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For Graham, one category of letters proved to be a heavy burden: those from people of color asking her advice on where they could be safe and welcome in outdoor spaces.
For Graham, one category of letters proved to be a heavy burden: those from people of color asking her advice on where they could be safe and welcome in outdoor spaces. (Photo: Kennedi Carter)
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Latria Graham’s Love Letter to Black ϳԹrs

For Graham, one category of letters proved to be a heavy burden: those from people of color asking her advice on where they could be safe and welcome in outdoor spaces.

In the past couple of years, South Carolina–based writer Latria Graham has published a pair of essays in ϳԹ magazine about the challenges that Black people face in the outdoors. Both stories generated a great deal of attention to this matter and also spurred a number of readers to write to her to ask questions, as well as share their own personal experiences. For Graham, one category of letters proved to be a heavy burden: those from people of color asking her advice on where they could be safe and welcome in outdoor spaces. Unsure of how to respond, she said nothing for a long time. But after many months of reckoning with the national movement for racial justice in America, she was ready to give her answer.


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ϳԹ’s longstanding literary storytelling tradition comes to life in audio with features that will both entertain and inform listeners. We launched in March 2016 with our first series, Science of Survival, and have since expanded our show to offer a range of story formats, including reports from our correspondents in the field and interviews with the biggest figures in sports, adventure, and the outdoors.