Support Letter from Shannon Sollitt

“But what can I, a ‘white ally,’ do? What are concrete actions I can take?”

Pretty much every well-meaning white person has asked these questions, probably of a person of color, at some point. This week, a very concrete act of solidarity presented itself to allies in the outdoor industry.

And I, a well-meaning white person, a wannabe ally, waivered.

This isn’t about me. This is about 17 people of color who were harmed by a week full of tokenization, exploitation, and trauma (racism by any other name…) in my hometown. After SHIFT 2018, members of the Emerging Leaders Program wrote a letter to Christian Beckwith and the SHIFT Board of Directors detailing their experiences with racism, and demanding Beckwith’s resignation. The letters, SHIFT’s response, and subsequent demands live on Medium as a campaign: #WontTakeSHIFTAnymore. The ask is easy: support them. Hold Beckwith accountable. Be public in your decry of racism.

But I know Christian. His wife was the doctor who examined me after I was sexually assaulted in college. I was involved with SHIFT for two years, as a wide-eyed attendee and as the host of a sister conference held at the same time. My boss and my MOM are on the board that funds SHIFT. Plus, I’m a journalist. It’s my job to seek out the “full story,” and tell the fair and objective truth. It’s complicated.

…But is it? Without Beckwith at the helm, SHIFT would likely collapse. It would lose funding. Changes in leadership are hard to withstand. That is all true. But is a conference built on the tokenization of people of color in the outdoor industry really worth saving?

The objective truth is that 17 people were harmed in my hometown. The objective truth is Christian never had any business “leading” a group of young, diverse people and mining for their stories.

I remember listening to José Gonzales, who’s now on the Board of Directors, speak at SHIFT in 2016 (2015?). He spoke about diversity and inclusion in the outdoors, and my eyes sparkled. I imagine the feeling that came over me is similar to the feeling that drove Christian to start the Emerging Leaders Program. But that doesn’t make either of us qualified to be leaders in DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) work. On the contrary, we are SHIFT’s intended audience: smug, well-educated white people who have a lot of waking up to do around race. We can aggressively nod our heads as people of color relive their traumas for our benefit and our education, and leave no less protected by our privilege than when we came.

For SHIFT to truly thrive and accomplish what it promises to — encourage outdoor access, health, and responsible recreation — the person at the helm needs to actually understand the nuances and complexities of different experiences in the outdoors.

This story isn’t mine, nor is it about me. But despite all my lip service to social justice and DEI, this one was hard for me. I’m still processing. I know the WHOLE POINT here is that Christian’s, and by extension my, education is nothing to people’s lived traumas. But this has been a BIG learning experience, and it felt worth it to write down my thoughts in case other white people are processing, too. None of this would have happened without the tireless and thankless work done by countless people, mostly women, of color.

Thank you.

Shannon Sollitt