The news of Tamir Rice’s death was a shock to many around the country. To others, the consequences of being Black in the United States is a narrative that has shaped the conversations and identity of many individuals and families in America. At 12 years old, Tamir Rice was fatally shot and died from a gunshot wound to his abdomen by two police officers in Cleveland, Ohio.The death came shortly after a number of other shootings involving black males and continued to proceed several more deaths of innocent Black men and women in the country.
The conversation of racial justice has been ignored by the general climbing community. Emily Taylor, however, has lived in the neglected intersection of race and climbing culture for the entirety of her climbing career. She is one of the earliest documented African American women to be involved in the sport and her presence and work has facilitated the careers of many major athletes, including sport climbing national championship winner Kai Lightner. Around the same time, she was coaching Kai, Tamir Rice’s death was on every news channel in America. Along with many other black mothers in America, fear for the young lives she educated became uncomfortably acute for Emily.
“Greatness abound” Photo credit: Tanya Malott
After a series of shootings which gained publicity over the recent years, multiple reports were released revealing alarming rates of disproportionate fatal shootings involving minorities. One of which reported mortality rates among Blacks as 2.8 times higher than White individuals. The risk for people of color to be targets of racial discrimination begins early and the effects can be lifelong. Higher rates of expulsion and suspension in early childhood occur at a disproportionate rate among African American boys. This report also notes that African American girls were suspended six times more than their White counterparts. According to a 2009 review, “It is youth of color who are being tracked into the prison pipeline via media stereotyping, a punishment-oriented juvenile justice system, and educational practices such as zero-tolerance. All are designed, by intent or default, to ensure an endless stream of future bodies into the prison industrial complex.” Furthermore, per the report, “Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Overpoliced and Underprotected” published by The University of Columbia Law School in 2015, girls of color and specifically Black girls, face significant challenges within the educational system due to interpersonal violence, familial obligations, and harsher forms of punitive actions making them vulnerable to additional negative outcomes as adults.
With the backdrop of local and national coverage of racial profiling, discrimination, and increased risks associated with being a person of color in America, how is the topic of respect, safety, and support for Black families and athletes or other marginalized individuals addressed within the outdoor and recreational sports communities? Where privilege of light skin is tightly integrated with safety, accessibility, and success, how can the climbing community lead in promoting children of color who are at a disproportionate risk for social exclusion, abuse, and police brutality?
These are the questions that Emily Taylor is raising and the questions which have motivated her to start a series of projects engaging youth, including the Brown Girls Climbing Program. “How are we opening the doors for them? How are we opening the doors for the future?” she asks. Emily Taylor wants to develop the next generation of youth athletes. She wants to see more African American girls on the national stage and as a former USA climbing coach and someone who’s been involved in the competitive climbing scene for decades, Emily Taylor is capable of doing just that. She has decided to branch off to directly address the massive underrepresentation of climbers of color in the competitive climbing world.
“Team Success” Photo Credit: Tanya Malott
“Carpe Potestatum” Photo credit: Emily Varisco
Through her business Taylor Fit Solutions, Emily travels around the country consulting and helping gyms develop and strengthen their youth programs by coaching others. Emily has recently launched a fundraiser to kickstart her new initiative supporting girls of color. The Brown Girls Climbing Program is based in the Bay Area of California and aims to promote the overwhelming healthy mental, social-emotional and physical benefits of exercise and outdoor leadership for self-identified girls of color ages 7 through 16 years through exploration, adventure, and rock climbing. Emily believes that the experiential opportunities to climb can be a critical part of promoting confidence in children. She sees each child as a unique opportunity to teach and to build upon each child’s strengths while actively working on areas of growth by establishing meaningful relationships and trusting spaces. Emily’s instruction style also reflects her effort to prioritize and preserve the African American narrative by incorporating pieces of Black history to teach climbing techniques and relating it to her students. She uses the story of Harriet Tubman to demonstrate the importance of intentional footwork. She asks her students, “How is it that Mama Moses was able rescue all the slaves in the middle of the night so quietly?” Emily is teaching the girls the consciousness of their feet and how to move their feet, “They’re connected to that. They’ve all read it…They all understand the importance of protecting and rooting your feet so strongly to the earth that you can feel all things, all vibrations… all movement.” Emily’s role as a mother herself has only bolstered her craft to encourage and educate her students. Her mentorship to the girls she teaches goes beyond climbing, she is preparing young women of color to enter a world that may question if they belong there at all and giving them tools to ground themselves along the way.
“Smiles of Inspiration” Photo credit: Tanya Malott
As a Black and Queer woman, Emily believes that true diversity comes when there are accessible and positive spaces to celebrate our differences. Without recognizing each other and identifying our own biases, we may not only be neglecting communities around us but actively creating more barriers for opportunities to enter the sport. Her existence and coaching in a traditionally White male dominated field has provided her insight into ways she can improve the experience for others including adaptive, LGBTQ, POC identifying youth, and children with behavioral and cognitive challenges, such as Autism and ADHD. Emily was quite possibly the first out Queer coach and was the only Black coach for most of her time in the competitive arena*. “There’s a woman thing and there’s a Black woman thing. It’s very overwhelming.” As a longtime climber, Emily has witnessed the climbing scene transform and grow over the years, including seeing an increasing number of people of color at the gym. She’s excited to see new climbers, like The Brown Ascenders, meeting up and making efforts to drive community in the Bay Area. Despite this change, though, from an outsider’s view, the gym during a competitive climbing event can still look eerily exclusive, and there is still a long way to go towards creating accessible pathways to the podium.
Raised by her father, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Marines, Emily’s introduction to climbing began shortly after he passed away. She signed up for a 25-day multi-adventure course with Colorado Outward Bound School. She returned to South Carolina for her undergraduate education and continued her climbing interest indoors at Charlotte Climbing Center, where she was mentored by a fellow Black climber, Eric Evans, and an adaptive climber who owned a climbing gym nearby. Soon after, she entered competitive climbing and eventually won in the Adult category at a National competition, a title for which she held for three years. Her dedication to climbing drove her to develop her own climbing programs and Urban Core Climbing, a ranked top ten competitive youth climbing team.
“5.12 Procrrastination” Photo Credit: Tanya Malott
El Capitan
After multiple wrist surgeries, Emily has begun to make the transition back to the outdoors. Although her heart is in the South at places like the Obed in Tennessee, some of her favorite crags include the Red River Gorge and Acadia. Emily also enjoys local spots such as Joshua Tree and the Eastern Sierras. Emily’s climbing experience is vast and her exposure to big wall technical climbing encompasses climbing routes all over the country, including tackling some of Yosemite Valley’s giants, The Nose and El Capitan, with climbing legend Jim Bridwell. She is primarily a sport climber adding, “The movement of sport climbing is what I enjoy…my body needs that flow.” It is rare to meet women of color who has such depth of technical experience and she excited about sharing her knowledge with others.
Her involvement in competitive climbing has allowed her to witness the development of climbers like Kai Lightner, Claire Buhrfeind, Bobby Taft-Pittman, Margo Hayes, and Drew Ruana. “It is so beautiful to see them blossom,” she says. She’s watched power-house professional climbers Alex Puccio and Meagan Martin redefine climbing for women by landing impressively difficult and powerful moves, but also by just being themselves. Alex Pucci has become one the most respected female climbers out there along with Meagan Martin, who is one of the few biracial competitive climbers of color in the United States and has become an exemplar for aspiring women of color in the climbing community.
The term “diversity” in the world of climbing has recently made its way into the headlines of major rock-climbing magazines, stressing visibility of climbers of color. Initiatives tackling this topic, though, which have been avoided by the competitive climbing community, have fallen short in recognizing the full potential of incorporating diverse practices and perspectives into a sport that thrives off innovation. How could partnering with leaders in marginalized communities change the way we develop inclusive climbing programs and train the next generation of competitive athletes? Furthermore, what role can climbers play in promoting opportunities for children of color to participate in the sport and taking an active role in fighting racial injustice in our local community? As Emily explains, “If we are unable to communicate and effect the blatant and systemic racist problems within our own industry, our own communities, our own organization, our own gyms, at our own front door, from which we draw a paycheck, all the protesting is ill-service”.
Partnering with local leaders in these communities is an effective step towards establishing meaningful relationships with people of color who may be interested in rock climbing. Support of programs like Brown Girls Climbing and individuals like Emily Taylor can help organizations and businesses take proactive approaches in admitting that they may not have solutions but are willing to invest in people who do. Intentional initiatives to engage youth of color, and girls specifically, present exciting opportunities for new leaders in the climbing community. The brown girls climbing movement is growing and we look forward to witnessing climbing competitions transform over the next few years. We only hope that the organizations that help shape this sport can keep up with the children leading the way.
Thank you Emily for sharing your story and for the many others supporting and mentoring youth of color in outdoor, indoor, educational spaces
Follow Emily on Instagram @Tayloredfitcoach & @browngirlsclimbing1 . For more information about Emily’s climbing program, visit her website,/www.tayloredfitsolutions.com/ .
Support the Brown Girls Climbing Program by giving here: https://www.facebook.com/donate/2078263005766167/205568490207832/
Support the Trayvon Martin Foundation which helping support youth and families affected by senseless gun violence donate here: www.trayvonmartinfoundation.org/donate
Additional resources for racial justice action: http://www.racialjusticeallies.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/from-ally-to-accompliace.pdf
“Pray Mantis OG” Foster Falls, TN Photo Credit: Tanya Malott
Want to try some of Emily’s favorite crag snacks? Check out her recommendations below:
Martha Stewart Cranberry Bars
https://www.marthastewart.com/938889/cranberry-crumble-bars
No Bake Choc Chip Bars
(These are crucial as I am allergic to nuts and it’s easier making my own. I throw in flax & chia seeds, golden raisins/or cranberries and pumpkin seeds.)
.*Documentation among marginalized communities is limited and an issue Brown Girls Climb is determined to address!
Brown Girls Climb
Author: Bethany Lebewitz
Resources:
1.https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/us/boy-12-dies-after-being-shot-by-cleveland-police-officer.html
2.http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2014/11/cleveland_police_officer_fatal.html
3.https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/05/us/texas-mckinney-pool-party-officer-lawsuit/index.html
- https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdf/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303575
- https://www.vox.com/cards/police-brutality-shootings-us/us-police-racism
- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/black-deaths-police.html
- https://mappingpoliceviolence.org/
- https://www.apa.org/ed/resources/racial-disparities.pdf
9.https://www.uschamberfoundation.org/reports/path-forward-improving-opportunities-african-american-students
- https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2Fs40894-015-0006-8.pdf
- https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ870076.pdf
15.https://matadornetwork.com/sports/rock-climbing-white-sport-epic-climbers-color-proving-otherwise/
16.https://urbancoreclimbing.wordpress.com/about/
