Oath and Community News
(February- April 2023)
Hi Oath Community!
We are coming to you with some amazing community highlights from the last couple of months. We want to acknowledge and celebrate the amazing work everyone in our community has done. Keep scrolling for news and updates from The Oath, lists of organizations doing work for planet, inclusion, and adventure that we’ve worked with recently, and more!
A note from Hanna:
As we approach that time of year when winter fades into spring and the world starts to feel a little more alive, I was recently reminded of my favorite poem and wanted to share it with you all.
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
I hope this serves as a reminder to be gentle to yourself. You are where you are supposed to be.
With love, Hanna
In Oath News…
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We are so happy to have celebrated our first birthday with you all back in February! We kicked off the year strong with our first Oath Workshop of 2023 and a sticker giveaway.
A big thank you to everyone who attended and donated. We greatly appreciate all you new Oath Takers and community members who supported The Oath.
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In March, we launched our new Stretch Session Series.
“What’s a Stretch Session?”
We loved this phrase as soon as co-founder José Gonzalez offered it up to us. These sessions will be hosted both virtually and in-person, and they are an opportunity to stretch out on the many themes that support our commitment to Planet, Inclusion, and Adventure! Everyone is invited to attend live, and as always, it’s free to join us. Recordings of the sessions will not be available at this time. Topics covered are inspired by Oath Workshops and our communities’ interests.
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April will be an exciting month of events for The Oath.
We had our latest Oath Workshop on 4/3 at 5:30pm MT. If you missed it, no worries, visit our events page to find a workshop that works for your schedule.
We are also launching our first in person Oath Event on 4/29 (yay!). If you’re in Boulder, CO or around the area, come join us for a day of Stretch Session Workshops and valuable face to face community time. We are so excited to see all of your faces. The event is free but attendance is allotted on a first come first served basis.
Community Spotlight:
For Planet
Last month, we collaborated with Black Girl Environmentalist (IG here) in their Reclaiming Our Time Campaign.
Black Girl Environmentalist is a supportive community dedicated to empowering Black girls, women and non-binary people across environmental disciplines.
The Reclaiming Our Time Campaign focused on matching Black Environmentalists to various brands and organizations in order to expand these environmentalists platforms. We were very lucky to have been matched with Ashley Walker.
Ashley Walker (she/her) is a Philadelphia native with a diverse background in environmental stewardship, communications, and education. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies, a minor in Geography and Urban Studies, and a certificate in GIS. Ashley has worked with many of Philadelphia’s most notable organizations including the Philadelphia Zoo, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. On a national scale, she’s engaged with the Department of the Interior, National Science Foundation, American Conservation Experience, and Environmental Leadership Program. She’s passionate about addressing issues surrounding environmental justice, sustainability, and conservation.
We are excited to hopefully work with Ashley in the future :)
For Inclusion
Our first Stretch Session was hosted by Jordan Marie Brings Three White Horses Whetstone, an Indigenous runner and advocate. We had a screening and discussion of the short film “Know to Run: Yatika”. The film follows Yatika, an indigenous runner competing in the 2022 Western States Endurance Run (WSER) Race Entry. Watch the full film here!
More about the film:
When representation is everything, it can make a difference and have a profound impact when community is included in spaces that lack inclusion and diversity. This short film, Know to Run, featuring Yatika Starr Fields, an Indigenous runner, artist and advocate, is the recipient of GU Energy Labs + Rising Hearts - 2022 Western States Endurance Run (WSER) Race Entry. The exclusive and mainly white race is a 100 mile long ultra marathon. Yatika is the vessel and Indigenous representative that helps bring a better understanding of the land and the peoples who first cared for it and still do. This film celebrates all the firsts (first land acknowledgement, first Indigenous made poster, first Indigenous runners panel) and continues this kinship into 2024. The Know to Run discussion will hit on themes of “what are land acknowledgements” and what it means to go beyond, their importance, the inclusion of local Indigenous communities being part of the conversations, making the running and outdoor community a more accessible and equitable place, and what the consultation process looks like. The WSER is a shining example of how to create more pathways to cultivate community in meaningful and sustainable ways.
Know To Run represents the opportunities for gaining knowledge, carrying that knowledge and implementing that knowledge and best, respectful practices into our own lives to be a good relative to ourselves, to each other, and to the lands.
For Adventure
United Women on the Fly (UWOTF) is an organization dedicated to empowering women to get into fly fishing. Through in person community oriented events to online courses, UFOTF is doing amazing community work and preparing folks for everything fly fishing related.
Together, we made a quick “Know Before You Go” guide for fly fishing.
Click each photo to learn more ⤵️
Resources
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This is for the academics out there who have an interest in seeing the intersections of nature studies and queer thought.
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This is a great resource for those interested in conservation advocacy. The Climate Forest campaign is a coalition made up of many conservation orgs across the nation all fighting to protect our old growth forests. Check out the map to see if there is a current harmful logging sale in your area and feel free to contact coalition organizations to learn how you can get involved locally.
Personal Faves from Hanna
BOOKS:
Though I don’t get to read for leisure as much as I would like, I have gotten the chance recently to read Josephine Woolington’s Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest. This book is a collection of essays that explore the various wildlife species that call the PNW home. It beautifully blends science and prose and talks not only about each species, but also the interconnectedness of the land, wildlife, and people of the area.
ACCOUNTS:
February was Black History Month and not only is it a month of introspective reflection, but it is also a month to celebrate and highlight Black creators, leaders, and innovators. We posted a guide highlighting 6 Black Outdoorists that everyone should follow. Though it isn’t February anymore, that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate the work these outdoorists are doing every day. Check out the post below and make sure to give all the creators some love :)
