Outside with My Black Self: Reconnecting to Nature

Happy April! Springtime is among us – the birds are chirping louder, your neighbors are cutting the grass, and you are probably listening to this podcast while driving down a snowless road.

This is a great moment to start reconnecting to nature, and our guests on this week’s episode of Black Body Health: The Podcast would agree.

Meet Jordan Bethea, production manager for Backyard Basecamp located in the Baltimore area. He’s a first generation farmer working to help Black people in their nature reconnection journey near the city.

We also have Andrea Ramos on the podcast, an amateur climber who made a major move to Salt Lake City in order to actively experience nature with her new found BIPOC climbing community.

They both have a connection to the earth but understand that for others, interacting with the outdoors may be more difficult to start. Host Natasha Phelps hikes through the topics of stigma, lack of access and the issues of safety Black people often experience when exploring nature.

As you listen to the conversation, understand that hiking, climbing or enjoying a walk by a river are not activities that “Black people don’t do.” We all deserve to have clean air, trees and feel safe when we’re outside — whether we’re in the mountains or on some acreage of land in the inner city.

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TIMESTAMPS:

5:14 – Center News

7:42 – I Love Nature

18:25  – Meet Our Guests

REFERENCES:

• Backyard Basecamp
• The Gear Fund Collective
• Farming While Black
• Effect of Greening Vacant Land on Mental Health of Community-Dwelling Adults

CREDITS:
Host, Natasha Phelps
Producer, Chelsey Sellars
Logo Designer, Ashlee Woods