By Tawney Beans | Akron Beacon Journal
There are many things that came out of the pandemic, some bad and some good, with one of the latter being an Akron-based outdoor recreation group called Black Women Explore.
The organization does just what its name entails, exploring nature and new experiences with fem-identifying Black and Brown people.
Since Black Women Explore’s first hike on May 15, 2021, the group has gotten participants to hike and canoe as well as take skiing and yoga courses. This year event organizers hope to introduce participants to biking.
Founders Kimberly Young, 42, and Bronlynn Thurman, 32, were familiar with one another after both served on various boards in the Akron community. Young and Thurman created Black Women Explore after the two began hiking together during the pandemic shutdown in 2020.
“I also think that the pandemic helped us strip away so much of the masks that we carry,” Thurman said. “So, with that you become much more of your authentic self or you begin to find out who you are beneath those masks that you layer on. And I think that within the masking, Kim and I really bonded and realized how similar we were which helped really develop that friendship.”
Thurman has been involved with outdoor reaction for more than a decade and has recently gotten into bouldering. Her wealth of experience in the outdoors was a crucial part of the organization’s success, according to Young.
Why Black Women Explore?
Both founders wanted to create a safe space for fem-identifying Black, Brown, Indigenous and Asian individuals to create bonds and have new experiences together. Rachelle Yarbrough, 35, a long-term member, noted that organizations like Black Women Explore are an uncommon find.
According to Yarbrough, some companies understand the need for an environment with people who are similar and may have a women’s resource group or one for Black employees, but it’s rare that groups center themselves around being women of color.
“There’s certain things you can’t say and do in mixed company and then you get that opportunity to be not in mixed company – it’s really freeing and comforting to be able to be in a group of people where you feel like you can be yourself, express what’s going on in life and have that release,” she said.
One of the group's more expressive releases was at the Top O' The World area at Hampton Hills Metro Park. Young and other participants were having a bad day, so when another member said she just needed a good scream, they all joined in — likely scaring whoever was behind them on the trail, Young admitted with a chuckle.
For Thurman, Black Women Explore is also an opportunity to combat the narrative that Black, Brown, Indigenous and Asian people aren’t often present in the metro parks.
“We have a diverse group of women who show up to our hikes and for them to find a connection, even if it's just a connection of ‘Oh, we both have the same hairstylist,’” Young said. “They know someone and they feel like there is a sense of belonging and that community that can embrace them regardless of how they're feeling during the week…It's that safe space where we can enjoy nature and the beauty that's there and, as Bronlynn said, be representative of this awesome resource that we have available that we are not often reflected as taking advantage of.”