Living Wildly is Taking Action

Part of living wildly is standing up for what you believe in. I’ve been intently listening, watching, and taking my own action steps to help facilitate lasting change. For me, storytelling and sharing is one of the most powerful ways to enact change, along with education, voting, and being an active citizen. 
 
We’ve all had conversations lately that have been uncomfortable and challenging. That’s where growth comes. My mother marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. In high school, I was part of a diversity program called the Aaron Price Fellows Program. I minored in African American Studies in College in Atlanta, Georgia. I worked in South Africa as a reporter and covered racism in sports. Even with all these experiences, I've learned there’s so much I still don’t know, and I have more work to do.
 
Here are some resources I've found helpful along with outstanding black athletes we've profiled on The Wild Ideas Worth Living Podcast, for you to follow and learn from.

Watch:
YouTube: Explanation of Systemic Racism

Follow:
Mirna Valerio – the Julliard trained musician, ultrarunner, and former director of diversity and inclusion is offering classes on antiracism and more. Our podcast is here.

Latoya Shauntay Snell - The ultrarunner and chef, who’s been on the podcast twice (here and here), is offering classes on recognizing your inner athlete and silencing the haters, while also running and biking miles for different causes.

Rue Mapp of Outdoor Afro – The founder of the organization has been celebrating black leadership in nature for years. Our podcast.

Joseph Gray - The world champion mountain runner runs Project Inspire Diversity to get more black athletes running. Stay tuned for our podcast.

Loveis Wise - One of the best illustrators I've interviewed.

Get Involved/Donate
Outdoor Outreach - The San Diego-based organization firmly believes the outdoors can change lives. With 70% of their kids who are black or persons of color, they are currently raising $30,000 to provide education to kids who need it most this summer as many camps and outdoor programming have been cancelled. Here's a show I did with kids from the program. You can donate here.

Whether you are making calls to your elected officials, registering and voting, protesting, donating, having challenging conversations with your family, neighbors, even yourself, or just listening, remember to take time for self-care, self-love and continue to lead with kindness.

I think back to Dr. Edith Eger, the 92 year-old Holocaust Survivor and oldest guest on the Wild Ideas podcast who said, “Self-Care is not SELF-ish. It’s important.”

Here's to inspiring lasting change!