This article available as a podcast here Part VI: Jaylynn Ayanna    I sat down and had a chat with a Seattle local youth climbing competitor: Jaylynn Ayanna (she/they). Jaylynn is 18 years old who is a Black person and I wanted to get their point of view having been competing in local competitions for theContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part VI"

This article available as a podcast here Part V: Perspective    In order to more fully understand what sort of environment Evangelina Briggs and their family has been steeped in, let’s take a look at where they are from.    The Briggs family lives near a small town called Milton, Canada around the vicinity of the largerContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part V"

This article available as a podcast here Part IV: Is It Privilege?    In competitive sports we have also often seen two cornrows or ‘french braids’ on the heads of female athletes such as Brooke Raboutou. Is it appropriation?    To answer this question, I am going to put myself up as an example. As a personContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part IV"

This article available as a podcast here Part III: Sports and Black Hair    Do you remember the controversy around Gabby Douglas? Gabby Douglas: an accomplished Olympic gymnast who people only seemed to talk about her ‘unkempt’ hair.15 She has African hair that was slightly messy at times but when you are an athlete your hairContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part III"

This article available as a podcast here Part II: Black Hairstyles in Climbing Culture   Where has Black hair or Black hairstyles shown up in climbing culture?    In the early 2000’s, around the time of the first Black climbing ascents of Too-tok-ah-noo-lah7, a climber named Chris Sharma was on the rise. He had started climbing aroundContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part II"

This article is available as a podcast here “I am not my hair. I am not this skin. I am not your expectations, no no…I am the soul that lives within.” -India Arie1 Part I: Bo Derek    I gently swung the bathroom door open and raised my eyes to meet a white presenting seemingly cisContinue reading "Black Hair and Climbing Part I"

This article also available as a podcast here. Photo by Yuvraj Singh on Unsplash. Photo description: a hand holding a lighter in the dark close to a piece of paper. "Movin' forward Pressing onward, strivin' further Keep on laughin' Keep on livin', keep on lovin', yeah Keep on dreamin' Keep on achievin', keep on believin'Continue reading "Hip Hop Gone Wild: The Aftermath"

  Here we will take a critical look at what happens in affinity spaces when it is dominated by certain racial demographics of people of color and what effect it has upon those who are still a minority in that space. We will examine umbrella terms for people of color,  observe Climbers of Color's “BIPOC Climb Nights”2 within the Seattle area, look at the community through the lens of a Black and an Indigenous climber, and view the demographics of local boards.

This article also available as a podcast here. In the beginning there were 3 friends who went to a film festival and were shocked and horrified by what we saw.  Perhaps the most gut wrenching part about it was the intent behind attending this film festival was to possibly partner and host a No Man’sContinue reading "Hip Hop in Climbing: Final Words"

This article also available as a podcast here. Meet the Talent: Dakota Camacho Dakota Camacho (guiya/yóña) Tell us about yourself: "I try to share who I am and who my people are in everything that I do cuz I think that that matters. I’m Matao which is an Indigeneous way to think about the peopleContinue reading "Hip Hop in Climbing: Part XI"