October 13, 2024

Good morning. Welcome to our weekly Sunday newsletter. We are featuring an inspiring story about Black ladies who are leading a hiking movement in the United Kingdom, NASCAR beginning a historic partnership to promote diversity and inclusion within the sport and the 2025 Met Gala revealing a bold and daring celebration of art, fashion, and culture.

Breaking Barriers: How Black Girls Hike is Redefining Inclusivity in the British Outdoors

By Lisa D.Tinsley

Rhiane Fatinikun, founder of Black Girls Hike, has been leading women of color through the scenic countryside of the United Kingdom since 2019. Inspired by racial disparity among British hikers, she created the group to make the outdoors more accessible for Black women. The 15 women who took on a challenging hike in the Yorkshire Dales are just a small representation of the hundreds who have joined Black Girls Hike to connect with nature and reclaim their space in Britain’s countryside.

The group has grown into a nationwide organization, offering weekend getaways and hikes across the UK. Fatinikun aims to shatter the perception that the British outdoors is solely for the white middle and upper classes. Her efforts are a response to studies that show people of color in Britain are more likely to live in cities and farther from green spaces, contributing to their exclusion from outdoor activities. Despite facing challenges, such as racist backlash on social media, Fatinikun remains focused on creating an inclusive outdoor community.

Ms. Fatinikun’s hiking initiative has gained momentum, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when interest in outdoor activities surged. She left her government job to fully dedicate herself to leading Black Girls Hike. She has since organized trips in Ghana, Morocco, and Norway, allowing more women to experience the mental and physical benefits of hiking. Along the way, she educated herself on navigating the outdoors, from understanding maps to handling unpredictable weather, and has inspired others to embrace nature.

For Fatinikun, hiking is not about conquering nature but appreciating its restorative powers. Through Black Girls Hike, participants experience both personal growth and meaningful connections with others. The friendships formed and the shared sense of community among Black women in these spaces have become some of the most rewarding outcomes of the group’s success, reinforcing Fatinikun’s mission to make the outdoors welcoming and inclusive for everyone.

campus chronicles // hbcu edition

• As Livingstone College welcomes back its alumni and friends for its homecoming, an anonymous donor gifted the college $1 million to support ongoing campus improvement projects. The gift will refurbish five residence halls, including 90 beds, at their Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management facility.

• A new high school in New York City will feature a first-ever early college program supported by an HBCU.  Students at the Queens-based high school can enroll in the program to earn college credits before graduation. In its partnership with Delaware State University (DSU), the school will begin admitting students next fall.

• Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) has announced a groundbreaking partnership with NASCAR, enhancing its motorsports management program and opening up new opportunities for students by becoming a NASCAR Campus Lab.  As part of the NASCAR Campus Lab program, 15 WSSU students, primarily sophomores and juniors, will be selected to participate. These students will engage in marketing activations, compete in case studies, and receive hands-on exposure to the world of motorsports.

national news

• Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has launched its “Souls to the Polls” effort to turn out Black churchgoers as Election Day approaches. The effort will include Harris visiting Black churches in battleground states. The get-out-the-vote program will include the creation of a faith advisory board, made up of ten prominent faith leaders.

• Bath & Body Works apologized after facing criticism for a candle design featuring a snowflake that some said resembled a Ku Klux Klan hood. The company pulled the candle from its website and issued a statement after social media users dubbed the design a “klandle.”

• In the four-part documentary Hollywood Black, writer and director Justin Simien examines how Hollywood has treated Black filmmakers, offering a reexamination of cinema from a radically Black perspective. Inspired by historian Donald Bogle’s book, Hollywood Black: The Stars, the Films, the Filmmakers, the series highlights the personal stories of Black actors, writers, directors, and producers who fought for their place in the industry at a time when diversity and inclusion were under threat.

black history in quotes 

Subscribe Today

KISA News Radio’s Sunday Briefing highlights a small portion of the journalism that KISA News Radio offers.

To access our website, please visit us online at KISARadio.org.

our community in numbers

Education: In 2023, the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), “the nation’s report card,” showed that 43% of fourth graders in the U.S. scored at or above a proficient level in reading. Only 17% of Black students, 21% of Latino students, 11% of students with disabilities, and 10% of multilingual learners can read proficiently by fourth grade.

Health: Black men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer in the United States, with 183.4 new cases per 100,000 men.

Business: The most common sectors for Black-owned businesses are health care and social assistance. About 45,000 of the roughly 161,000 U.S. companies with majority Black or African American ownership, or 28% of the total, were part of this sector in 2021.

culture

New York’s most anticipated fashion event, the Met Gala, returns on May 5, 2025. The theme is “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” which will celebrate the influence of black culture on fashion, focusing on black dandyism and its evolution over the centuries.  The 2025 theme takes its inspiration from Monica L. Miller’s 2009 book “Slaves to Fashion: Black Dandyism” and the styling of Black Diasporic Identity.

Our editor, Lisa D.Tinsley, would like to thank you for spending part of your day with KISA News Radio.

See you next Sunday.

Sign up here to receive this newsletter in your inbox or share with a friend.

Reach our team at [email protected] if you have any questions or would like to recommend specific topics to be featured in our newsletter.