Nature is my escape, my reset, and my passion. Whenever I am in a community outdoors and connecting Black folks to nature, I am most happy and at peace. While I do this work of connecting Black people to nature in a variety of capacities, being an Outdoor Afro volunteer leader for the past seven years has allowed me to consistently practice that passion in new and exciting ways.
By Hillary Van Dyke
Outdoor Afro is a national not-for-profit organization that celebrates and inspires Black connections and leadership in nature. A major part of making that work happen is through a network of over 100 volunteer leaders like myself throughout the United States who lead groups of Black folks on monthly trips outdoors. In 2016, there were no groups in Florida, but I along with two other volunteer leaders brought Outdoor Afro networks to Florida. My network is the St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay network, but there are also networks in Miami/West Palm Beach and Tallahassee.
The St. Pete/Tampa Bay network has enjoyed an event every month since May 2016. Our first event was a hike at Sawgrass Lake Park in St. Petersburg with just one participant. Since then, the participant count has grown. The largest event I did was camping at Boyd Hill Nature Park with almost 60 folks, or Afros as we call them. In the 2022-2023 season, my network has also been blessed with a second leader, which will make the reach of programming even wider. Our activities have included hiking, archery, kayaking, biking, history tours, seeing a movie, paddleboarding, fishing clinics, deep sea fishing, boot camp, African dance class, camping, yoga, and more!
As I have grown as a leader, the types of events have grown as well. While we still hike or bike or kayak, we are also working towards certifications. Last year, we had several rounds of swim lessons through the City of St. Petersburg, which inspired people who could not make those lessons to pursue swim lessons on their own. As we expand this work, we look forward to using Outdoor Afro’s popular Making Waves program to offer group swim lessons to community members who are interested in learning the basics of swimming. Making Waves is the network’s response to the alarming number of Black children who drown today tied to the historical prohibition of Black access to public pools and beaches. We also had seven people from our network become scuba certified with another set of folks planning to do so this year. In June 2022, six people participated in the American Canoe Association’s Essential of Kayak Touring Instructor Certification Training and can now lead kayak trips. Toward the end of the year, 10 people will become certified archery trip leaders.
The beauty of this is that there is something for everyone at every level of interest for nature exploration. Whether a person just wants to interact on the Facebook group to learn about different types of activities or connect with others, or if they just want to learn about the types of gear that will lead to successful trips, or if they want to join a group of like-minded individuals in the outdoors, or if they want to get certified in different sports, Outdoor Afro St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay is for them. We have become each other’s home away from home and look to continue to add to our family. Now that summer is starting to wind down and people are thinking about escaping their air conditioning, the time is nigh to participate in programming with the local network. Find us on Meetup or connect with us on Facebook to see what unapologetic Black joy looks like. Visit outdoorafro.org to learn more about our network events.