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Hey, this is Trae Grace, and I'm back for a new season of We Outside. New last name, same mission.
We're centering Black joy, belonging and community outside. But this season, I've been thinking even more about why this matters.
I went for a bike ride on the Bison Trail near Columbus with AJ Boyce and Willie Franklin. You may remember them from last season.
I wanted to check back in after our conversation that reminded me that being outside doesn't feel the same for everyone and see what's shifted.
This transcript has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Boyce: There's just like this intensification due to the fact that there's just so much that can damper our spirits going on right now.
Grace: When I talked to AJ last season, he was already thinking about how to get more people outside.
Boyce: Where we really need something, we really need to have ourselves invested in our own communities and invest in our own well-being if we're going to be able to make it out to the other end of these things in a healthy way.
Grace: When we arrived at the event to meet up with each other, there was a very large crowd, and there were three of us — three people of color — even with bikes provided, even with the space wide open for a free event.
Boyce: Even though today I knew I was like, we're not going to have great numbers, the turnout is going to be very poor, but at least I can get a few photos and a few videos to show that we're doing it, so hopefully other people can see, 'okay, they're still doing it, so maybe I'll show up the next time.' It's just really like seeing yourself represented and then knowing that, okay, now that the equipment isn't a barrier, then the community also won't be a barrier and I can really get out there.
Grace: But getting out there doesn't feel the same for everyone. And for some of us, representation is part of what makes it feel more comfortable.
Here's Willie Franklin.
Franklin: It is interesting. You brought up the fact that we were so few in representation.
And without that representation, we can't begin to change the narrative. For folks who are not of color, who do not walk every day with melanated skin, when you look about your park area and you see people who look like you, you give no thought to their presence there; they're just in the park. Yet enter a group of folks of color enjoying that same space, and people will often ask, is this a group? Is there an event going on? All of a sudden, you're not just a citizen enjoying this nature space. You have to have a justifiable reason to be there, particularly in number.
Grace: I asked Willie what this year has looked like for him and what he's finding his way back to after a short break.
Franklin: Lots of camping, lots of hikes, lots of birding events and a lot of cycling.
Late fall — I should say just before winter kicked in, late December —things slowed down significantly as I underwent knee replacement surgery. That went phenomenally well. And now I'm on the upside of movement and agility and getting back out into nature.
The first excursion was three days ago, and I pedaled to the end of my street, which is only about 50 yards, and I could have cried. I mean, I felt so accomplished even doing that. Again, it's all about getting out and feeding the soul.
Grace: This season on We Outside, we're looking at some of the different ways we feed our souls out here.
We Outside is made possible with support from Five Rivers MetroParks and produced at the Eichelberger Center for Community Voices at WYSO.
