COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – One group has set out on a mission to bring people of color together in the great outdoors.
The Grange Insurance Audubon Center hosted a Juneteenth summer celebration Saturday at the Scioto Audubon Metro Park.
The goal of the event was to create a day where people feel safe and welcomed into the park, and to start the conversation of how we can make sure people of color feel the park system is a place for them to enjoy and feel a sense of belonging.
Author and environmentalist Carolyn Finney led a “walk and talk” at the event where she talked about the relationship between people and nature. and how events like this one are an important part of that process.
“This is how you build community,” Finney said. “This is how you build a relationship. This is how you expose to people that they have all this at their fingertips and often times don't realize that they do. And that they are welcome."
Finney’s book, “Black Faces, White Spaces,” addresses these issues that may prevent African Americans from embracing natural spaces.
