But Id had six months to think about what I wanted to say. Essay: Going It Alone, Rahawa Haile. I say that of course I am. Its hard to write about nature and blackness without it being politicized. 53rd brigade support battalion going it alone rahawa haile. The essay below, Going It Alone, was published in Outside magazine in April 2017. I know that my hike and those of other women of color have inspired others, but that doesnt affect systemic change. Im thinking of the violence against queer women hikers in the past. When youre young, you dont mind the humidity or the mosquitoesall you care about is that youre doing something exciting. I interviewed two who hiked in 2016. Haile names places where Ive spent much time and where Ill be visiting again this summer: the Smokies and Shenandoah, Roan Mountain and Gatlinburg. For part of a series Id done on my Twitter account, I took a photo of myself with the book in Vermont. Not really, he says. Youre not black.. The protests that swept across America and the globe in recent weeks laid bare the deep racial inequality permeating society. Id wake up, and Id start hiking. A. ' Going It Alone ' (Rahawa Haile for Outside) If you read one thing this week (other than us, of course! Have something to share? Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis by Vandana Shiva, Few authors have the ability to challenge our dominant assumptions like Indian scientist and activist Vandana Shiva. HAILE: Oh, thats wonderful to hear. There was an error and we couldn't process your subscription. The connection between Hailes hike and the 2016 presidential election is due to the, experience she had on her hike. This book is a critical read for todays conservationist looking to stop perpetuating the systems of violence the environmental movement is often unintentionally guilty of. I'm an educator and former writing studies professor who believes our fully embodied selves matter in the world. Its hard to say how long it took to write that draft, but maybe three weeks to a month? The election changed things. I didnt have to say the man was white, because why would I? I will say that people who returned from the trail to lives where they were surrounded by family or a job they loved handled it better than people who had to figure everything out. Hes affable and inquisitive. Outside doesnt have many black writers, let alone many black women writing for their print issues. With its mild humor and compelling, dynamic narrative, I found Haile's "Going It Alone," extremely insightful, and topical. Rahawa Haile is an Eritrean-American writer. Part of why I love hiking is that it allows for long timespans that become more meditative, more contemplative as the body and the brain tire. This post is written by Beth Godbee for Heart-Head-Hands.com. But it felt like a vulnerable position. Don't lament when those worlds fall. As a white woman, this means asking about how my body works within spaces, especially along trails and the roadways that connect and supply trails. I dont know that they made it all the way to Maine. On the trail, every ounce matters. If it werent for Mauds tweet, this piece probably wouldnt have happened. And I truly am grateful. Its a wonderfully freeing but also terrifying proposition to be alone with your thoughts for six months. I want to talk about your experiences on the trail, good and bad. I have a hard time believing that I will ever have a spa experience that is more healing. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window). Shed started in Maine and tried to head south to Georgia. posted by oneirodynia at 6:07 PM on . ENGL 100 CU Rahawa Haile Going It Alone Politics and Culture Discussion. POV: Going It Alone . Download the iOS Download the Android app ), make it this absolutely stunning essay about Rahawa Haile about hiking the Appalachian Trail while Black, in an incredibly tense election year. A brilliantly produced mix of ecological, anthropological and historical inquiry, Future Ecologies looks at how race, power and environmental factors combined to produce the American and Canadian landscapes we see today. I used the iPhones Notes app; thats where I took every single note from when I began until about October 16, when I finished. We cant just think our way out of the incredible injustices, dehumanization, violence, and wrongdoing that characterize everyday life. Whose stories arent told? Rahawa Haile is now a social media icon after she completed her thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2016. My biggest hope is that some black woman reads this essay about what it was like for me as a black woman, and sees that I finished the trail, that I wasnt killed, and that its not impossible. Haile addresses how such legacies impact not only human interactions but also basic choices like how to protect ones body from cold and wind and not be perceived as a threat/target of hate crimes. I ran into another Black hiker named Hazelnut, and it helped me feel less alone, if only for a little bit. This theme comes through a lot in the storythat the AT is first a community of hikers, not of white men or Black women or Republicans or Democrats. A post shared by Rahawa Haile (@rahawahaile) on Jul 18, 2016 at 4:31pm PDT. Where Was the Birthplace of the American Vacation? This websitea mix of blog posts and research writing, courses and offeringsshares ongoing efforts toward everyday living (feeling, thinking, and doing) for justice. The second time I read it, I realized how stupid I'd been to be surprised. N.A. I definitely wanted to write to those people and have them see why this is an important conversation and why this is an important experience. And heres what I want to remember and communicate more widely: my feeling of vulnerability arose from a trauma thats shared, thats part of the U.S. collective, yet is experienced so differently and with such potentially different consequences. That helped, because its hard to condense six months into 3,500 words. But I am from Florida and I do love the sun, so I chose the name Tsehay, which means sun in Tigrinya, the language my family speaks. wow! Everybody on the trail has a weak part that gives out by the end of the daytheir backs, their knees. Thats how I got the line about how youd have to walk 670 miles before reaching the first county that did not vote for Donald Trump. Then I sent the fact-checker a spreadsheet with all my data. 21st:Bibliography (5+ sources) and initial summary : 9: Library/Historical Society Visit : . Get access to all of the Outside Classics when you sign up for Outside+. He has categorized me, and the world makes sense again. 19th:Self-reflection #2. Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America's most storied . We followed up with her to find out what scared her the most, the one piece of gear she couldn't live without, and why thru-hiking is always worth it in the end. Thesis/Argument. We are out here. The next day, Outsides Alex Heard contacted me through Maud Newton, who had tweeted about my tweet. Alex is one of the most phenomenal editors Ive ever had. I felt so free in a way I hadnt in a long time and I remember looking at these blazes [trail markers painted white] and knowing that they went all the way north to Maine and all the way south to Georgia. Please consider liking this blog on FB and following the blog via email. ART MISC. I find that the more removed I am from my everyday habits and habitat, the more I can de-normalize damaging scripts that have become internalized. So, its not like Outside hired me as a reporterthey sent me a camp pillow, and that was the extent of my gear support. Everything you can imagine, from scary moments of racism to new friendships to soaring epiphanies about the timeless value of America's most storied trekking route. As I reflect on these components of making my commitment actionable, Im thinking also about the ways my privileged positioning (e.g., as white, U.S.-born, cis-gender, able-bodied, economically secure) makes the trail a space of such possibility for me and for people who look, talk, and move like me. I completely lost the trail and it was 40 degrees and raining, and gunshots were going off around me. It was only a few books at a time, mostly through Amazon Prime; I wasnt carrying 30 books because my pack wouldve been over 60 pounds. He looks relieved. I started the hike last year on March 22. Id have to pause roughly every five miles to roll my feet on a lacrosse ball. Nikola Alexandre, restoration lead, Black Faces, White Spaces by Carolynn Finney. Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. I took all my notes on the phone. Kate Bush. The essay below, Going It Alone, was published in Outside magazine in April 2017. It is work to keep yourself open. What happens when an African American woman decides to solo-hike the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine during a summer of bitter political upheaval? Contributing editor Elizabeth Hightower Allen caught up with Haile in Miami, where she was visiting family, to find out what scared her the most on the trail, the one piece of gear she couldnt live without, and why thru-hiking is always worth it in the end. <p>to grieve the loss of her mother</p>. They could type into some app on their phone. Most of my actual note-taking and my writing on the trail happened at night when I was in my sleeping bag. Some of the white majorities have for long viewed the black population as, lesser humans, perhaps children of a lesser God. Haile might have chosen the story to be in the manner it, is set in, to address the social injustices in society. Going it Alone- Rehawa Haile My pain of traveling in the Appalachian Mountains, which are so in my blood, involves being re-traumatized with each confederate flag, each Trump sign, each park or trail name that celebrates founding fathers and other prominent figures who took part in the trans-Atlantic slave trade, forced Indian removal, colonization, genocide, and other atrocities. Rahawa also notes how this relationship is changing with black public figures like Oprah promoting a new vision of black people enjoying hiking through the wilderness. Listen: Being a queer black woman is not the easiest thing, as you can imagine. Its not something I was very open about. Theyd brought tons of food and set up a dozen chairs around a campfire to feed hikers. Youre African, not black-black. 1. His from-forms and black-blacks (Haile. An Insight into Going It Alone by Rahawa Haile.docx. Food? I write in the book that the Appalachian Trail can save you, but it cannot save you indefinitely. The difficult part was planning the logistics because post offices in small towns are often closed. The mud and the rain were so cold. I know about the Appalachian Trail, obviouslyprobably from Bill Brysons book A Walk in the Woodsbut I didnt realize I was hiking on it until we reached the summit. I am definitely a word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence writer. (LogOut/ I wasnt sure that Outside would let me write like this because writing about the nature can be so immersive. I was terrified of getting bit by a tick. Black, female, and gay, and going it alone during the political rise of Donald Trump, even if she hadn't wanted to think about the human-inhabited places along the trail, the humans . Climbing fire towers with Colson, I wrote. Rahawa Haile | Outside | April 11, 2017 | 3,787 words. pic.twitter.com/cEFZpvTWzZ, Rahawa Haile (@RahawaHaile) August 16, 2016. Rahawa planned to hike it as a single woman alone, which was daunting enough. In contrast, hikers of color face the U.S. legacy of lynching (the hate crime of murder) that is part of Americas Black Holocaust that continues today through both microaggressions and macro-structures like unchecked police violence, the school-to-prison pipeline, the cycle of poverty, voter disenfranchisement, and many other institutional issues. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Rahawa Haile. Going It Alone, Rahawa Haile Nature's Calling - For More Human Diversity, Alexandra Pattillo I Would But: I Am the Only Person of Color, Ambreen Tariq Trying something new something that requires learning new skills and information is hard enough. And if Im being honest, I started writing the article the day I opened my notes app on the trail. This is what it feels like to be a child of Jesus, in a dark chapel, with stained-glass diamonds floating on the skin of all the people kneeling around you. Read more here. My fact-checker looked it up, checked the weather, and confirmed that it was in the 30s. Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. He wishes me good luck and leaves. Sometimes people need to see that X is possible, that it has been done, before they are inclined to do it themselves. The sentence beginning As a queer black woman was for me, you know? Also, there is nothing like South Florida to prepare you for discomfort. Haile began her trek in March in Georgia and completed it seven months later in October and stood proudly atop Mt. Cover image: People joining hands inHawaii ( Conservation International/photo by S. Khaunani Springer), Protecting the nature we all rely on for food, fresh water and livelihoods. At the end of January, I filed a draft that was maybe 1,000 words longer than what was published. I had this moment where I thought, Okay. I dont blame themthru-hiking is a hard and exhausting and repetitive endeavor. 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