Ally, Amplify, and Open Your Wallet Already
Summits In Solidarity with Serena Ryan
We are coming up fast on June 19th, which marks exactly one year since I pushed ‘publish’ and officially released Guides Gone Wild into the world and pretty much threw up in my mouth.
I hope you are all also aware that June 19th is also Juneteeth. Some think Juneteenth is a holiday celebrating the so called end of slavery, but it actually commemorates the day that a group of slaves in Galveston, Texas were finally informed by Union troops of the fact that they’d been, at least statutorily, emancipated by President Lincoln over two years prior. Which, honestly, also makes me kind of throw up in my mouth.
Juneteenth is a celebration, but also a very sobering reminder of how far we still have to go as an American society to achieve true emancipation from the social, cultural, political, academic, financial, white-centering factors that have anchored systemic racism so firmly in our country.
So today I’m bringing back Serena Ryan to the pod. Serena first visited us last November on Episode 24 to talk about White Mountain hiking and her business, the Notch Hostel in North Woodstock, NH. Serena is also one of the founders of a racial justice movement called Summits in Solidarity, which is organizing its second annual education, awareness and fundraising event that culminates with a hike day on June 26th. I mentioned Summits in Solidarity briefly when I talked to Serena last year, but we didn’t get a chance to get into it then, and I felt like it was high time.
One BIG thing worth noting - Serena and I talk about being an ally and an accomplice, and Serena shares some great resources for getting more informed and involved in social and racial justice initiatives. But please, please keep in mind - listening to a couple of white women prattle on about these issues is not enough. You really need to seek out, and LISTEN TO, the voices of the people who are directly impacted by our continent’s 500 year history of colonialism, racism, and white supremacist ethos.
It’s hugely important to open your ears and eyes to the voices and messages being shared by people of color, indigenous people, people with different sexual orientations or gender identities... Serena’s got some suggestions on her Resources page, but that should only be your jumping off point. I hope you’ll get your 28 Day Challenge underway, and head on over to SummitsInSolidarity.org to join the movement and most importantly, donate to support the great work that Panther and the Cowasuck Band are doing in NH to bring black and indigenous people’s voices and experiences forward.
Link to fundraiser: https://gofund.me/4da20409
And other links from our conversation: