Aleshea Carrieré, Texas
Aleshea (she/her) is a southern girl living in Dallas who loves food, traveling and the outdoors. She writes about all of that on her blog, where you will find incredible recipes, tips on how to train for a backpacking trip, a list of the best bicycling trails and more.
Whether she’s taking a nap, hiking, fishing, camping or kayaking (which is something she has recently gotten into), you will most likely find Aleshea outside. Being a Girl Scout growing up led her to be more curious about the outdoors, something her parents wanted her to experience.
“I recently went on a hike with grandma, a short one of maybe 30 minutes — she had her little cane and all. She told me she didn’t grow up doing things in nature like this. But afterwards she was so happy and proud of herself. And I was like, who gets to say what’s a real hike or not? Cause my grandma is having fun out here!”
Nature is supposed to be free, yet it is not accessible for everyone. Aleshea points out that in many parts of Texas, finding parks and public lands requires driving long distances. Lack of access to green spaces in urban areas is part of the reason Aleshea believes many Black communities tend not to spend time outdoors. A history buff, she also points out that advances in this area were relatively recent; when her grandmother was a young adult, she was not even legally allowed in certain outdoor spaces. Even now, decades after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed several forms of discrimination, plenty of parks and outdoor spaces remain unwelcoming to people of color.
Aleshea says a diversified outdoors starts with Black folks being able to share their stories and experiences, making sure others understand that they are not a monolith.
