Paddling should be a liberating experience for the Black community. Illinois has miles of navigable waterways that offer many opportunities for spiritual and ethereal exposure to nature. My own adventures on our local waterways have inspired reconnection and ancestral reflection. As the celebration of Black History Month ends and spring approaches, it’s time to prioritize enriching, tailored programming for our communities to facilitate fresh perspectives on our city and its history.
What water represents is nuanced for the Black community and most ethnic groups. For some, water and the navigation of it can be triumphant and positive; others may find the experience ominous and disempowering. Inequities affecting access to water recreation for the Black community drive this complexity — rooted as they are in trauma and the legacy of racist laws, policies and practices.
African Americans, who built America’s wealth during centuries of enslavement, have confronted generational trauma since slavery. Throughout U.S. history, exclusion and the need to practice survivalism have shaped African Americans’ responses to the landscape. To reframe commonly held ideas about African Americans’ collective engagement with water-based activities — such as, “Oh, you know Black people don’t do that,” or “They aren’t interested in that” — it helps to think in terms of post-traumatic slave syndrome, or PTSS, a theory that renowned social researcher Dr. Joy DeGruy developed to explain African Americans’ adaptive behaviors.
This reframing is taking place along the Little Calumet River in Chicago. Leaders in the Calumet region are striving to connect community members with enriching outdoor experiences for health and wellness. I had the pleasure of better understanding how to connect the Black community with water recreation opportunities by consulting with community leader Deloris Lucas, founder of the We Keep You Rollin’ Bike & Wellness Group, and community leader and paddle expert Michael Taylor.
As a result of our conversations, we concluded:
• Our communities need age-appropriate educational opportunities that unpack the effects that PTSS and discriminatory practices have had on Black people’s recreational access to pools and waterways. For example, Outdoor Afro, a national not-for-profit that reconnects Black people to American lands, water and wildlife, offers a program called Making Waves, which addresses the historical prohibition of Black access to beaches and pools. The organization also trains local volunteer leaders to guide group adventures in nature.
• Safety and confidence help inspire engagement with water recreation. This is why we need programming focused on building safety and skills, such as swimming education during early childhood and adolescence. For paddlers, beginners should be paired with experienced guides who can respond to individual needs. Scaffold programming, in which paddlers build up confidence by navigating bodies of water from beginner to difficult, can also help build confidence and skills. Chicago Adventure Therapy is a great local organization that offers accessible programs for youths and families to learn these paddling and outdoor skills.
• To maximize safety, we need instruction that focuses on building trust in life jackets, and we need boats of different sizes. The Midwest-based nonprofit Wilderness Inquiry offers 10-person canoe-mobiles, or “floating classrooms,” in which participants can practice in a group that is led by an experienced guide.
• Free and low-cost opportunities to explore waterways and scholarships for gear are essential.
Paddling programming in the Calumet region is putting these recommendations into practice. Tours along the African American Heritage Water Trail, a community-led project that aims to create a sense of place and connection with the Little Calumet River, are available at launch sites across the Calumet region, accompanied by guides for safety, access, and skill level variability. Participants are fit for life jackets and provided basic paddling and safety instruction, safety monitoring and coaching.
The water trail offers experiences with interpretive history, natural history and water recreation. Along the water trail, Black people are prioritized, and their narratives are highlighted as key contributions to American history. This is imperative, as the history of foundational Black Americans is often untold or highly sanitized.
The African American Heritage Water Trail stands as a model for healing, joy and adventure along waterways in Illinois and nationwide.
Lillian Holden is the regional water trails manager for Openlands, a northeastern Illinois conservation organization, and a leader in efforts to reacquaint Black and brown communities with the great outdoors and water recreation.