You may find this episode uncomfortable. I am fine with that. John Griffith will call you out.
Our parks are not just for white guys in fleece jackets. You would have that impression though if you visited most of our national our state parks. Park Rangers are not a diverse group. Neither are park visitors, for the most part.
If the answer is to hire diverse employees for only office jobs and think that’s a good enough effort for your diversity goals, message of parks will eventually go extinct.
That is the message John Griffith preaches to stakeholders of national and state parks.
John is a supervisor with the California Conservation Corps, who has become best known for his hip hop dancing.
The attention John has received for his dancing has allowed him a new platform to spread his message of conservation and diversity.
What We Talk About
• The importance of exploring outdoors
• How urban youth respond to the outdoors
• Diversity in Parks
• Why outreach to minority groups does not work
• Finding ways to connect with diverse demographic groups
• Making recreation appealing vs. protecting the park
• How people build relationships with nature
• How dancing has allowed John to connect with Urban Youth
• The sacred role of a Park Ranger
Resources
• John Griffith’s Youtube Channel
• California Conservation Corps
• The Corps Network
• Outdoor Afro
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Totem Magic: Going Mad by John Griffith
• Music by Jason Harrod
Here is the video of John dancing that got all of the attention;
Once I saw this video I knew I had to talk to John;