Please enjoy the recording of our live Session!
Climbing culture is due for a refresh. In our upcoming KAYA Session on July 24th at 11am PST, we’ll be asking hard questions, seeking to create common language, and working through the nuance of how to re-envision climbing culture with anti-racism at our core.
The event began with a presentation by Cia Blackstock, a community organizer and facilitator focused on anti-racism, collective liberation, and justice in rock climbing. Cia’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with Summer Winston, Co-Founder of The Brown Ascenders, Eli Klarman, Founder New Orleans Boulder Lounge, Danielle Soncrant, Dir. of Communication and HR for the Bouldering Projects, and Tonde Katiyo, Dir. of Routesetting for the Bouldering Projects, with moderator Kim Ang from KAYA.
We covered topics such as: What does Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion mean to us in the climbing context? What can we learn from one community’s experience moving from a call-out clash to a true partnership between the gym and BIPOC advocacy group?
If you are out there trying to better understand racism within climbing and what we as a community can do about it, you’re not alone. Join us and invite your teams and friends, too.
Meet Our Panelists
Summer is originally from southern Louisiana. They relocated to the California, Bay area Summer 2016 for a super cool teaching position, after a 4 year stent in Houston Texas, and hasn't looked back since. They are the grand-kid of a Filipino immigrant and WWII vet. They are the kid of two of the hardest working, dream-chasing people they have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Summer identifies as a queer, urban, dapper, mountain person, that's in love with nature. They went on their first camping trip in 2014 and have been in love ever since. By trade, Summer is a graphic designer and professor, but they moonlight as a dreamer, much like their parents. They love all things outdoors; camping, hiking and especially climbing. They often say they created The Brown Ascenders as an outlet to climb with really cool Black and Brown folk, but they have big goals for what the group can become. Especially in the area of introducing Black and Brown kids to the sport. They always wished climbing would have found them sooner, and really wants to aid kids in having the outlets, opportunities, and the community they didn't have growing up.
Danielle Soncrant is the Bouldering Project Director of HR and Communication, and was with the Seattle Bouldering Project when it opened doors in 2011. Danielle's background includes program development, conflict mediation, community organizing, and youth development. She is inspired by the complexity of systems-based thinking, and the power that climbing holds to heal generational trauma.
Tonde Katiyo is a climber, setter and passionate about advancing route setting as an extension of the history and culture of climbing. He is the Director of Setting for the Bouldering Projects and lives in Seattle.