# Terra Incognita Media
> a feminist response to the outdoor industry.
Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. Use `/llms-full.txt` for consolidated page and post context.
Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`).

## Pages
- [The Vision](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/about.md) - Terra Incognita Media is a completely independent feminist media organization that provides a feminist response to the outdoor industry. Our content, podcast, and workshops shed light on the ways in which white, cisheteropatriarchy shows up in the outdoor industry, how we can disrupt it, and build…
- [Advanced User Settings](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/advanced-settings.md)
- [Buy a Group Subscription](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/buy-group-subscription.md)
- [Donate](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/donate.md)
- [Give a Gift Subscription](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/gift-subscription.md)
- [Group Subscriptions](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/group-subscriptions.md)
- [Your Guide to Toxic Masculinity in the Outdoor Industry](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/guide.md)
- [Podcast](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/podcast.md)
- [Never miss out on a feminist killjoy update.](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/subscribe.md)

## Posts
- [Ep 45: Disrupting White Feminism and the Outdoor Industry (A New, Ongoing Series)](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ep-45-disrupting-white-feminism-and-the-outdoor-industry-a-new-ongoing-series.md) - Tune in to this episode on Spotify or YouTube. Be sure to subscribe! The goal is 1,000 subscribers on YouTube by the end of the year! Right now we're at 42 beautiful, amazing subscribers, so we only have 958 to go! WE GOT THIS! This is the start of a deep dive series into white feminism in the outd…
- [Episode 44: The Athlete Hero Worship That Protects Abusers—And How To Stop It with Laura Borichevsky](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/episode-44.md) - Listen on Spotify. Watch on YouTube. In this episode of the Terra Podcast, I’m joined by certified Holistic Sex Educator, ⁠Laura Borichevsky⁠, founder of ⁠Sex Outside⁠ as we discuss the critical intersection of sexual assault and gender-based violence prevention and the outdoor industry. Our conver…
- [Terra BTS: We're Soaring, We're Flying, We're Pivoting](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/terra-bts-were-soaring-were-flying-were-pivoting.md) - Don't ask me why High School Musical started playing in my head while I brainstormed a title for this post, but it did. Maybe it's because we're "breaking free" from the shackles of Squarespace, Substack, Patreon, Podia and other platforms that have held us back from soaring and flying. If you've e…
- [Updated Site Coming Soon!](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/updated-site-coming-soon.md) - Terra Incognita Media is getting a make-over! Things will be up and running here shortly, but you can subscribe in the meantime if you'd like to stay up to date and receive emails when new content is published!
- ['Bolt Wars' and First Ascents: Are These Manifestations of Ongoing Colonization?](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/bolt-wars2026.md) - 'Snake Dike' sparks another climbing-bro hissy fit begging the perpetual question: why are men? A white man’s opinion of the bolting, and subsequent un-bolting, of Snake Dike is irrelevant. I want to hear from Jolie Varela of Indigenous Women Hike and other native folks of the surrounding lands. Va…
- [The Real Monsters Are “Good People”: The Outdoors Would Be Safer Without Jackie Hueftle, Ian Powell, Lisa Rands, Wils Young, Alex Honnold, James Lucas, Andrew Bisharat, and Chris Kalous](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-real-monsters2026.md) - TRIGGER WARNING: discussion and mentions of rape culture, rape, sexual assault, gender-based violence, and intimate partner violence It’s not a figure of speech to say that the silence of the climbing “community” is deadly. I’m disgusted by the complicity of Alex Honnold, James Lucas, Andrew Bishar…
- [Rage Against the Gatekeepers: How We Can Disrupt the Outdoor Industry’s Commitment to Rape Culture](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/rage-against-the-gatekeepers2026.md) - A lot of us women, femmes, and folks who aren't cis men, are raised to believe that it’s uncouth to express anger. It's not polite to express anything other than "niceness." The translation being that if we aren't agreeable, subservient, and obedient at all times then we're malfunctioning. When mar…
- [Himpathy for the Devil: The Climbers Who Protected Serial Rapist, Charlie Barrett](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/himpathy-for-the-devil2026.md) - “Himpathy” has a chokehold on our society, and it is pervasive in climbing. Coined by philosopher Kate Manne in her 2017 book, Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny, Himpathy describes the disproportionate and excessive sympathy often extended to privileged men who behave badly. You can find instances o…
- [Will Stanhope Dies After Climbing Accident, Convenient Since He Was Due in Court for Sexual Assault](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/will-stanhope-dies-after-climbing-accident-convenient-since-he-was-due-in-court-for-sexual-assault2026.md) - So many people go on and on about how inclusive and welcoming the climbing community is, but as a climber of over a decade I’ve come to deeply understand what a fallacy this belief is. Climbing’s reputation as “chill” and “laid back” is simply expert branding and PR of a wildly violent, toxic mascu…
- [Toxic Masculinity on TAIPEI: Alex Honnold Dismisses Sanni McCandless Once Again, This Time 1,667 Feet Off the Ground](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/toxic-masculinity-on-taipei.md) - I'm glad I have friends to send me the inane, self-centered things Alex Honnold does because otherwise I would have no idea. Yesterday, my friend sent me a clip from the Netflix special, Skyscraper Live, in which Honnold free soloes Taipei 101, a 1,667 ft. tower in Taipei, Taiwan. I watched as Honn…
- [St. Louis Activists Self-Deploy After a Devastating EF3 Tornado Ripped Through the City](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/st-louis-activists-self-deploy-after-a-devastating-ef3-tornado-ripped-through-the-city2025.md) - On May 16, 2025, an EF3 tornado ripped through an unprepared and unwarned St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis Mag reports that the tornado left at least “...five dead, dozens injured, an estimated 5,000 buildings damaged, and roughly 90,000 people without power.” A tornado’s destruction is directly tied…
- [Climbing's Reckoning, Black Feminist Blueprints, and a Dead CEO: The Fight Against Structural Violence](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/climbings-reckoning-black-feminist-blueprints-and-a-dead-ceo.md) - All Praise to Black Feminists for Giving Us the Blueprint of Today's Labor Movement In 2016, I worked at Planet Granite (now a Movement location) in so-called Portland, Oregon, where towards the end of my time working there long-term employees were denied substantial raises and offered only a 50-ce…
- [Embodying The Hag at the Edge of the Forest: Writing Without the Worry of Being Popular](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/embodying-the-hag-at-the-edge-of-the-forest.md) - A lot of us can look back on our lives and see the turning point(s) when everything as we knew it completely altered. One of those such moments that changed my brain chemistry forever was when I published an essay that had been sitting in my drafts for a year in which I criticized my boss at Planet…
- [10 Ways Toxic Masculinity Shows Up in the Outdoor Industry](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ten-ways-toxic-masculinity-shows-up-in-the-outdoor-industry.md) - The outdoor industry is a tool of ongoing colonization—a well oiled machine of exploitation of the Land, our bodies, and “resources,” complete with white nationalist propaganda that implies “this land is your land,” when in reality this land is stolen, Indigenous land. From pervasive microaggressio…
- [Toxic Masculinity in the Outdoor Industry Fall 2023](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/toxic-masculinity-in-the-outdoor-industry-fall-20232023.md) - When: Wednesday, December 6th, 2023. 12pm - 4pm CT. Purchase your ticket and reserve your spot here! Early bird ends Friday November 17th at midnight CT! 10% of sales will go to Medical Aid for Palestinians. Access equity pricing for Black and Indigenous to Turtle Island folks! Have you ever been a…
- [Coming soon: Disrupting Dominion, a Multi-Part Series on Disrupting the Colonial and Toxic Masculine Narratives in the Outdoor Industry](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/coming-soon-disrupting-dominion-a-multi-part-series-on-disrupting-the-colonial-and-toxic-masculine-narratives-in-the-outdoor-industry2024.md) - When I wrote Ambient Dominion: How ‘Free Solo’ Points to an Epidemic of Toxic Masculinity in December 2018, I received so many comments from women, queer folks, and nonbinary people who shared my shock, disgust, and isolation at watching “Free Solo.” Sitting in a McMenamins theater in so-called Por…
- [Frontier Narratives And Why We Must Rewrite The Outdoors](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/frontier-narratives-and-why-we-must-rewrite-the-outdoors.md) - Henry David Thoreau's writings on self-sufficient living, despite his reliance on others, serve as an apt analogy for America's early beginnings—built on the labor of enslaved people, women, and immigrants. Never mind the open secrets that Thoreau lived on his wealthy neighbor's land and his mother…
- [Eviscerating 5 Inane Arguments for Separating the Art from the Artist: Starring John Muir, Edward Abbey, Yvon Chouinard, and Alex Honnold](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/no-you-cant-separate-the-art-from-the-artist.md) - My post-graduate journey centered on unlearning much of what I had absorbed during my undergraduate years. Taking up the mantle of "autodidact," I turned to educational YouTube content by cultural critics like Kat Blaque and Franchesca Ramsey. By the grace of Goddess, I came across Ericka Hart and…
- [Toxic Masculinity on a Macro Level: How Marcellus Williams' Modern-Day Lynching Exposes Systemic Violence Against Black Communities Rooted in White Sexual Repression and the Colonial Lust for Control](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/marcellus-williams-lynching.md) - The Case Against Marcellus Williams: A Pattern of White Supremacist Violence Marcellus ‘Khaliifa’ Williams, a 55-year-old, devout Muslim and father, was executed on September 24th, 2024. An imam for other incarcerated people, Williams was also an accomplished poet. Despite protests, national attent…
- ["Climbing for the Status Quo: Symbols of Change and White Feminism in the Outdoor Industry"](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/climbing-for-the-status-quo-symbols-of-change-and-white-feminism-in-the-outdoor-industry2024.md) - In March of this year, Sasha DiGiulian, a prominent rock climber, posted a photo of herself with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House. The caption read: "I feel inspired by what VP Kamala Harris said to us — 'You may be the first to do many things, but make sure you aren't the last.' Cut…
- [Standing Up to the Jnco Jeans Bro: How to Reclaim Our Power and Agency From These Oppressive Systems That Want Us to Stay Small and Quiet](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/how-to-reclaim-our-power-and-agency-from-these-oppressive-systems-that-want-us-to-stay-small-and-quiet2024.md) - “One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t feel powerless. White people don’t feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that they’ve been tea…
- [From National Parks to Palestine: How Toxic Masculinity Shapes Our Politics and Relationship to the Outdoors](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/national-parks-to-palestine.md) - (Alternative Title: How the Access Fund Isn't Outdoor Advocacy) It's the Blue Angels passing overhead while children and adults alike cheer and look up with glee. It's the countless mountaineers making headlines after fatal attempts to summit peaks like the Matterhorn and Sagarmatha or Chomolungma…
- [From the Feminist Killjoy Headquarters | July 24, 2024: Project 2025, Liberal Symbolism, and Rejecting Cynicism](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/from-the-feminist-killjoy-headquarters-july-24-2024-upheaval-and-resisting-cynicism2024.md) - My friend texted me and said, "I have so much anxiety centered around the whole election right now." And maybe you're feeling this way too. Or, maybe you're in total acceptance. Maybe you're somewhere in between. A lot of folks are worried about another Trump presidency. I know people are terrified…
- [My First Trail Run After COVID: Connecting the Dots Between Ongoing Colonization, Taylor Swift, (White) Lesbian Lore, and How Representation Won’t Save Us](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/my-first-trail-run-after-covid-lesbian-lore.md) - I slam my car door shut after stringing my key to my shoelace and tying a double bow. It’s Sunday around 5pm and the parking lot of this state park I frequent for trail runs is nearly full. A group of highschoolers spill out of the car next to me. After a few arm swings, I start up the trail that w…
- [From the Feminist Killjoy Headquarters | February 21, 2024: North Node Conjunct Chiron in Aries and The King of Cups](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/north-node-conjunct-chiron-in-aries-22024-the-king-of-cups2024.md) - This past Monday afternoon, February 19, 2024, Chiron and the North Node came together in a conjunction. In astrology, Chiron is an asteroid known as “the wounded healer.” Transiting Chiron shows us where and what we’re ready to heal. But we also all have Chiron in our natal birth chart, which show…
- [From the Feminist Killjoy Headquarters | February 15, 2024: Being Accused of Writing "Feminist Propaganda" is Glorious](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/from-the-feminist-killjoy-headquarters-february-15-2024-being-accused-of-writing-feminist-propaganda-is-glorious2024.md) - I can't remember the first time someone told me in an accusatory tone that my writing is "feminist propaganda" (because the times have been too many), but I can tell you that I always wondered, "What, like it's a bad thing?" If you've never written something and been accused of writing "feminist pr…
- [“A New Movement”: The Labor Reckoning in the U.S. Climbing Industry](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/a-new-movement-the-labor-reckoning-in-the-climbing-industry.md) - “...Capitalism is in its death throes…White supremacist, colonial, patriarchal, capitalism are untenable structures to live within because it’s all about extraction, so eventually things collapse because they’re not generative. They are about what we can hoard and who can win. So, we know we’re at…
- [Are You Unsafe or Uncomfortable: Speaking Truth to Power for Palestine and Beyond](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/are-you-unsafe-or-uncomfortable-speaking-truth-to-power-for-palestine-and-beyond2023.md) - "Your silence will not protect you." - Audre Lorde Dear Terra community, It is INCOMPREHENSIBLE what is happening in Gaza right now. It is incomprehensible to hear Yara Eid, a Palestinian journalist, describe the fact that she hasn't heard from her mother, family, and friends in over 24 hours since…
- [Speaking Up Has Consequences: Angela Davis Proves the Struggle for Justice Won't be Palatable and Without Derision](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/speaking-up-has-consequences-angela-davis-proves-the-struggle-for-justice-wont-be-palatable-and-without-derision2023.md) - "Justice is indivisible...injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." - Martin Luther King Jr. In early 2019, Angela Davis was awarded the Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. And then the Institute's board rescinded it because she spoke out in…
- [Indigenous Peoples' Day and the Connection to Palestine](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/indigenous-peoples-day-and-the-connection-to-palestine2023.md) - Today, October 9, 2023 is Indigenous Peoples' Day, and it can't be lost on us that for too long this day was/is a glorification of Christopher Columbus. Indigenous resistance has been ongoing since European colonizers first arrived on the shores of Turtle Island, but it wasn't until 1992 in Berkele…
- [Sisterhood in Struggle: Kurdish-Iranian Women Opposition](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/sisterhood-in-struggle-kurdish-iranian-women-opposition2023.md) - Photography by Paul Trowbridge. Written by Erin Monahan with contributions from Paul Trowbridge. *We’ve added a resource list at the bottom of this page for further education and learning. Widespread anti-government protests to fight for bodily autonomy broke out in Iran in September 2022 following…
- [bell hooks: Unsung Environmental Activist and Writer](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/bell-hooks2023.md) - White environmental activism zeroes in on industrial capitalism, condemning excessive consumption and the exploitation of the Earth, but fails to acknowledge the ways in which whiteness and white supremacy culture have driven us towards the current climate crisis we face today. Black feminists, on…
- [This Platform Wouldn't Exist Without Black Feminism](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/this-platform-wouldnt-exist-without-black-feminism.md) - Without Black Feminism Terra Incognita Media wouldn’t exist. Without Black, queer and trans folks Terra Incognita Media wouldn’t exist. Recently, the New York Times and many other outlets reported that the College Board stripped down the Advanced Placement (AP) Curriculum for African American Studi…
- [Three Reasons (Out of One Million Gajillion) Why We Need More Unionized Climbing Gyms](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/more-unionized-climbing-gyms-please.md) - Cover Image: Cartoon published in the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) journal Solidarity on June 30, 1917. On April 11, 2022, the employees at the Movement Climbing Gym in so-called Crystal City, Virginia successfully created the first unionized climbing gym in the so-called U.S. I can only i…
- [No Good Billionaires: Yvon Chouinard Uses Philanthropy and the Language of Environmental Justice to Secure and Maintain His Hoarded Wealth](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/no-good-billionaires-yvon-chouinard-uses-philanthropy-and-the-language-of-environmental-justice-to-secure-and-maintain-his-hoarded-wealth2022.md) - There’s nothing eco-friendly about an eco-billionaire. When you go to Patagonia’s website from a PC or laptop, and read the letter that Yvon Chouinard wrote to proclaim that “Earth is our only shareholder now,” you will see that the tab on your internet browser says “reimagining capitalism.” But tr…
- [Poetry by Kyd Kane](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/kyd-kane-poetry2021.md) - Cover Photo by Nick Collins on Unsplash “a red root vegetable for _____” I thought about you today while holding a snow woman’s hand that used to match the temperature of my bruised root vegetable wondered if you’ll ever be close enough to tap your trail boot to the beat of my healing heart that dr…
- [Poetry by Jade Cuttle](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/poetry-by-jade-cuttle2021.md) - Cover Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash Snowdrops A flower would never rip out its roots and run – I know this only too well. I’ve been stalked by ice most winters, the sort that claims each crack as its own – can’t even speak for months, only creak and claw at the cold earth. But when the dawn sha…
- [Poetry by Juanita Gibson](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/poems-by-juanita-gibson2021.md) - Cover Photo by Caleb Ralston on Unsplash Starlight At home You are dim Seldom seen and Given little thought But on the traveled road You gain life (How do you survive such expansion) Why is it that you shine down on me When I am far flung And lost When I am out in the world Searching the night sky…
- [Poetry by Mischele](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-great-escape2021.md) - The great escape. Scorned eyes pierced through shadows in the trees. She was lost. Lips peaked through redwoods. Her voice. Wind nestles leaves that reveal tangled locks. Inhale, as she draws you in. She deplores her sanctioned securities. Exhales pushing you further away. Her voice. Large; peaks a…
- [Civics 101: The Shame of Mt. Rushmore](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/civics-101-the-shame-of-mt-rushmore2021.md) - ON AMERICA’S INCREDIBLY LOW BAR FOR HONORING DEAD WHITE GUYS Many of this nation’s towering figures are propped up by selective, revisionist, and fictional histories: young George Washington who “could not tell a lie”; Thomas Jefferson, a man for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"; Theod…
- [Ruth Bader Ginsburg Was An Anti-Indigenous, Anti-Black #GirlBoss](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ruth-bader-ginsburg-was-an-anti-indigenous-anti-black-girlboss2020.md) - TW: sexual violence, genocide, police brutality Who did Ginsburg advocate for? As a cishet, white woman I benefit from any inkling of WoMeN’s RiGhTs she might’ve fought for, but I’m not delusional. Ginsburg failed to advocate for ALL women. She failed to advocate for Indigenous and Black women. And…
- [On This Day 157 Years Ago: What Happened in Payahüünadü  Then, What's Happening Now, and How It's All Interconnected](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/on-this-day-157-years-ago-what-happened-in-payahuunadu-then-whats-happening-now-and-how-its-all-interconnected2020.md) - Photo by of so-called Lake Sabrina in Payahüünadü by Steve Wiesner on Unsplash Not too long ago, on July 11, 1863 (yesterday about 157 years ago), 1,000 Paiutes from Payahüünadü (what settlers/colonizers consider the Owens Valley/Bishop area), were forced from their homelands to march 250 mil…
- [Cops Kill, Anti-Blackness Infiltrates Our Language and Headlines, and Why We Need to Support Black Women and Femmes Directly](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/cops-kill-2020.md) - Image of Sergeant Jonathan Mattingly, Detective Brett Hankinson, and Sergeant Myles Cosgrove 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 ki…
- [Saving MA Forests: The Fight For Clean Air During COVID-19 and Climate Change](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/saving-ma-forests-the-fight-for-clean-air-during-covid-19-and-climate-change2020.md) - Berkshire County is home to an abundance of beautifully forested land and natural resources. Our forests, parks, and wetlands have become an important pillar of our economic stability, as well as a critical player in our ecological diversity and public health. Yet our state forests are currently st…
- [#BoycottBlackDiamond: Everything You Need to Know and How You Can Help](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/boycottblackdiamond-everything-you-need-to-know-and-how-you-can-help2020.md) - Image collage from The Inquirer and Unsplash. The background photo is a group of protestors who police bombed excessively with tear gas as they tried to escape, but had nowhere to go as they were pushed up against a barrier on the perimeter of highway I-676 in Philadelphia. Black Diamond and Pieps…
- ["There Are Going to be Such Explosions": What Constitutes Violence in a Settler Colonial Society, the Unethical Use of Tear Gas, and the Importance of Media Literacy](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/what-constitutes-violence-tear-gas-media-literacy2020.md) - Photo by Spenser on Unsplash Black Lives, particularly Black Trans Lives, Matter everyday, all day, 365 days a year, 24/7. Tony McDadeNina PopMuhlaysia Booker Joseph Thomas Alexa RuizGeorge FloydLayleen Polanco Iyanna Dior- Black trans femme who was attacked at a George Floyd protest in Minneapolis…
- [This is All We Can Think About: The Deaths of Ahmaud Arbery and Nina Pop, the False Binary of Covert/Overt White Supremacy, and Where to Redistribute That Stimulus Check](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/all-we-can-think-about-ahmaud-arbery-nina-pop.md) - Ahmaud Arbery’s murder was not an anomaly. His death is one of countless egregious and horrifying modern-day lynchings at the hands of a couple of self-appointed “citizen patrollers” enacting whiteness as Nell Irvin Painter describes. This is the manifestation of centuries of violence stemming back…
- [Where to Donate That Stimulus Check](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/where-to-donate-that-stimulus-check2020.md) - Photography contributed by Brittney Okabe But why? Some of us really need that money to cover our immediate needs, some of us can leave it in the bank because maybe, you can cover your expenses this month but next month is not certain. Some of us still have paying jobs and that check is like a bonu…
- [Stay the Fuck Home: White Entitlement, Anti-Blackness, and COVID-19](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/stay-the-fuck-home-covid19.md) - I am in the Facebook group called, “Women on the Road” which is facilitated by She Explores. A question was asked in the public discussion: “What are your thoughts on slowly getting back out there? I have not been driving more than 5 miles from my house, rarely even going to the preserves super clo…
- [Hey, It’s John Muir’s Birthday, So Here’s a Reminder of His Racist Legacy](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/hey-its-john-muirs-birthday-so-heres-a-reminder-of-his-racist-legacy2020.md) - In response to Adventure Journal’s recent piece today glorifying John Muir we decided to offer up our feminist analysis of the racist asshat. We want to acknowledge and give deep gratitude to Jolie Varela of Indigenous Women Hike (IWH) who catalyzed conversations throughout the outdoor industry abo…
- [Not Your Playground: Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Flash Foxy Cancels Women’s Climbing Festival in Payahüünadü, and Here’s Why You Should Cancel Your Plans Altogether](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/collective-care-and-solidarity-during-covid-19-the-womens-flash-foxy-climbing-festival-was-cancelled-and-why-you-must-cancel-your-plans-altogether2020.md) - Photo by Tommy Lisbin Among the cancellations of major events like South by Southwest, Coachella, and various summits, conferences, and concerts, Flash Foxy followed suit by cancelling their massively popular and sold-out Women’s Climbing Festival (WCF) that takes place every March in Payahüünadü (…
- [This is our Chance to Radicalize the Times](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/covid-19-is-our-chance-to-radicalize-the-times2020.md) - Feature photo by Jessica Felicio The Coronavirus pandemic seems to be having the same effect on the mainstream consciousness as did Trump rising to power. When Trump got elected, many folks -- as in mostly white people -- “woke up” in shock to the fact that our country is *this* racist and rooted i…
- [An Online Workshop on Toxic Masculinity in the Outdoor Industry](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/an-online-workshop-on-toxic-masculinity-in-the-outdoor-industry2020.md) - Learn more and save your spot here! This workshop will be based on the essay, “Ambient Dominion: How Free Solo Points to an Epidemic of Toxic Masculinity.” Have you ever been at a loss for what to say when you witness and/or experience toxic masculinity? Have you ever had that gut feeling that some…
- [Say NoThanks to #Thankstaking](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/say-nothanks-to-thankstaking2019.md) - “To learn and know this history is both a necessity and a responsibility to the ancestors and descendants of all parties.” -- Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz on the true history of what has happened to the great civilizations of the Western Hemisphere in her book An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United St…
- [Anti-Blackness and Colonization: There is No Decolonization Without Uplifting Black Lives](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/antiblackness-and-colonization2019.md) - Cover art by Whitney Sparks As a black woman of Turtle Island I am asking EVERYONE to STOP speaking of “Decolonization” without explicitly naming and confronting Anti-blackness. Anti-blackness is deeply, unshakably inherent to colonization — as much as land theft, rape, genocide, white supremacy, h…
- [“Pretty Good”: The American Alpine Club’s Continued Exclusion, Exploitation, and Tokenization of Black and Indigenous Communities and How White People Rationalize It Away](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/pretty-good-aac-racism-2019.md) - The American Alpine Club’s Craggin’ Classics Have a History of Being Exclusive, Exploitative, and Tokenizing of Black and Indigenous Organizations, but Chris Schulte Reports Back That They Are Doing “Pretty Good.” White people have historically anointed themselves as the “keepers of nature” from Jo…
- [Building Terra Incognita Media: Confronting Failure, Self-Sabotage, and Imposter Syndrome](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/building-terra-incognita-media-confronting-mistakes-failure-self-sabotage-and-imposter-syndrome2019.md) - Since starting Terra Incognita Media my life has been a Chumbawamba song. It’s been a journey of killing my ego over and over again, making public and private mistakes, and learning major lessons. Sometimes the lessons required an easy pivot, but more often than not the lessons I have learned have…
- [Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day!](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ltpv7qu9nw5h14vw3lek1dejw5yc9y2019.md) - “Origin narratives form the vital core of a people’s unifying identity and of the values that guide them. In the United States, the founding and development of the Anglo-American settler-state involves a narrative about Puritan settlers who had a covenant with God to take the land. That part of the…
- [The Privilege to Perform Queerness: When Straight People Step Outside of Cisheteronormativity They Gain Social Capital, But at What Cost?](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-privilege-to-perform-queerness.md) - Meme created by Brittney Okabe and Abolition Memes On September 29, 2019 Pattie Gonia posted a video and photo of both herself and Alex Honnold donning a matching pair of Pattie’s signature patent-leather, six-inch heeled boots. Honnold and Pattie are seen striking dramatic poses and laughing surro…
- [The Binary is A White, Colonialist Fiction and It's Up to White Cishet Folks to Disrupt It](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-binary-is-a-white-colonialist-fiction-and-its-up-to-white-cishet-folks-to-disrupt-it2019.md) - [The image on the right depicts an angry, screaming King Kong clutching a feinting white woman in a barely-there dress. The image on the right depicts a muscular and strong Lebron James screaming and taking a forward-facing stance while wrapping an arm around Giselle Bundchen who is posed more pass…
- [The Ongoing Project of Settler Colonialism Ushered into the Future by Ellen Degeneres and White Feminism](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-ongoing-project-of-settler-colonialism-ushered-into-the-future-by-ellen-degeneres-and-white-feminism2019.md) - Collage created by images from UX Gun, Duncan Kidd, and Cooper Neill/AP, Ron Jenkins/AP “White feminism does not look at itself, does not aim to de-center itself, and is only concerned about its own social and economic capital.” Ellen Degeneres spoke out about her experience of sitting next to Geor…
- [Action Items For the Start of Autumn](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/action-items2019.md) - We recently asked our followers on Instagram: "What would you like to see more of, or learn about?" We got ONE response! Please send us feedback if you have it! We love to hear from our community. You can reply directly to this email: helloterraincognita@gmail.com (whether love letters or construct…
- [Kick Kurbo and Fatphobia to the Curb](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/kick-kurbo-and-fatphobia-to-the-curb-2019.md) - Photo courtesy of Annie Shelmerdine Kurbo, an app launched by WW (Weight Watchers) this past August, targets kids and teens and claims to help them develop healthy eating and exercise habits. Over 87,000 people have signed a petition to demand that WW remove the app because it has the potential to…
- [When Natural Disasters Strike, What Happens to People in Prisons?](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/what-happens-to-people-in-prisons-when-natural-disasters-strike2019.md) - Photo Collage composed of photographs from Heidi Benyounes, Bizarre Mooder, and Vidar Nordli-Mathisen As Hurricane Dorian looms slowly closer to the shores of South Carolina evacuations have been ordered for certain coastal communities. Despite these calls, Ridgeland Correctional Institute, in Jasp…
- [What Keeps Black Womxn from Getting the Money They Deserve? Institutional Racism and Sexism, and... Excuses.](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/what-keeps-black-womxn-from-getting-the-money-they-deserve-institutional-racism-and-sexism-and-excuses2019.md) - According to the April 2019 report by the National Partnership for Women and Families, “Black women in the United States who work full-time, year-round are typically paid 61 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men,” a fact pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau 2018. Race, gender, class,…
- [Mauna a Wākea](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/mauna-a-wkea2019.md) - Stunning Artwork by Marika Marx Aloha kākou, ʻO Ariel kouʻ inoa. Eia wau maʻaneʻi e kākau nei no koʻu lāhui i ka manaolana e mahalo i nā Kūpuna a me ke Kiaʻi o Mauna a Wākea. Hello everyone, My name is Ariel. I am here, writing to honor my lāhui, my kūpuna and my Kiaʻi of Mauna a Wākea. Back in 200…
- [RACES, RAÍCES AND RACISM: Anti-Mexican Sentiment and Ultrarunning](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/races-races-and-racism-anti-mexican-sentiment-and-ultrarunning2019.md) - Because I suffered through puberty among racists, I can recite a lot of anti-Mexican jokes. Many involve athletic skill. “Why doesn’t Mexico have an Olympic team?” a twelve-year-old white boy hissed at me during recess. I braced myself. “Because any Mexican that can run, jump, or swim is in the US!…
- [How the White Body-Positive and Self-Love Movement Hinges on Anti-Blackness and How We Can Stop It](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/how-the-white-body-positive-and-self-love-movement-hinges-on-anti-blackness-and-how-we-can-stop-it2019.md) - Cover Art by KT — learn more about the artist here! This piece was originally published on Medium White Supremacy in the Body-Positive Movement Growing up, I wasn’t taught to have a friendly, loving relationship with my body despite what my parents would have wanted. Our society feeds us toxic mess…
- [#SayHerName: June is About Uplifting, Honoring, and Protecting Black, Trans Womxn](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ru2epdc4hogyambaa17ay2ty1sjoay2019.md) - Dana Martin. Jazzaline Ware. Ashanti Carmon. Claire Legato. Muhlaysia Booker. Michelle Washington. Paris Cameron. Johana Medina. Chynal Lindsey. Chanel Scurlock. TeTe Gulley. Zoe Spears. These Black trans womxn have been killed since the beginning of 2019. The majority of these murders occurred rec…
- [A Message to Corporations like Planet Granite: Free Belay Lessons Won't Cut It, We Need Anti-Police Brutality Advocacy in Honor of Pride](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/a-message-to-corporations-like-planet-granite-free-belay-lessons-wont-cut-it-we-need-anti-police-brutality-advocacy-in-honor-of-pride2019.md) - What are you doing to contribute to anti-police brutality advocacy, the fight for Black, Trans, and Queer human rights, and the issue of gentrification and poverty? These issues are inseparable with Pride and if you want to truly honor the celebration of Pride during the month of June how are you a…
- [Bleeding While Non-Binary](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/bleeding-while-non-binary2019.md) - Gorgeous art by emily anne (@_____ember) My relationship with my period is complex. On one hand, I value it. It is pretty fucking cool that so much blood comes out of my body and I do not die from it. It makes me feel fierce and strong. It can be a time of deep and soft reflection with myself. On a…
- [The St. Louis Arch: A “Spiritual” Project Born Out of White Supremacist Impulses](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-st-louis-arch-a-spiritual-project-born-out-of-white-supremacist-impulses2019.md) - When I was in eighth grade, I moved from a suburb of Chicago, Illinois to a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. My siblings and I made jokes about cows and cornfields as we drove six hours southwest across man-made state lines. The farmed landscape blurred as we sped down the highway, our thoughts never…
- [Abuses of Power: How Christian Beckwith and I Have Similar Work to Do](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/abuses-of-power-how-christian-beckwith-and-i-have-similar-work-to-do2019.md) - REMINDER: Venmo these folx who have been spearheading the work behind #WontTakeShiftAnymore: @BlaakRoots @SarahEmilia @Nadia-Mercado-1 @AnahiNaranjo @OliviaVandamme @Pinar-Yaku @mynameisBam In a recent conversation between Vasu Sojitra, disability and racial justice advocate and sponsored North Fac…
- [The Impact of #WontTakeShiftAnymore and the Struggle for Co-Liberation with Vasu Sojitra and Bam Mendiola](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-impact-of-wonttakeshiftanymore-and-the-struggle-for-co-liberation-with-vasu-sojitra-and-bam-mendiola2019.md) - After a coalition of 17+ people came forward to speak the truth about their traumatic experiences at SHIFT, a conservation conference that has claimed to be an “inclusive” space dedicated to “diversity,” Christian Beckwith, the Executive Director, is staying put even after countless demands for him…
- [BOYCOTT SHIFT: Letter in Support](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/boycott-shift-letter-in-support2019.md) - The violence that SHIFT and Christian Beckwith continue to enact is horrifying to witness. The fact that a team, a “nonprofit” team no less, of people can absorb the knowledge that 17+ people have been violated and traumatized by their own organization’s actions, and particularly by the hands of th…
- [#StopGlorifyingJohnMuir Fundraiser](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/stopglorifyingjohnmuir-fundraiser2019-1.md) - ONLY A FEW HOURS LEFT IN OUR #StopGlorifyingJohnMuir swag fundraiser. 80 percent of funds raised go to Indigenous Women Hike! The rest will go towards paying our fantastic, brilliant, hard-working contributors. John Muir directly encouraged and aided indigenous genocide through his writing and "env…
- [#WontTakeShiftAnymore Call to Action](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/wonttakeshiftanymore-call-to-action2019.md) - Hello, everyone. I am writing to bring attention to a campaign that has been started to demand that Christian Beckwith, the executive director of Shift, and co-founder of The Alpinist, to resign from his position at Shift. A coalition of past participants, attendees, and staff have come forward wit…
- [Stop Glorifying John Muir](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/stop-glorifying-john-muir2019.md) - Art by Kyra Wiethorn Want a T-shirt, tank, or sweatshirt with this design on it? We are doing a swag fundraising campaign! 80% of funds raised go to Indigenous Women Hike for their trip to Peru. %20 will go towards paying Terra Incognita Media’s artists and contributors. It’s Actually Not Complicat…
- [The White Problem of "Chocolate Chipping" in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/the-white-problem-of-chocolate-chipping-in-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-efforts2019.md) - Collage by the Terra Team with borrowed images from Alex and Brooke Cagle. Questions to never ask a panel comprised of people who hold marginalized identities, particularly Black folx, Indigenous folx, and folx of color: 1. How has the lack of diversity in the outdoors impacted you? 2. What can a p…
- [Conglomerate Imperialism: The Enemy to Indigenous Liberation](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/conglomerate-imperialism-the-enemy-to-indigenous-liberation-by-dani-miller2019.md) - Imperialism and Capitalism are two power structures that have dispossessed Indigenous peoples around the globe, and continues to do so. My #SchemesBecomeSchema series has focused on the psychology, marketing strategy and advertising campaigns that employ anti Indigenous and anti Black paradigms to…
- [Vegan Activism and Anti-Indigeneity: Violating Indigenous Food Sovereignty](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/vegan-activism-and-anti-indigenity-violating-indigenous-food-sovereignty2019.md) - This past year or so, I've witnessed several accounts of (primarily white) vegans attacking Indigenous mutuals online and in person for traditional hunting, usage of animal parts or for eating meat. "You're killing innocent animals." "You're contributing to murder." etc. etc. There is a lot of sham…
- [An Open Letter to White People Who Want to Use Their Platform to Dismantle White Supremacy](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/an-open-letter-to-white-people.md) - Photo courtesy of Ivana Cajina We frequently get asked by white people, particularly those who work in environmental jobs, in the national park service, or public lands, if we can offer them advice, tips, or resources on how to address white supremacy and ongoing colonization. Whether they are lead…
- [White Women: Let's Stop Giving Each Other Awards](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/white-women-lets-stop-giving-each-other-awards2019.md) - For the white people out there: nobody but Black, Indigenous, people of color leaders should be leading anti-racist, equity and inclusion initiatives. Recently, Camber Outdoors erased Teresa Baker’s work, the equity leader behind the CEO Diversity Pledge, and announced their own diversity pledge, d…
- [Stop Policing Our Bodies: When Cis White Men Determine What is "Healthy" for Everyone](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/stop-policing-our-bodies-when-cis-white-men-determine-what-is-healthy-for-everyone2019.md) - Photo via Simon Matzinger “Females should not eat eggs,” the cis white man told me. I was in a conversation with him about his choice to be vegan. He said he had done a lot of research about what certain bodies should eat and not eat. I had a lot of questions to say the least. Like who did the stud…
- [REI's and Teton Gravity's FAR OUT Plays into Racist Tropes of Discovery and Enlightenment](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/far-out-plays-into-racist-tropes2019.md) - Racism and ongoing colonization is difficult to overturn largely in part because as white people we don’t realize that our efforts to find “spiritual enlightenment,” or to “just have fun,” or to “explore,” or “recreate,” is coming at a compounded cost to others. Last fall 2018, Teton Gravity Resear…
- [White Male Impunity is Not, and Never Will be, Funny](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/white-male-impunity-is-not-and-never-will-be-funny2019.md) - “You don’t have a sense of humor.” If you have ever called attention to the way someone’s behavior, actions, or language is having a harmful impact, you have probably heard this. Personally, I have heard this a thousand times over throughout my life from family members, to ex-boyfriends, to strange…
- [Terra Approved Podcasts of 2018](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/terra-approved-podcasts-of-2018.md) - You can get an ear-full of education by listening to the right podcasts. Here is a list of the podcasts that are changing the way we see the world and imagine a more equitable future. MÉTIS IN SPACE “Métis In Space” hilariously deconstructs the science fiction genre through a decolonial lens. Join…
- [Ambient Dominion: How 'Free Solo' Points to An Epidemic of Toxic Masculinity](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/ambient-dominion-how-free-solo-points-to-an-epidemic-of-toxic-masculinity2018.md) - “One of our people in the Native community said the difference between white people and Indians is that Indian people know they are oppressed but don’t feel powerless. White people don’t feel oppressed, but feel powerless. Deconstruct that disempowerment. Part of the mythology that they’ve been tea…
- [AN OPEN LETTER TO INTERNATIONAL LIVING](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/an-open-letter-to-international-living2018.md) - I shouldn’t be writing this letter in 2018 addressed to a publication that has been a veteran in the travel publication world. I shouldn’t, but I have to. Travel is intended to be a place that is safe for people to be themselves and to immerse themselves in diversity of places, people, thoughts, fo…
- [Surf Culture's Continued Appropriation of the Shaka](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/surf-cultures-continued-appropriation-of-the-shaka2018.md) - In 2016, associate editor of The Inertia, Dylan Heyden, wrote an article titled, “Is the World Famous Shaka A Form of Cultural Appropriation?” He begins by asking another question, perhaps more to the point then he realizes: “What is my culture?” As a cis white male from Southern California, Heyden…
- [Dr. Ford’s Testimony:  The Result of Over 500 Years of Colonization Broadcasted Live on National Television](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/dr-fords-testimony-the-result-of-over-500-years-of-colonization-broadcasted-live-on-national-television2018.md) - Image via Instyle Magazine “This country is rooted in rape, slavery, and genocide. Those who wrote the constitution were rapists, slave owners, and genocidal terrorists. The US continues to protect rapists in the name of white supremacist patriarchy. Brett Kavanaugh is just another Thomas Jefferson…
- [How the Unintentional Racism of the Outdoor Industry is Getting in the Way of Creating Authentic Community](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/how-the-unintentional-racism-of-the-outdoor-industry-is-getting-in-the-way-of-creating-authentic-community2018.md) - Nike made a business move and the majority of the world responded in applause and shopping sprees. The headlines read: “Nike, far from burned by Colin Kaepernick ad, sees price hit all-time high,” reports the Chicago Tribune. “Nike’s Kaepernick ad draws record likes on social media, sends stock to…
- [Reclaiming the Nüümü Poyo: Indigenous Women Hike Journeys to Decolonize Ancestral Homelands](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/reclaiming-the-nm-poyo2018.md) - “Why are so many White men trying to save the planet without the rest of us?” asks Suzanne Goldenberg in May 2014 in her essay for The Guardian where she details the predominantly White male presence at the top of many major environmental organizations from The Sierra Club to the National Audubon S…
- [In the Wet of It: Equity, Inclusion, and Detaching From the Commitment to Whiteness](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/in-the-wet-of-it-if-we-work-on-our-repression-and-denial-maybe-then-we-can-say-were-about-equity-and-inclusion2018.md) - This is a series called "In the Wet of It," which addresses how the outdoor industry/environmental movement needs to, and can, examine the construct of Whiteness. The question was posed to me by Kenya Budd, an equity and inclusion consultant in Portland, Oregon, and has been posed by many who have,…
- [Detaching From Your Commitment to the Construct of Whiteness Action Items](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/detaching-from-whiteness-action-items2018.md) - Image by Vincent Burkhead Three Action Items for white people beginning their process of detaching from their commitment to the construct of whiteness*: 1. Read about the eight characteristics of white supremacy. Where do you collude with whiteness? Locate where you exemplify these behaviors, and h…
- [Desert Kinks](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/desertkinks.md) - Words by Nia Abram Art by our newest contributing artist, Clio Cy (learn more about Cy here) “Are you ready?” my Dad asks. “Yeah, I guess,” I respond meekly. “Alright, grab your stuff. We should try to start moving in before the rush of all the other students.” I grab my jean jacket, zip up my suit…
- [Appropriation and Colonialism at the Oregon Country Fair](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/appropriation-and-colonialism-at-the-oregon-country-fair2018.md) - Cover Image via Willamette Weekly Places like Eugene, Oregon are often touted as a liberal oasis -- but only if you are White. If you are Indigenous or a person of color then you are subjected to the impacts of a state founded on White greed. With the removal of the tribes in 1856 to Grande-Ronde I…
- [How Couchsurfing is Putting Women* in Danger](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/how-couchsurfing-is-putting-women-in-danger2018.md) - I’m no veteran couchsurfer, but up until last week my worst Couchsurfing experience had only involved receiving a creepy text after forgetting my best wool underwear drying in a man’s spare room. Of course, I’ve always been aware of the worst case scenarios in staying in a stranger’s home, but I pr…
- [Empower. Create. Share.](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/10-outdoor-instagram-accounts-you-have-to-follow2018.md) - [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1182"] Mercy Sham via her Instagram [https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/caption] 1. @WILDDIVERSITY. I remember the first time I met Mercy Sham. She made me laugh constantly as a group of women, femme, and non-binary individuals gathered in the dark, rainy mo…
- [Wakanda Forever: Anticolonialism as Sustainable Technology](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/wakanda-forever-anticolonialism-as-sustainable-technology2018.md) - Black Panther, like many of the Marvel comics and movies, has rooted its premise and power in reality, and its characters are contextualized by humanness and historicity. Marvel movies make their world seem nearly identical to our own, thus using their storylines as entry points for social, cultura…

## Optional
- [RSS Feed](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/rss/)
- [Sitemap](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/sitemap.xml)
- [Full content of pages and posts](https://www.terraincognitamedia.com/llms-full.txt)