AnOpen Letter to the Community
As athletes, we are tasked to climb, run, ski, or ride, and then manicure the rough version of ourselves and our experience into a more polished, superfluous image, packaged for consumption. These glorified narratives accentuate results over process, and are self-serving, elitist, and exclusionary. With the world on pause following the outbreak of a global pandemic, we were challenged to reflect on our roles as athletes beyond the singular lens of athletics and take a deeper look at what really matters to us as people. We gathered virtually around the campfire with the purpose of creating something tangible to share about ourselves that cuts through the bullshit, that does not glorify the highlight reel of our athletic accomplishments, but reveals a more honest, imperfect portrait of who we are. We seek refuge around the campfire, a sense of community, a place to be ourselves. This is where lore and legend is passed on, and the seeds of change are planted. Old structures and beliefs are held to the flame, burned, and given an opportunity for renewal. The campfire is a place to be vulnerable and open about our fears and insecurities, and our struggles to make sense of the enormous complexities of present day life. Through our sharing, two main tenets emerged: we respect each other not for how hard we climb, or how far we run, but for the realness in our relationships. In turn, we recognize that the space around the campfire has always been small and exclusory, dominated by a narrative of conquest and false heroism hidden in innate privilege. The general sense of malaise experienced during the initial COVID-19 lockdown catalyzed the emergence of a far
greater paradigm shift. This shift is revealing the need for urgent action to fight the injustices endured by life on this planet, and in particular BIPOC and other marginalized communities, for centuries. The success of this paradigm shift will not solely be defined by economic and political change, but also by the funda- mentally altered consciousness and the ensuing behavior of all those involved. Our responsibility lies in re-imagining a thriving outdoor community represented through a rich diversity of people and place. We offer the following collection of work which was conceived in response to the world shutting down in the face of COVID-19. Though the personal and artistic works within this book would look drastically different if rewritten today, we share them as a snapshot in time: encapsulating the fear, loneliness, and confusion experi- enced by many as the pandemic swept across the world. We share them in the midst of this social movement as an invitation to join us around the campfire, to share your story, and be heard. A 100% of the proceeds fromDiamonds InThe Rough book sales will benefit the NDN Collective, an organiza- tion working to decolonize and transform social systems while providing tools and strategies for Indigenous self-determination and movement-building. Specifically, donations will benefit the NDN Collective’s COVID-19 Response Project which is providing immediate relief to some of the most underserved communities in the country. We are honored to contribute to the NDN Collective’s overarching goal of fostering a world of justice and equity for all people and the planet.
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