As an advocate for getting African Americans and other people of color outdoors (that’s me with Yosemite ranger Shelton Johnson at right), I spent almost a month anticipating the show. I looked forward to the amazing beauty of Yosemite National Park that would be revealed, and the millions of Americans who would see the parks presented to them for the first time with an invitation to visit. They would see how easy it is to get to the park and how affordable it can be, with the choice of camping, staying in the Yosemite Lodge or the pricier, 4-star Ahwahnee Hotel. The show would be an introduction to the wealth of the entire National Park System (NPS), constituting 84 million acres of the most scenically beautiful, historic and culturally important places across our nation.
So I was a little disappointed that we saw so little of the show. In Beaufort, South Carolina, where my husband Frank and I were visiting to be part of the First Annual Seafood Festival presented by the Gullah Geechee Fishing Association, the show was interrupted by the press conference on national security and by scores of political ads. When was the last time the Oprah show was pre-empted by a press conference? And did it have to happen on the day that she’s focusing on black Americans and the parks?! My chagrin was real, compounded by frustration at being able to answer so many of Oprah’s questions yet not being able to get on her show.
When Frank and I first experienced the National Park System on our round-the-country road trip in 1995, we had the same sense of shock that Oprah’s show focused on: How could the visitors and workforce be so uniformly white in a country where the fastest-growing groups were Hispanics and African Americans?
We knew that a key part of the problem was lack of information. Like us, many of our family and friends (including journalists, business people and college presidents) did not know that there was a system of national parks. We knew of the Grand Canyon and Yosemite mostly as faraway places that had nothing to do with us.
In the intervening 15 years, we have dedicated ourselves to get information about the existence of the National Park System to the public, and particularly to Americans of color. Many people tell us that they don’t know much about the parks, where they are, or what there is to do there. Others think they’d have no choice other than to camp, and fathers unfamiliar with setting up tents do not want to appear incompetent to their families.
With 156 units of the 394-unit NPS under our belt and a burning desire to experience the next one and the next one, we have been rewarded with so much more than we could have expected. Besides the amazing natural beauty of our national parks, we have traced the history and contributions that African Americans and other Americans of color have made to the park system, from the Dry Tortugas off the coast of Florida to the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park in the panhandle of southeast Alaska.
So we’ve tried to communicate the spectacular assets of our national parks by publishing the periodical Pickup & GO!; with innumerable speaking engagements; with articles in the black and mainstream press; and the recent publication of our book, Legacy on the Land. We’ve worked with partners such as REI and the National Parks Conservation Association to physically introduce new constituents to the parks, and watched with the delight the transformation that occurs. People readily take on the responsibility of being stewards of our natural treasures once they know they exist and that they are relevant to their lives.
But nothing compares to the millions of people who have been reached instantaneously by the Oprah show. Like a thousand other environmental leaders of color across the country that are dedicated to making the publicly owned lands known and loved by all Americans, I am almost literally holding my breath for the outpouring of interest that will hopefully follow the show.
Look for part 2 of the “Oprah and Gayle go camping” segment on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
Audrey Peterman is an environmental advocate and co-author of Legacy on the Land. Below, Yosemite National Park ranger Shelton Johnson talks about the impending impact of Oprah at Yosemite.
“So I was a little disappointed that we saw so little of the show. In Beaufort, South Carolina, where my husband Frank and I were visiting to be part of the First Annual Seafood Festival presented by the Gullah Geechee Fishing Association, the show was interrupted by the press conference on national security and by scores of political ads. When was the last time the Oprah show was pre-empted by a press conference? And did it have to happen on the day that she’s focusing on black Americans and the parks?! My chagrin was real, compounded by frustration at being able to answer so many of Oprah’s questions yet not being able to get on her show.”
Well,ironically I am generating this response after waking this morning thinking about Oprah’s show, You and Frank, our personal working experiences together on the North fork and the Tortugas and I became extremely frustrated as I tossed the notes I had made while watching the parts of the show that I DID get to see. Your notes about pre-empting should NOT GO UNNOTICED! I too missed alot of the program and more than that I MISSED YOUR PRESENCE THERE! While I may not know all the players in the effort among minorities to get the word out I do know that your voice is one of experience,commitment, dedication and knowledge that went unacknowledged on that show. Perhaps Oprah needs a few more Black producers, researchers, camera people ( I rarely see any in the cutaway shots and verite edits). It is appalling to me that your efforts went unnoticed and possibly ignored.
Having listened to Shelton’s comment on the video I wonder why it took so long for Oprah to get around to this issue and what was her final impetus to take on the adventure???
So near yet still so far away…Many questions to to be asked and answered…Perhaps this is a time to be re-inspired or re-invigorated. The adventure continues…….
Oprah’s comment about seeing God in the face of a tree prompted a bit of memory trivia that I’d like to share with you. In 1994 I was working for the US Forest Service as Conservation Education Manager on the Mt. Hood National Forest. We were busy preparing for the Forest Plan Summit, where President Clinton was to come bless our regional plans for managing old growth forests. Prior to the President’s arrival, I was on a team that was setting up the media for Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy’s tour of an old growth stand on the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. As you recall, Espy was our country’s first African American Agricultural Secretary, and grew up in Mississippi where trees are like matchsticks compared to the Northwest.
After I settled the media on their press box (they literally stood on top of a long wooden box, a safe distance from the Secretary), I walked with Mr. Espy down a path to see the first old growth forests of his life. He looked up and said “This looks like it was made from the hand of God. This should not be changed”. He was truly awestruck. The press saw this as a cue to question the Secretary about the Administration’s views on protecting old growth. His handler’s quickly whisked him away from the media, because he was not supposed to talk on this topic ahead of the President’s arrival.
So Oprah and Secretary Espy were similarly amazed and humbled by the overwhelming beauty and spiritual renewal of our nations’ natural resources. It also underscores the fact that, regardless of fame or status, our responsibility to expose people of color to National Parks and Forests goes on, unabated.
Dear Howard,
You warm my heart! Thank you! Just the fact that someone recognizes our efforts in this regard over the years, is very satisfying, and several people have even called to say, “how could you guys possibly not be on that show?” We tried everything, but evidentlyy it’s not our time yet for that kind of exposure, though i affirm it’s coming soon. I made a point of commenting on Oprah’s website, on the NY Times website and sent letters to the editor affirming the wide committment of thousands of Americans of color to this effort..love you and the family, man!
Greg, my soul brother!! Thank you soo much for this post! It reminds me of our common humanity, and that we all are moved and inspired by great beauty and perfection. My vision is that in a very short time, millions of Americans of African, Asian, Native and Hispanic descent will be flocking to the parks, loving them, and finding love for themselves and their fellow man there..
love you! a