Chicago social media influencers Black People Outside seek to teach value of the outdoors
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A pair of Chicagoans has turned what essentially started as a joke on social media into an effort to get more Black people to explore nature.
Kameron Stanton and Chevon Linear call themselves exactly what they are: Black People Outside. What started as a fun Instagram page has transformed into real-world community building as they managed to use social media as a gateway to the outdoors
Have you ever been to Thatcher Woods? It's where Stanton and Linear had some of their first outdoor adventures. At the forest preserve's Trailside Museum of Natural History, they have become known as "Black People Outside."
"Kam actually is the culprit, because he planned the trip. That is why Black People Outside was able to exist," Linear said.
The trip that changed everything was to Grand Teton and Yellowstone national parks.
"Honestly, we were really scared when we first started. I think there was this little bit of fear that was in both of us, because we had never did anything like that before," Linear said.
"Chevy's a world traveler, and at the time of our relationship, I didn't even have a passport," Stanton said.
They didn't have any gear of their own, but managed to borrow some from a friend.
"We still to this day don't even have sleeping bags, because we have leaned on our community to help us out," Linear said.
They started the Black People Outside Instagram page as a way to have fun; almost a joke, even.
"We thought it was so hilarious what we were doing; being inexperienced, and being the only Black people," Linear said.
"From the moment we stepped out there, we just felt just a joy, just a release, something so different," Stanton said.
"We saw the Milky Way. We saw satellites moving in space. We saw planets. And we was like, 'Wow, no, I have to tell the people,'" Linear said.
One thing stood out, stark among the stars
"We also noticed, like, there wasn't too many folks like us," Stanton said.
What writer and historian Wallace Stegner once wrote was "America's best idea," the national parks system, has been historically exclusionary of Black people.
"We cannot be the least visited group of people in the national parks," Linear said. "They say that less than 5% of visitors are African American."
"I believe it," Stanton said.
Quickly, their joke began to take on a larger purpose.
"We want to showcase that this is not flyover country," Stanton said.
"We're really worthy of the attention. It's beautiful, too," Linear said.
They began hosting monthly hikes, inviting people out to hike locally.
"We're going to try our best to be educated, and we're going to try our best to really try to influence the people like us – Black people from Chicago – to explore the great outdoors," Linear said.
Last year, they took more than 100 people out on the trail at Thatcher Woods.
"We never knew the impact that we could have. We didn't know that we were breaking down invisible barriers to help people get outside," Linear said. "The outdoors really changed our lives. So we want to really try to help change other people's lives too."
Once the demand for Back People Outside became clear, Linear and Stanton filed as 501-c-3 nonprofit, and began working on getting outdoor gear into the hands of the community for free.