CONNECTING THE DOTS: Why does what and who came before us matter?

Younger practitioners often operate in a vacuum where their organizational culture and history make the critical blunder of engaging in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work without the benefit of understanding that generations still living, and possibly sitting one or two cubicles over, have trodden these same paths before. [...]we begin to feel as if we are living in an enhanced cultural diversity version of the movie Groundhog Day, predestined to relive, redo, and reenact the past with little hope of learning from our history and adapting our approaches to ensure success. [...]people of color outdoors has been a topic of conversation since the 1962 Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission (ORRRC) report, or even earlier, and in 2002 Rodriguez and Roberts critiqued our nation's progress, or lack thereof, 40 years later. [...]with these technological advances, this platform brings with it an opportunity for race-specific affinity groups, among others, to band together because they can, and because they want to. A conversation that has occurred for 50+ years, including the pursuit of "equitable access" that has been at the forefront of the work of pioneering individuals and organizations, is finally receiving the recognition it deserves (Erin Gates, California State Parks, personal communication).