Crisp air rustles the autumn leaves as a group of people walks a forest trail. The hikers vary in age. Many have a dew of sweat on their faces; many are grinning. It’s all a part of the experience at a Black People Who Hike event.
“It was amazing,” says Ashley Wilks, a third-grade teacher at Laclede Elementary and mother of three. “I felt my inner child come out.”
While attending her first Black People Who Hike event at Don Robinson State Park this March, the trip revived her love for the outdoors. “Being outside grounds me,” she says. “The pandemic showed me how much I love nature.”
Debbie Njai, the group’s founder, turned from golfing to hiking for outdoor exercise but realized she felt out of place. “[When I hike,] I’m not seeing anyone who looks like me,” Njai says. “I’m an anomaly: a Black person who hikes.”
She wanted to help other people of color who felt the same way embrace the great outdoors, so she created Black People Who Hike in September 2019.
Judd Demaline
Saint Louis Magazine
Debbie Njai started the Black People Who Hike group in September 2019
The group isn’t the only organization striving to make these spaces more diverse. Outdoor Afro connects Black nature enthusiasts to local conservation experts and experiences nationwide, and Black Girls Do Bike has a St. Louis chapter that introduces cycling to Black women and girls.
The last year put these groups’ purpose in focus: Many looked to nature as an escape from quarantine, and George Floyd’s murder put an international spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement.
“The outdoors and public lands suffer from the same systemic racism that the rest of our society does,” Sierra Club associate director Joel Pannell told ABC News last year, following a National Park Service report that found only 6 percent of park visitors identified as Black.
According to a 2020 report from the Outdoor Foundation, Black Americans represented 12.4 percent of the U.S. population ages 6 and older in 2019 but only 9.4 percent of outdoor participants—a 24 percent participation deficit versus their share of the population. “While Black and Hispanic American participation numbers have increased over the last decade, participation rates do not represent our diverse population,” the report noted.
Judd Demaline
Saint Louis Magazine
A recent hiking trip to Mina Sauk Falls Trail
Among the survey’s participants who did count outdoor recreation among their favorite activities, Black Americans reported the highest intensity level, or enthusiasm, for the pastime.
Tre Arps, a real estate developer and Black People Who Hike veteran, touts the benefits of spending time outdoors, both in the short and long term. “The initiative is to bring Black and Brown people into the outdoors to improve generational health,” Arps says. “It’s a reset, a natural high. The euphoria gets you focused and relieves stress.”
The group often receives 50 to 70 interested hikers per event, but it usually caps the hikes at 20 to 30 participants. Depending on the location of the hike and participants’ endurance levels, the outings can be from relatively short jaunts to all-day trips. The club caters to all kinds of hikers, including children. With the help of her leadership team and social media, Njai has reached thousands, including at least 200 St. Louisans who had never hiked before.
It’s not only about making introductions to nature, though; Black People Who Hike is also an outlet for advanced hikers. “I’m going [hiking] for the challenge,” says Toni Burgess, one of the group’s leadership team members. Burgess helps Njai coordinate hikes and is a guide for different experience levels. “It’s great energy, and I love being adventurous.”
In the future, Njai wants to intertwine her efforts with similar organizations’ and local schools’, all while keeping hiking low-cost and financially accessible.
Next on her list: She hopes to collaborate with the nonprofit Black Boys Matter to organize trips for seventh- and eighth-grade students from St. Louis schools to explore Castlewood State Park.
