Compared to Seattle, people are more than willing to invite you to be part of their group. After meeting someone only a couple of times, they will invite you to drink with them and their group.
• The food is amazing: There are endless options of hole in the wall restaurants of any type of food you can imagine. Just try poke, it will change your world.
• There’s the beach: Though this seems cliche, having the beach a short drive away was a life changing experience for a Colorado girl.

After my five-month internship came to an end, I was actually sad to leave Los Angeles. It is a place that has a way of growing on you.

 

 

Solo Adventuring

Red Rock Canyon Park near Malibu

As John Muir said, “The mountains are calling and I must go.” However, sometimes the mountains seem to call when all your friends are busy or when rallying the troops seems more like herding cats. Sometimes it’s better to just go out on your own.

So instead of waiting for everyone to reply on that group text or you’ve heard the “I’m busy” excuse one too many times, lace up your shoes and head out solo.

 

The Pros:

• It’s All Up to You: You get to choose where you go, the pace, and if you want to stop for that In-n-Out Burger when you’re done.
• You get a lot figured out: Whether or not you think you needed to, when you’re out in the wilderness without your phone and all you can do is think, you find solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had.
• You only have to worry about yourself: My coworker recently said “Finding a pace partner is as hard as finding a romantic partner.” Even though you’ll do anything for a friend, like slowing down or taking the easy route, it’s a relief to solely worry about you’re wellbeing.
• You feel like the King (or Queen) of the hill: When you make it to the top of whichever hill you’ve decided to hike, you get to be there by yourself. Therefore, ultimately winning “King of the Hill.”

The Cons:

• It can get lonely: One of the best parts of having friends on trips are the countless inside jokes that come with it. It’s near impossible to have inside jokes with yourself.
• It’s more expensive: You’re no longer splitting everything with a friend and sometimes you just can’t afford to do it solo.

 

Whether you’re exploring a new city or country, spending a day there or several months, solo adventuring is worth a try!

Pelican in Malibu

To Bring or Not Bring Your Phone

It was the longest walk of shame I’ve ever taken. And I wasn’t even carrying my heels or wearing last night’s clothes.

It was just another run. Something I’ve done most days for the past 9 years. During those nine years, I’ve fallen countless times, hurdled snakes, been surprised by bears, and even been attacked by a bird and yet somehow, I’ve always been able to run home. That was until Sunday night. This time it wasn’t a snake, bear, or bird that took me out, but some sort of tropical pinecone.

Pretty much, the pinecone lay there unassuming when I came along, stepped on it and rolled my ankle. Then while I hobbled away cursing, it continued to lie there. And it continued to do nothing while my ankle felt like it nearly doubled in size.

I found myself sitting on a curb two miles from home with a newfound inability to run and nothing more than a 7-year-old Ipod that had long lost it’s ability to connect to the Internet in my possession. Thus began my walk of shame.

After a confusing conversation with a very high employee at the grocery store and an even more confusing conversation with a cab driver who didn’t understand why I didn’t have money on me, I made it through my front door with very little dignity.

The whole night made me think: should I bring a phone on my run? Running has always been my escape. For an hour, I can’t check my email, no one can text me, and my mom can’t call. But, if I am injured or get in trouble, finding help is up to me.

So I was torn:

Here’s why you should bring your phone:

Incase you come upon something bad. In too many thrillers, it’s the runner that finds the dead body. Or in Katherine Lackey’s case, she came upon someone who needed immediate medical attention and it’s hard to call 9-1-1 without a cellphone.

Incase it gets dark. Most smart phones are now equipped with flashlights. And incase it gets dark without you completely realizing, you’ll be able to get yourself out of the woods without using flint and steal to make a torch.

Incase you get lost. I probably use Google maps on my phone more than any other app. And as someone who is prone to getting lost, it’s not a terrible idea to have a way to find where I am.

Here’s why you shouldn’t bring your phone:

Breaks from your phone increase creativity. Disconnecting from your phone restores your prefrontal brain circuits, which is where creativity and higher-level thinking take place. In other words, leaving your phone makes you smarter.

It forces you to problem solve. Remember that teacher that you hated for making you figure that math problem out and didn’t just tell you the answer. And now, to this day, you remember how to solve for “x.” Well, being without a phone is the same idea. You have to learn which way is North, and if that way is North, which way do you live. You have to take a first aid class and you have to time your runs so you’re not in the woods in the dark.

So which way do you lean?

The Squat and Shake

Backpacker Magazine recently released an article giving tips to women on how to pee in the woods without toilet paper. But for anyone who has ever had to pee behind a tree before, this article was fairly degrading (and also suggested using a stick as toilet paper, which just sounds painful). So, let’s talk about having to go to the bathroom in the woods in a way that won’t have you picking out splinters from down there later. If you’ve never peed or pooed on the woods, here is what to expect. If you have, here are some awkward and embarrassing moments that (hopefully) you can relate to.

Peeing in the woods: It’s normal to get a little stage fright, even if it is only the squirrels, birds, and that one mountain lion that you know is always watching who sees you. So chug a bunch of water, bite the bullet and do it. It will only get easier. Make sure you squat low and pay attention to the slope you’re on.

The pit toilet: They’re both gross and fantastic. While they make it easy by not having you dig a six-inch hole, they’re usually slightly awkward to use by including obstacles like balancing on a half-foot wide board or squatting over damp wood. The good thing, Brendon Leonard from the Adventure Journal has put a list together of the pit toilets with the best views.

Packing it out: There are some areas, mostly when you’re hiking on glaciers, where you wouldn’t be able to dig deep enough to reach the dirt to bury your poo, so they give you “human waste disposal bags.” (Which I want to be changed to “poo with a view bags”.) They even include a sheet of paper with a target on it. It’s a thing, it’s a necessary evil, and it’s only awkward when the cute park ranger asks if you got a chance to use the human waste disposal bags.

Peeing with no tree cover: This is where guys are lucky. They can easily just turn their back. Girls, on the other hand, struggle most with this. (A google search only resulted in a series of awkward youtube videos). It’s damn obvious what we’re doing when we squat down. So, short of shouting that there’s a bald eagle in the opposite direction, our options are baring all or finding a conveniently placed rock. And even when you’re in a place where most of the other hikers are guys, it sometimes involves a longer hike to keep our assets hidden. (Pun definitely intended).

So, going to the bathroom in the woods can be awkward, but we don’t need to be taught how to or pampered with toilet paper. The discussion is about keeping our ladylike bathroom etiquette while we are in the woods, on the side of a mountain, or in the middle of an open field. And very few of us are comfortable getting caught in the act.

The Year of the Snake

Like many adventures, I like to think of myself as pretty hardcore. I’ve had too many scratches to count after hiking off-trail, peed deep in the woods and on top of mountains, pulled a half inch pushpin out of my foot, dealt with bloody noses and ankles that no longer look like ankles. But, I have an Achilles’ heel in the wilderness: the snake.

Not the snake I saw, but a snake none the less

To set the scene, I was running my favorite loop in Boulder. One that starts in a grassy field and climbs up into the Flatirons then loops back to the neighborhoods. I had my music turned up and smiled at someone running the opposite direction. Then two steps later, something that was long, greenish, and most definitely a rattlesnake squirmed by my feet. What came next was a noise I myself didn’t know I could make: a high-pitched squeal. After silently cursing the runner I passed for not warning me, I spent the rest of the run staring at my feet waiting for another snake to strike.

I then to had to admit to myself that I am terrified of rattlers. Even the wikihow article How To Face Your Fears (With Pictures) wasn’t enough to settle help me face the snake. I was feeling rather helpless.

But then I realized, everyone has their fear. For one of my friends, it’s bears. And she wasn’t too pleased with us when we left her cooking curry to set up the bear bag. For another, it’s heights and when I suggested cliff jumping she flat out said no.

The topic of being afraid is seen as off-limits, replaced by the idea that it is a weakness. However, being afraid doesn’t mean we’re not badasses. It just means we’re logical. So this is a call to admit your fear. Just don’t let it stop you from doing your favorite activities. And maybe, when you have to face your fear, don’t do it with a high-pitched squeal.

The Two Types of Adventurers (and Why You Need Both)

There we were, with a mini van stuck in the mud, the tire spinning out, and no real plan of what to do or where to go next when my adventure buddy for the day uttered the words “I could never go on a trip with you.”

Ok, I’ll admit it. If I plan an adventure, at least one thing tends to go wrong. I’ve gotten two cars locked into a park that I didn’t know closed (what time is dusk at anyway?), led a group up to the top of a mountain we weren’t supposed to summit, and at that moment had gotten a company car stuck in the mud somewhere on a Washington island I’d never been on. So maybe my adventure buddy’s claims weren’t completely off base.

This is when I realized there are two extremes of adventurers: the planner and the dynamo. And just like sexuality, the types of adventurers are on a scale.

The Planner: The planner is all about maps, dates, and reservations. They’ve done the research and know what’s in the area before they get there and they can always answer the question, “where are we sleeping tonight?”

The Dynamo: The dynamo is up to do just about anything. They thrive at making last minute decisions and tend to never have a plan. Their answer to “where are we sleeping tonight?” tends to be, “in a tent” or “if all else fails, I can sleep in the car.”

As much as these two types of adventurers clash, the truth is you need both on every trip. Though both types of adventurers can instigate trips, the planner does so with research. Wherever you end up is going to be open, safe, and they’ll be sure you have the right gear for the trip. However, the dynamo can deal with the unexpected. Since no trip ever goes as planned, they are the creative problem solvers when the hotels are full, when a water source is hard to find, or the trail disappears. It’s the age-old story of when people work together, adventures happen.

As much as these two types of adventurers clash, the truth is you need both on every trip. Though both types of adventurers can instigate trips, the planner does so with research. Wherever you end up is going to be open, safe, and they’ll be sure you have the right gear for the trip. However, the dynamo can deal with the unexpected. Since no trip ever goes as planned, they are the creative problem solvers when the hotels are full, when a water source is hard to find, or the trail disappears. It’s the age-old story of when people work together, adventures happen.