Every February we honour the legacies, contributions, struggles, and triumphs of Black communities. We’re recognizing both Black History Month and Black Futures Month, acknowledging the past and present while also looking forward to an equitable future that celebrates Black leadership, resilience, and innovation. 

To help us celebrate Black voices in the outdoors and support anti-racism in outdoor learning, we’re sharing some incredible individuals and organizations at the forefront of this work along with some of our favourite books for learners and educator resources.

We encourage you to join us in supporting anti-racism in outdoor learning, not just in February but every day: uplifting and amplifying the work being done, learning more, celebrating Black joy in nature and taking action.

INDIVIDUALS/ORGANIZATIONS TO FOLLOW

• Diversity Education In Nature (DEIN) – The mission of DEIN is to use outdoor environmental education as a classroom to teach people of all ages how to build more equitable and inclusive human ecosystems as they gain a greater sense of wonder and understanding for the more-than-human world that surrounds us all. These workshops combine hands-on outdoor lessons and group discussions. DEIN believe that outdoor education is an effective way to make any community a more diverse, inclusive, and empathic place for all.
• Black in Nature – Black in Nature is an Ottawa-based non-profit organization founded by Lukeisha Andrews which aims to get Black children outside year-round, in all weather! Black in Nature focuses on fostering a reciprocal relationship between Black children, the land, others and with themselves. It’s a place where children are at the helm of their own learning, focussed on a play-based, emergent curriculum and inquiry-based learning models.
• Brown Girl Outdoor World – A Toronto-based organization creating space and changing the narrative through adventure, education, advocacy, access and opportunities.
• Colour the Trails – A Canadian group promoting diversity in outdoor sports like skiing, biking, and trail running.
• Corina Newsome (@hood_naturalist) – Focuses on urban nature education, ecology, and accessibility to environmental learning.
• Alexis Nikole (@blackforager) – Educational content about foraging, food sovereignty, and reconnecting with nature.
• Michaela Loach – A leading voice in climate justice activism, intersectionality, and systemic change.
• Intersectional Environmentalist – A platform advocating for climate justice through an intersectional lens, focusing on marginalized communities.
  

BOOKS FOR LEARNERS

Younger Learners

Brown Girl in the Snow written by Yolanda T. Marshall and illustrated by Marianne Ferrer

This stunning picture book written by a Guyanese-born author features an introduction to gardening and greenhouses. With gorgeous images by Marianne Ferrer, and moving text by Yolanda T. Marshall, Brown Girl in the Snow is inspired by a traditional Caribbean children’s song and captures a child’s unwavering persistence and passion, as she grows into her new home. Perfect for kids aged 4-8 comes a stunning picture book about persistence, being creative in the garden, and adapting to a new place.

See Marcus Grow written by Marcus Bridgewater and illustrated by Reggie Brown

Marcus Bridgewater, also known as the social media sensation Garden Marcus, shows kids the lessons he learned in his grandma’s garden when he was growing up. Grandma’s favourite place is her garden. It seems like she could stay there forever! Marcus wants to know why–so they set about exploring it together. From shells protecting seeds (like Marcus’s helmet protects his head!) to a small seed eventually growing into something big (also just like Marcus!), there are so many amazing connections to be made in this wonderful place. 

Bird Nerd by Jennifer Ann Richter  

Told with warmth and gentle humour, debut author Jennifer Ann Richter’s Bird Nerd combines a deep love of nature and birding with the story of a young girl learning to discover her own confidence and values. Nyla sets out to win her school’s bird watching competition, while balancing old friends with new in this heartfelt debut. Nyla Braun has always been called a nerd at her Philadelphia school. But that hasn’t stopped her from pursuing her nerdy hobbies, especially when she has best friend Tasha by her side. When a birding tournament between Nyla’s class and a class from a suburban school is announced, Nyla sees her chance to get the respect she deserves.

Older Learners and Adults

One Earth: People of Color Protecting Our Planet by Anuradha Rao

One Earth profiles Black, Indigenous and People of Color who live and work as environmental defenders. Through their individual stories, the book shows that the intersection of environment and ethnicity is an asset to achieving environmental goals. The twenty short biographies introduce readers to diverse activists from all around the world, who are of many ages and ethnicities. From saving ancient trees on the West Coast of Canada, to protecting the Irrawaddy dolphins of India, to uncovering racial inequalities in the food system in the United States, these environmental heroes are celebrated by author and biologist Anuradha Rao, who outlines how they went from being kids who cared about the environment to community leaders in their field. One Earth is full of environmental role models waiting to be found.

Diversity Education in Nature Student Workbook

To build communities of belonging, we can learn the power of diversity and the impact of interrelationships from wild nature. The creativity of the earth shows us how to use our gifts and talents to build stronger human communities. This 19-page downloadable .pdf student workbook will help guide students through a series of experiences in the outdoors that will help build the nature awareness skills of attentiveness, wonderfulling, pattern-seeking, and creativity, as well as understand the concepts of biodiversity, mutualism, and ecological relationships. From these experiences, students will gain both inspiration and a better understanding of how to build a community grounded in belonging.

The Adventure Gap: Changing the Face of the Outdoors by James Mills

The Adventure Gap is a groundbreaking volume that is equal parts adventure story, history, and inspiration as it chronicles the first American all-Black summit attempt on Denali in 2013. Mills uses this momentous expedition as a jumping-off point to explore diversity in the outdoors. This tenth anniversary edition once again shares the compelling events that unfolded during Expedition Denali’s summit bid. But it also provides fresh context: A new thought-provoking afterword by Mills examines what has evolved in and around the outdoor community since that effort. He highlights progress and inspiring stories, and he points to places where we can and should all strive for higher achievement. The Adventure Gap has become an essential text in outdoor education and inspiration–a story of our times, now more relevant than ever.

Black Faces, White Spaces: Reimagining the Relationship of African Americans to the Great Outdoors by Carolyn Finney

In this thought-provoking study, Carolyn Finney looks beyond the discourse of the environmental justice movement to examine how the natural environment has been understood, commodified, and represented by both white and black Americans. Bridging the fields of environmental history, cultural studies, critical race studies, and geography, Finney argues that the legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and racial violence have shaped cultural understandings of the “great outdoors” and determined who should and can have access to natural spaces. Looking toward the future, she also highlights the work of African Americans who are opening doors to greater participation in environmental and conservation concerns.

EDUCATOR RESOURCES

• Anti-Racism and Belonging in Outdoor Play and Learning Course – This course is a professional development initiative designed by the Child and Nature Alliance of Canada to equip educators and leaders with the knowledge and skills to create safer, more welcoming outdoor spaces for all.
• Seeing Ourselves in Nature: Diversity in Outdoor Learning Course and Book – In the book Seeing Ourselves in Nature, editor Jessica Fong asks how educators in North America can create space for predominantly Black and Brown children and families to reconnect to nature. This Outdoor Learning School and Store course will support educators in learning about how the people of the global majority are in relationship with nature. Together we will work to shift our viewpoints from the “norm” of a White, Eurocentric viewpoint to a view that honours the rich, distinctive histories and traditions of all peoples. Participants will leave with transformed thinking that will impact every aspect of their work with children and families.
• Race and Nature in the City: Engaging Youth of Colour in Nature-based Activities Report and Toolkit by Jacqueline L. Scott & Ambika Tenneti (Nature Canada) – Nature Canada’s Race and Nature in the City report provides an evidence-based, community-informed needs assessment and makes recommendations for meaningfully engaging racialized communities in nature and nature-based programming in urban areas. The research was commissioned in early 2020 to inform and guide Nature Canada and our partners in the work of incorporating anti-racism and equity in all of our programming. Much of the fieldwork occurred in the context of worldwide protests in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the police killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the racial profiling of Christian Cooper, a Black birdwatcher in Central Park, New York. It is critical for all nature groups to incorporate anti-racism and equity work in their programming and Race and Nature in the City provides practical and timely steps to support that work.
• Anti-racism in the Outdoors: Resources related to inclusion, diversity, equity and access of Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Parks and Green Spaces– A resource guide for faculty, staff, students, extension educators, outdoor advocates, volunteers and community leaders as allies of Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour in the outdoors compiled by Don Rakow (Cornell University) and Laura Brown (University of Connecticut).
• Identifying Hypothermia: Signs of Hypothermia in People with Darker Skin Tones– A fantastic resource for educators leading outdoor learning developed by Lukeisha Andrews from Black in Nature and The Child and Nature Alliance of Canada.
• Breaking Barriers: Race and Outdoor Learning Take Me Outside podcast episode–  Jacqueline L. Scott joins Take Me Outside’s Executive Director Colin Harris for a conversation centred on race and outdoor learning.