Ah, I have been waiting to hear about your experience . . . thank you for sharing.
I have many thoughts, but I'll stick with three: (1) not to be forgotten is that one of the RDs for Broken Arrow is also one of the founders of TrailCon; what inconsistency. DEI isn't a buffet item that you do here but not there, if you're serious and committed to it.
(2) women representing 50% of panelists at TrailCon may be thanks to HFTWR, but this does little for any diversity given how white the panels were. It's a different flavor of the same story and serves to uphold white dominance, under the guise of "diversity."
(3) I think it's nice you gave those three white men on the panel about preserving culture and community the benefit of the doubt, but I'm pushing back on that: anyone who sits on a panel of all white men at an event that thinks it's ok to create a panel of all white men to tell people about culture and community tells me that all involved are most interested in maintaining a culture and community that continues to serve white men.
As a white man who runs trails, I’m ashamed to say I did not think about the lack of diversity in that little subculture until you brought it up. Thanks for helping me to think deeper.
Love you Raz :) Thanks for the shoutout and thanks for doing what you do. I love the comparison to skateboading and having nothing to do with it. I wish we were as cool as skateboarders haha
Your work is important, and because of it and others like it, I think our sport will continue to diversify, and be much better off for it! onwards and upwards
Per usual, love your succinct yet astute observation of the complicated lack of diversity in trail running and emphasis on how people are well meaning of it. I especially love how succinctly and accurately you defined intersectionality, a feat in itself! I wish I had ideas myself on what to do to get trail running more diverse in a genuine way but for now I am happy to get this kind of analysis that helps us understand the problem a little more.
This is a very important discussion, well articulated. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
And thank you for mentioning the panel in which we participated with you. It is interesting to read that at LtW our mission is to create "a running magazine beautiful enough for you to display on your coffee table". And you are right - very high quality design and production values are part of what we are doing.
But more fundamentally we are on a mission to publish stories about ALL runners. We have built a powerful engine that informs our editorial decisions, in part based on who is writing and about whom or what. It is only by having this data to hand that we are able to make sure we include stories about - and voices of - runners from every part of the running world. That is very intentional. And we believe that only by being intentional about this, are we able to ensure LtW is worthy of readers' time and space on their coffee tables / night stands / book shelves.
Ah, I have been waiting to hear about your experience . . . thank you for sharing.
I have many thoughts, but I'll stick with three: (1) not to be forgotten is that one of the RDs for Broken Arrow is also one of the founders of TrailCon; what inconsistency. DEI isn't a buffet item that you do here but not there, if you're serious and committed to it.
(2) women representing 50% of panelists at TrailCon may be thanks to HFTWR, but this does little for any diversity given how white the panels were. It's a different flavor of the same story and serves to uphold white dominance, under the guise of "diversity."
(3) I think it's nice you gave those three white men on the panel about preserving culture and community the benefit of the doubt, but I'm pushing back on that: anyone who sits on a panel of all white men at an event that thinks it's ok to create a panel of all white men to tell people about culture and community tells me that all involved are most interested in maintaining a culture and community that continues to serve white men.
well said. grateful to have had some of these conversations with you, and i'm glad you were in that room. there's work to be done.
Same! Thank you. And I believe the work will be done.
Just checking you know about these guys: https://www.instagram.com/blacktrailrunners?igsh=MWZtbnJqOTEyYnJ1ZA==
Yes, there are plenty out there, but...
As a white man who runs trails, I’m ashamed to say I did not think about the lack of diversity in that little subculture until you brought it up. Thanks for helping me to think deeper.
There's no shame, Kevin. Thanks for leaning in rather than recoiling.
Love you Raz :) Thanks for the shoutout and thanks for doing what you do. I love the comparison to skateboading and having nothing to do with it. I wish we were as cool as skateboarders haha
Your work is important, and because of it and others like it, I think our sport will continue to diversify, and be much better off for it! onwards and upwards
Per usual, love your succinct yet astute observation of the complicated lack of diversity in trail running and emphasis on how people are well meaning of it. I especially love how succinctly and accurately you defined intersectionality, a feat in itself! I wish I had ideas myself on what to do to get trail running more diverse in a genuine way but for now I am happy to get this kind of analysis that helps us understand the problem a little more.
Brick by brick!
This is a very important discussion, well articulated. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
And thank you for mentioning the panel in which we participated with you. It is interesting to read that at LtW our mission is to create "a running magazine beautiful enough for you to display on your coffee table". And you are right - very high quality design and production values are part of what we are doing.
But more fundamentally we are on a mission to publish stories about ALL runners. We have built a powerful engine that informs our editorial decisions, in part based on who is writing and about whom or what. It is only by having this data to hand that we are able to make sure we include stories about - and voices of - runners from every part of the running world. That is very intentional. And we believe that only by being intentional about this, are we able to ensure LtW is worthy of readers' time and space on their coffee tables / night stands / book shelves.
Simon.