Today as uprisings and rebellions continue to bloom all over the country and globe to protest Black genocide and police murders, and advocate for police/prison abolition, Black women and femmes are being killed at devastating rates.

Black Diamond and Pieps are owned by Clarus Company, an under-the-radar, little known growth stock that is in its early stages as Mike Berner describes in his article, “Clarus: Potential Compound Machine in Outdoor Recreation.” The Executive Chairman and controlling shareholder of Clarus Company is Warren B. Kanders who describes himself as an “American businessman and philanthropist.” But there’s nothing philanthropic about this filthy rich white man who is also the CEO of Safariland, the premier maker of equipment for the law enforcement industry. Safariland is a U.S. based manufacturer that sells law enforcement and “security products,” including tear gas. On August 4, 2016 Safariland proudly announced a $7.3 million sale of ballistic equipment to the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”).

Today, in 2020 we are experiencing the largest civil rights movement in the world, and as Ericka Hart says, “This is a civil war.” All 50 states plus 18 countries have participated in protests against police brutality in defense of Black Lives as of June 3. More than 450 protests have been organized. The demand is simple: Defund the police.

Tear gas, flash-bang grenades, pepper spray, and rubber bullets are supposedly “non-lethal,” but these violent tools of war indeed are deadly. Tear gas increases respiratory illnesses and can have fatal consequences on those with pre-existing conditions like asthma. Although tear gas is explicitly prohibited in warfare, police are using it excessively to quell and silence the valid outcry of people who are fed up with a punitive system and police force that disproportionately targets and kills Black people.

Anti-racist action must be taken all year round, seven days a week, 24 hours a day. Not just when someone’s life has been taken through racist rage. Not just when it fits into our schedule.

You're not staying home just for your own safety, more importantly, you're staying home to not be a burden on an already burdened medical system that was designed to kill Black and Brown folks. The LEAST we can do as white people is stay the fuck home if we can.

In response to Adventure Journal’s recent piece today glorifying John Muir we decided to offer up our feminist analysis of the racist asshat.

Tomorrow many families across the United States will sit down at a table to celebrate a holiday rooted in colonization and genocide. The history of the ongoing struggle for indigenous rights and self-determination has been co-opted and re-written by colonizers to make forced removal seem amicable. But the fable that is “Thanksgiving,” what many Indigenous leaders and activists call “Thankstaking,” was anything but friendly and good-natured.

At the most recent Craggin’ Classic in Payahüünadü (so-called Bishop, CA), Indigenous Women Hike, Legendary Skies Enterprises, and Climb the Gap were invited to the yearly event by The American Alpine Club with the expectation that each organization would be participating in some sort of panel discussion to speak about their org’s work and mission. But in the days following the event, Climb the Gap and Indigenous Women Hike reported on their Instagram stories that they felt disrespected, exploited, and tokenized. 

Erin Monahan, founder of Terra Incognita Media, shares what it’s been like behind the scenes at Terra, what it has taken to build the platform you see today, and some exciting shifts that are going to happen as we enter 2020. She writes, “Some of the original people who answered my call for support ended up leaving because my vision changed. It went from a feminist/political climbing journal, as embarrassing as that is to admit, to the feminist response to the outdoor industry that is today. It’s nothing like it was at the beginning because the platform has evolved as I have evolved. I hope in ten years it’s nothing like it is today.”

Fuck Columbus. This day is Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Our platform is dedicated to speaking the truth of this land’s history, not perpetuating the vile origin myth of “this land is your land, this land is my land.” The US resides on stolen land. We are unwavering in our solidarity with Indigenous peoples in the struggle for sovereignty.

This image and caption of Alex Honnold and Pattie Gonia posing together brings forward some questions: Who gets the privilege to perform queerness without consequence? When did the word “ally” become an identity or label? Has “allyship” lost it’s meaning? Is it no longer a verb that requires action?

Our society is propelled and propped up by white supremacist fictions like the belief that genitals determine gender, that the only form of valid intimacy is between a cis man and a cis woman, and that marriage is the only time you are allowed to have sex. Unlearning these beliefs is crucial to mental, emotional, psychological, and spiritual health. 

Instead of playing it safe we need leaders who are going to speak the truth without hesitation because they know America was never something to have "faith in." America has never been great. It has always been an ongoing settler-colonial project to this day.