Outdoor Education Center Hosts ‘Race and the Outdoors’ Film Screening and Discussion

Pomona College’s Outdoor Education Center hosted a film screening and discussion on Friday, Sept. 23 to create a dialogue around racial representation in the outdoors.

Titled “Race and the Outdoors,” the event took place in Edmunds Ballroom and featured the film “An American Ascent.”

The documentary details the journey of the first team of African American climbers to attempt to reach the summit of Denali in 2013. By following their journey on the mountain, the film explores the complexities of African American representation in the outdoors.

The film was followed by a discussion with Grace Anderson, who was a coordinator at the National Outdoor Leadership School for Expedition Denali, a project that is encouraging young people of color to become more engaged in outdoor activities.

“I think a big barrier for people of color is feeling welcome and celebrated in that space outside. I think the outdoor community has been thinking about the message of this film a lot and the result is there being more conversations about it,” Anderson said at the event.

“But I think we have so far to go that it feels like a drop in the bucket,” she said. “But, I got to see the look on kids’ faces when they saw someone who looked like them and related to them in the film. So I think we have another generation coming if we keep exposing people to this story.”

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