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"

This article also available as a podcast here. Meet the Talent: Devin Dabney Devin Dabney (he/him/his) Do you have an MC Name? “Honestly, now I just go by my name cuz my name’s kind of a cool name: it’s an alliteration. It kind of sounds like a superhero name, like I think of Peter Parker,Continue reading "Hip Hop in Climbing: Part X"

This article also available as a podcast here. Meet the Talent: Ryan Edwards Ryan Edwards (he/him/his) Peep the BOC shirt MC Name: Ronin FM. “I do my music independently and I don’t need anyone or anything else to do it like, it’s like my thing. So Ronin is a Samurai with no master, that’s whyContinue reading "Hip Hop in Climbing: Part IX"

This article also available as a podcast here. Meet the Talent: Snousha Image from heysnousha.com/aboutme Snousha (she/her/hers) “My name is Snousha. My handles are @apaupersguide.health and @werkovheart. My work is featured here. I am a freestyle artist in addition to penning poetry. My MC names have shifted so much over the years for privacy concernsContinue reading "Hip Hop in Climbing: Part VIII"