KINDER IN COLOUR
Hi everyone
We hope you are really well
apologies for not being in touch for so long, we've been really busy.
We have expanded our team and have been preparing for the 2022 Year of Trespass. The aim this year is to get people out there, over the fences, demonstrating that public access to nature is not only something we need for our health, but something that will improve the health of nature as well.
Much more to come on this, but first we must tell you of our initial action, to kick off the year of trespass.
KINDER IN COLOUR
Access to nature in England is not only paltry, it is unequal. Last year, Black and people of colour (BPOC) made up only 1% of visitors to national parks. Just 39% of “BAME” people lived within a five-minute walk to green spaces compared to 58% of white people (Thomas Reuters Foundation). Additionally more than two-fifths (42%) of people from ethnic minorities live in England’s most green space-deprived neighbourhoods, compared with just one in five white people (The Guardian).
But recently groups such as Muslim Hikers and Black Girls Hike have been creating safe spaces for people of colour to gather and walk. They show us that the right to roam in England is much more than recreation, it is in fact the Right to Belong.
For our first action, we will be gathering on Kinder Scout to commemorate the Kinder Trespass, but also to highlight how much more work needs to be done. Because of the work of Benny Rothman and the other 400 trespassers in 1932, we will not be trespassing any forbidden ground, but instead crossing the invisible barrier that blocks so many people of colour from the countryside - the atmosphere that BPOC are unwelcome in English nature.
So, on the 24th April hundreds of us will be meeting in Edale in the morning, and scaling Kinder Scout with song, ceremony and joy, to celebrate that England is in fact for all of us.
1) please share this tweet with your networks
https://twitter.com/nickhayesillus1/status/1509858286107086854
2) please come along - BPOC people will be hosting this walk, but white accomplices will be welcome to join and support. sign up here to get further details
https://kinderincolour.land/
This is just the start of a very busy year, but for it to work, we are really gunna need your help. Turning up, trespassing, and sharing our perspective on social media all really help to raise this urgent debate of communities and access to nature. We hope to see you out there on forbidden land...
xx
No comments:
Post a Comment