The word “swag” may conjure the idea of “stylish confidence” (along with the lyrics from the great early-aughts song “Swag Surfin”). But have you ever considered that nature also has swag? With her book “Nature Swagger: Stories and Visions of Black Joy in the Outdoors,” author and outdoor enthusiast Rue Mapp reminds us of the original queen of swag, Mother Nature — and how we must plug back into her to unlock her greatness.
Published in Fall 2022, “Nature Swagger” is Mapp’s opus of gorgeous photography and captivating stories about Black lives and healing in nature. After founding Outdoor Afro in 2009 and growing it into a mega nonprofit organization that connects Black leaders in nature with the community in a network of educational and recreational programs all about nature, she decided to author a book documenting the spiritual healing and release she witnessed over the years. With a background in art history, Rue felt compelled to showcase a specific type of representation that is real and alive but often not visible in the mainstream.
Growing up, Rue did not see Black people enjoying nature, learning from nature, and spending time in nature in non-commercial ways other than sports, but that wasn’t her truth. Knowledge of nature and time spent in it has always been innate to the Black American experience but the impact of acts like Jim Crow laws, redlining, and sometimes simply our ignorance has kept many of us from taking advantage of Mother Earth’s majestic presence.
“The way that Black people have engaged with the outdoors is very spiritual and is found in the lyrics of the gospel songs we would sing in church— ‘I’m gonna lay down my burdens by the riverside,’ Mapp noted while in conversation with theGrio. “We’ve known that nature was there for our healing and where we could go.” Reflecting on her own background, growing up in both Oakland, Calif., and…
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