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Category: Environmental Stewardship

Un Mar De Colores “One Ocean Touches All Shores”

por Mario Ordóñez-Calderón

The ocean is one of the biggest connectors we as humans have on this planet. An experience in the sea in any capacity can have an enormous impact- it has the power to embrace and humble, calm and empower. My love and understanding for the ocean came later in life. It was through the art of surfing that my perspective shifted, and I no longer viewed the ocean shore as the great divider but instead as the beginning of exploration and connection.

Learning to surf was every bit as challenging as it was exciting. Navigating crowds, learning how to read the waves, and understanding tides were all part of that process. Not to mention, fifteen stitches from a wipeout gone wrong can mentally and physically leave its mark. I kept paddling out despite the growing pains, becoming addicted to all the sensations that came with surfing. I loved the way my first duck dive into the cold water left me feeling cleansed of all stresses, the deep tranquility I found while sitting out in the line up and the flow state while cruising down the open face of a wave. Learning to surf helped me learn more about myself. I gained not only self-clarity, but also a community of fellow surfers who shared my passions in and out of the water.

“I recognized that I was lucky enough to have a friend already immersed in surf culture to help me feel comfortable out in the water. It was this reflection that prompted me to question how I could return that favor for other multicultural youth with a similar upbringing as mine”.

Mario Ordóñez-Calderón

I remember the moment when the idea of sharing my passion for surfing with others sparked. Two years ago, while loading up the car to surf I’d see my Guatemalan neighbor’s kids playing out front or getting ready for school. As I drove away to the beach –less than a mile down the street– I looked back through the rear view mirror and saw kids that reminded me of myself in my youth. I began to wonder why it was that I never saw that family heading to the beach.

This subtle observation sparked within me a series of questions to try and understand why I didn’t see more Latinos out in the water, even though the Latino population in San Diegos were so large. As I reflected on my own experience, I recognized that I was lucky enough to have a friend already immersed in surf culture to help me feel comfortable out in the water. It was this reflection that prompted me to question how I could return that favor for other multicultural youth with a similar upbringing as mine.

From that blossomed Un Mar De Colores. We are a nonprofit organization that bridges the socioeconomic gap in surfing by providing free surf lessons to children of color and underserved youth. The mission is simple: share the ocean, diversify the lineup, and inspire youth. We create a space that offers a safe, relevant, and inclusive presence within communities and neighborhoods that have historically not received equitable opportunities to experience the ocean and use their voice.

We want to drive home the message that the ocean does not discriminate, it welcomes all and provides a ‘sense of place’ no matter an individual’s circumstance or color. We hosted our first Surf Fiestas in the Summer of 2020 and have been working closely with a young group of local North County kids since. We choose to go deep with a select group of 10-15 kids under the age of 12 offering them one-on-one mentorship with primarily BIPOC surfers. A key element of Un Mar De Colores is the constant effort to inspire passion and purpose through play, encouraging participants to find direction in the world through the things that bring them joy. We truly believe something as simple as catching a wave has the opportunity to teach a child their greatest life lessons.

UMDC’s second (and just as important) mission is providing visibility into an already existing rich culture of people of color within the surfing community. Our media initiative called #RepresentationMatters highlights surfers/watermen/waterwomen of multicultural backgrounds in order to show the beauty of diversity in the ocean community. We strongly believe that representation in media has a powerful impact, and is a key component in the success of multicultural youth involvement and dedication to understand the ocean as their space, too. #RepresentationMatters has truly given us the ability to inspire through art. Most recently, we collaborated with Patagonia Cardiff and Santa Barbara based artist DJ Javier to create a mural called “The Beach is For All” on the side of their storefront. Un Mar De Colores is just as proud about our art scholarships in which we grant funding to several BIPOC artists throughout the year in order for them to create ocean/surf inspired art. Whether it be a painting, a surf film, or an illustration- we see the importance of promoting the connection between art, surf, and diversity.

Un Mar De Colores has been taking shape strongly over the past half a year, and it’s all thanks to the ongoing community support. It takes a village to change culture and cultivate a more inclusive surfing community for posterity, and as a non-profit we’ve gotten as far as we have because of the continuous support from our volunteers, friends/familia, and donors. At the end of the day, I’m filled with gratitude with the ability to have a positive ripple effect in the lives of others. The ocean gave me a sense of belonging. Living a life so interconnected with it has opened doors for me in just about every aspect of my life. Passing that along to others is a cherry on top. I’m looking forward to continuing to share this passion as we start to move things along for our 2021 program.

In addition to being a surfer and co-founder of Un Mar de Colores, Mario is a mountaineer, bikepacker, and much more. Get to know him through Cycle of Ancestry, a short film about Mario’s cultural heritage and love for the outdoors.

Earth Day Thoughts

por Luis Villa

Today is Earth Day, and I am remembering my years in Costa Rica, helping to plant trees with friends, colleagues, and local community members, including police officers.  I am also thinking about policing in America and its partial origins in the slave patrols of the South, which wanted to maintain slavery and stemmed from economic motivations.

Economic motivation may be as old as humanity itself.  It’s a derivative of the desire to prosper, which in turn, is descended from the survival instinct.

For many, somewhere along the way, the survival instinct became an unrelenting drive to accumulate and hoard wealth. This most visibly manifests itself in socioeconomic systems, capitalism and socialism alike, that become severely unbalanced, where the “haves” are few, the “have nots” are numerous, and the disparity between them becomes so great that the entire system becomes dangerously strained.

We see this in the natural world, when a particular species takes up all the resources, grows too big for its own good, and the entire ecosystem collapses.  Large scale agriculture offers another example.  Forest ecosystems that host rich and resilient biodiversity are cleared away to make room for a particular crop, a single species or monoculture.  At first, the soil and other growing conditions are excellent for that single crop to thrive.  Then, the diminishing returns become increasingly evident.  It takes more and more pesticides, herbicides, and other artificial inputs to suppress all the other species of plants and animals that also want to enjoy the soil, space, water, and other resources.  Eventually, the soil becomes too infertile and the groundwater too contaminated.  Nothing thrives on the land anymore.

“If we pay attention to Nature, we can learn about the importance of diversity and balanced ecosystems”

Luis Villa

Human systems are not exempt from the laws of Nature.

If we pay attention to Nature, we can learn about the importance of diversity and balanced ecosystems.  In human systems, pervasive and growing racial, economic, and other social injustices (along with our constructive and destructive responses to these injustices) are either signs or full-blown alarms that something is off-balance.  They are an indication that we must nurture more diversity, share the soil, and spread the wealth between ourselves and also with the natural world, which is where all our supply chains begin and is ultimately from where we source all our sustenance and wellbeing.

On this Earth Day, I am thinking about the connection between humanity’s social systems and the Planet’s natural systems.  On this day, I am thinking more about sustainability than I am thinking about race, politics, or economics. I am thinking about the need for peace among ourselves and between us and our Planet.

#LatinoAdvocacyWeek

por Maricela ‘Marci’ Rosales

When I started my advocacy journey, it began with me advocating for time outside to play and taking in cats and dogs from the streets of Los Angeles as a little girl! FACTS! I remember bringing up important issues I cared about or needed to be addressed with my parents and siblings and finding solutions that made a difference and even changed the way they saw the world through my eyes. I was/am their next generation.

I’ve been an advocate in different ways throughout my life, from volunteering time in my teens to local animal rights advocacy groups to addressing issues on Southern California’s coastal lines and beaches. In my 20s, I became aware and involved in college education opportunities and funding advocacy to Disability Rights Advocacy. Today I continue my advocacy journey with the lens in Outdoor Justice, Equity, and Inclusion and Environmental Conservation Advocacy.

There is no one direction when looking at advocacy. The issues I’ve come to care for and advocate for are not better than the other. They intersect and are interdependent on one another. But what makes things move in a better direction is when WE get involved in the political process through advocating for people, place, and planet.

This week is the Inaugural Latino Advocacy Week. I am proud and humbled by the work it took to organize the efforts of the Hispanic Access Foundation to inspire communities, coalitions, and non-profits to engage, educate, and encourage the Latino/a/x/e community to get involved and to learn about it.

Is there an issue that gets you fired up? Whether it’s protecting the environment, fighting for more resources at your neighborhood’s school, or calling attention to the inequities that affect your community, the Hispanic Access Foundation (HAF) can give you the essential skills and strategies you need to be an agent for change. Watch the #LatinoAdvocacyWeek virtual training on Advocacy 101 

As we wrap up Latino Advocacy Week remember you can start your advocacy journey when it feels right to you. It’s okay if you don’t know exactly where you are with advocacy or what it means. Holding space and speaking your truth is a form of self-advocacy and that’s a great starting point. You don’t need to be an expert you just need inspiration and ganas (desire) to act!

Maricela Rosales (she/her/ella) is from Los Angeles, California. Is a Latino Outdoors Ambassador and the CA Program Associate Director for Conservation Lands Foundation. Find out more about her on Instagram @lemarci