Listening and Learning.
I was so inspired when I was introduced to Sunny Stroeer in this Wall Street Journal article last fall. Along with being a Harvard MBA graduate, just a few things on her long list of record breaking accomplishments include a speed record on South America’s highest peak, placing 3rd female in the Ghosts of Yellowstone 100M race in 2014, and most recently, establishing a FKT (fastest known time) of a 40+ mile route in her home town of Kanab, Utah.
I had to get this woman’s story in my book, The Power of Pivot.
She was readily willing to connect, and we scheduled a call later that week. We talked about her motivations and aspirations and her 180 degree career pivot from corporate America into her own personal outdoor adventure company. (All of which are written in The Power of Pivot.)
But since then, on my solo road trip out west, (of which you can read more about here, our paths crossed in person as I drove through Kanab. There, we linked up for a trail run.
Although I had been up in elevation for a month or so at that point, I was still getting used to running at altitude. Between sputtered breaths, I was somewhat able to continue a conversation as we ran up 1000 feet of elevation over 3 miles. I picked her brain with many questions, of which she was better able to answer with un-exasperated breaths and much wisdom.
We talked through her more recent pivot of taking over an outdoor expedition company amidst a global pandemic and her many adjustments within this ‘new normal’, but what stuck with me the most that hot summer day were her thoughts on the current Black Lives Matter movement and her position of solidarity as a white women.
Me: “Ahh, I think I need to walk a little… I’m just very overwhelmed. I mean… I just learned what the GI Bill is and how it has systemically oppressed African Americans to this very day… I don’t even know what causes to support anymore, I want to support everything, but is that the best use of my energy? I’m passionate about ending human trafficking and preserving our public lands and environmentalism and mental wellness and women’s empowerment and equality in the workplace and I guess now Black Lives Matter too…”
Sunny: “You know, I realized it’s impossible to support every cause fully. There’s not enough time or energy for that. So for me, it’s women in the outdoors, but within that, I want to support and empower black women in the outdoors, and be an advocate in that specific space .”
We made it to the top of the plateau, and Sunny directed me through some fascinating petroglyphs created by the Native Pueblo people several hundred years ago.
Sunny: “Watch your step…”
I looked down at these ornate designs and symbols carved into the rock. I started to catch my breath.
Me: “This is American history… this (gesturing to the petroglyphs) is what our lands used to be. I just can’t believe all of the beauty I’ve seen through these public lands and national parks has such a dark history. I mean, much of these sacred lands are really just previous war grounds of the massacre of the indigenous people that had lived there. Why did I never learn this in history class? Yosemite was made into a national park by way of the Mariposa war. As millions of visitors a year walk these lands today… Do they know the truth?”
We continued to mull over a multitude of topics, as we made our descent.
For all the beauty I had discovered during my time on the road out west, I discovered some very dark realizations and awakenings. I’ve had a deeply personal pivot toward a recognition of the privilege I live with and the corresponding responsibility I have to act on that privilege to empower others. The truth I need to recognize is that I am a white female. Within my ‘whiteness’ exists immense privilege of which others,’ such as African Americans and indigenous people, do not have.
How will I use this privilege?
I have a lot more to learn on my ‘awakening journey’ as Debby Irving, author of Waking Up White likes to call it, and I’ll be thinking for a while more about the specificity of the causes I want to stand for in my life.
But right now, it all comes down to a psychological pivot in thought to commit to continuing to educate myself and empower, advocate for, and elevate others’ less privileged than myself. Echoing Sunny’s sentiment, we don’t need to look very far to find causes of which could use our help. Each of us should look at how we can bring equality and racial reconciliation into our own specific domains and personal passions. I believe doing so will make the world a better place at large.
-Alli
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Over the next few weeks, I’m going to be sharing excerpts, stories, and personal musings from my book, The Power of Pivot: A Female Perspective on Embracing Change, in this article series. The Power of Pivot will launch in a few weeks on Amazon! In the meantime, if you want to connect, you can reach me via email (thepowerofpivot@gmail.com) or through my website: http://www.thepowerofpivot.co/#/*
