por José González

Last year we celebrated 10 years of Latino Outdoors. 10 years…

10 años.

Hearing it still lands with a joy and admiration, as well as deep appreciation for all the hands that guided it into where it is today. The hands, the smiles, the walks, the time, the showing up of all the many amazing volunteer and community leaders that make up the community of Latino Outdoors. And continue to do so.

We sometimes say that Latino Outdoors started out with a seed of an idea that was boldly planted, caringly nurtured, firmly rooted, and then supported into the growth of not just one tree, but a grove of cultura y comunidad.

And as this new year unfolds and we embark on the next decade, we want to put a particular focus on remembering and honoring our roots, nuestras raíces.

Now, it is easy to fall into nostalgia about roots. Or take them for granted. Or make them sacrosanct as if they are fixed in time and space.

But roots are not static things. They are living and growing elements of the whole being. They reach out and connect. They communicate with and through interconnected relationships with the ecosystem at large. They take from and contribute to the soil in which they are embedded. They are anchored in what they were, what they are, and what they can still be.

To me, this is part of the invitation to both honor and appreciate the roots of Latino Outdoors, while also continuing to nurture the soil they are in and not forgetting they are not immune to all that ails living beings.

When we first started, we knew we wanted to be rooted in what we felt was representative of healing aspects of our culture– I was and am a strong believer in the expression “La Cultura Cura.” At the same time, we did not want to perpetuate harmful aspects that were inherited and labeled as “part of the culture.” Toxic masculinity in the form of machismo, for example. I think this orientation will continue to be helpful as the organization and community grows.

All of that takes practice of course, and what helped when we started was also being guided by a sense of service, relationship building, and meaningful action that supported leadership development. This was reflected in two main ways: 

• First, during an early survey of LO leaders, we basically asked why they were here, giving their time, passions, and skills to this nascent idea when they could of course be doing this elsewhere. And they consistently mentioned three things: 1) they could be of service to the comunidad, 2) they felt that what they were doing really mattered, and 3) they could do it in a way where they actually could lead something and grow accordingly. 
• Second, I would often get some form of the question “where did you find all these amazing people?”—to which I would often respond with a variation of “oh, we didn’t Columbus anyone. The leaders were already there, they are just now more visible to you. We are trying to build the community and platform that makes that happen.”

Both still apply, in my opinion, and will still be embedded in the root work. Because those early ideas and values of network leadership principles are still present and nurtured by the organizational leadership. It is a type of “mycelial leadership” as I call it. And you may or may not know, that itself is part of what connects and nurtures roots.

I am excited about what the Latino Outdoors of 10 years from now will be like. How it will exist in ways that I was looking for when we first founded it. How it will be rooted in the ways that helped establish itself and grow and have strong roots that help it weather storms. But also, just as importantly, in the ways that it evolves and is interconnected in the ecology that is the community of this work.

Raíces containing the memory of its planting, while changing in and with the soil they call home.

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José González is the Founder of Latino Outdoors. He is a professional educator with training in the fields of education and conservation while engaging in different artistic endeavors with art and messaging—often exploring the intersection of the environment and culture. He has broad experience as a K-12 public education teacher, environmental education advisor, outdoor education instructor and coordinator, and university adjunct faculty. As a Partner in the Avarna Group and through his own consulting, his work focuses on Equity & Inclusion frameworks and practices in the environmental, outdoor, and conservation fields. He is also an illustrator and science communicator.