I spoke with Roh about the Korean American relationship with the outdoors, how Outdoor Asian L.A. Neither of the upcoming events has a date yet, but Roh says members will be able to find info on Facebook.
The group has a Bouldering and Boba event planned for the end of May and a Pride event in June featuring a queer hiking event and social club meeting.
In March, Outdoor Asian Los Angeles collaborated with Trash Panda Cycling to bring AAPI bikers to Frogtown neighborhood, and this past weekend, the group threw a community potluck at Will Rogers State Beach in collaboration with the people of color wellness education platform the Honey Block. State Historic Park, which is close to Chinatown, home to a large Asian American community. That’s why so many of the group’s hikes are in Burbank and the Verdugo Mountains, or in places such as L.A. “A lot of people in the city don’t necessarily have access to a car, or worry about parking fees, or they just don’t want to have to go all the way out of the city,” Roh says. One of the organization’s primary goals is to keep its events as accessible as possible, especially in terms of finances and locations. But we will not let the outdoors be taken away from us, because it’s joy for us.” “A lot of Asian people are told not to take up space. “‘What can you do that doesn’t put you at risk, but is a way to help our community when we’re feeling so distraught and lost?’”Īt times, she does feel scared while hiking, Roh says, but it doesn’t stop her from going outdoors. “We asked our members to consider, ‘What can you do to support this community, especially if you’re on a hike and you see someone doing something anti-Asian?’” she says.
Roh saw the gathering as a moment of strength and an opportunity for resource training, so she added bystander intervention training to the program. Gathering at Canyon Park in Orange County, members brought together friends and family of all ages for an accessible hike. On May 22, 2021, Outdoor Asian Los Angeles reconvened for its first event since the pandemic began. “Historically, the parks have been a place of violence against people of color and specifically Indigenous communities, so I wondered, ‘Are we regressing? Is it not possible for the outdoors to be a healing site based on the history of how they were built?’” “We had community members share that even in our safe spaces, the outdoors and the parks, they were experiencing hate crimes and harassment,” Roh says.
Roh organized an online event where group members held space for community emotions, whether sorrow or rage. They were being targeted for hate crimes at startling rates. For Asian Americans, catching COVID wasn’t even the worst outcome of leaving their homes. Then, just a few months into the start of Outdoor Asian L.A., the COVID-19 pandemic struck. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
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