So in planning this whole thruhiking endeavor, I’ve been well aware of how selfish it is. I have few illusions about my endeavor; my fiscal ability to escape, to (literally) walk away from the problems plaguing Black and Brown folk, is an indicator of my privilege¹. And while this blog, I hope, is indicative of my attempts to stay engaged in/with the struggle for equality – or at least to push for it in other arenas – I thought I’d try to do something a little more potent, too.

As such, I’ve set up a CrowdRise fundraiser for Big City Mountaineers. BCM is a Denver(-ish) based non-profit that works to get urban, at-risk (read: primarily Brown) teens into the backcountry, so they can get a second to breathe, to collect themselves, before heading back into the fray. People who travel, who move, often get a better sense of the bigger picture: it opens their minds to possibilities beyond what they know. There’s a reason myopia is a disease, and I want to help afford these young adults the opportunity to both broaden their perspectives and give them a chance to focus on themselves, away from others who police their bodies, tell them who they should be and how.

Getting outdoors has been healing for me – I’ve found in the mountains a place where I just get to be me, away from all the politics and presuppositions around my skin color. And while I’d argue no escape can or should be permanent, if you’re up for giving these kids a break, please consider donating. They’ll have the rest of their lives to live the struggle.

[1] Along with the initially-ambiguous nature of my ethnicity, my cis-gender, my able-bodiedness, arguably my nationality… I pulled a pretty okay birth card, all things considered.