Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Episode Summary:
In this week’s episode of What Happens In Between, I sit down with Courtney Lanctot, the founder of The Unpopular Black, a platform built to inspire and educate the Black community to adventure the American outdoors. Courtney’s work serves as both representation and a specific type of relatability for the Black American experience. Is it unpopular for us to seek out nature, or simply uncommon? Join us on today’s episode as we separate generalizations from the public perspective by Shifting Narratives x Black Adventuring.
Show Notes:
Is it possible to shift narratives and Black Americans the pleasure of adventuring? As the founder of The Unpopular Black, Courtney Lanctot enters outdoor spaces in support of joy and gratitude for the outdoor landscape to co-exist with Blackness. While grief for Black history does exist, it is also a reminder of a shifting perspective; finding sensory forms of freedom in natural spaces can exist, too. Courtney shows us that co-regulation can extend to the presence of non-human connections.
Relatability is just as important as representation. So why don’t Black Americans seek adventuring, but travel overseas to outdoor destinations? The outdoors can both be a place for adventure and a spiritual refuge. Courtney started The Unpopular Black to inspire and educate the Black community to adventure the American outdoors. Can there be more than one way to perceive Black Adventure?
Courtney shows us that bringing curiosity to the stories that surround us is the first step toward inspiring significant change. Join us on today’s episode as we separate generalizations from the public perspective by Shifting Narratives x Black Adventuring. Is it possible to be both free from narrative and connected to your individual freedom?
Seedling Round:
Courtney answers questions about bodies of water, landscapes, what inspired the creation of The Unpopular Black, and what she values about herself.
Courtney Lanctot, the content creator behind The Unpopular Black, inspires Black people to get outside and explore wide open spaces across the nation with her platform. Her outdoor adventures have taken her from paddleboarding the Colorado River to witnessing the Aurora Borealis in the Alaskan sky.
Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or on your favorite podcast platform.
Topics Covered:
- Feeling misaligned with everyone else’s peak joy
- Why don’t Black Americans seek adventuring?
- The distinction between outdoorsing, adventuring, and traveling
- The space Black Adventuring fills as a spiritual practice
- Courtney’s outdoor grief rituals mirrored by joy and gratitude
- Four questions for our Seedling Round
Guest Info:
Connect with Courtney Lanctot on The Unpopular Black’s website and Instagram. Listen to Courtney’s We Been Out Here podcast, and check out The Adventure Directory here.
