In this final episode Bianca and I go through even more questions and because there were so many we did not get to touch on all of them, however most have a similar theme that requires an understanding what white supremacy is and how we participate in it.

Welcome to Part 2 of navigating the impact of white women’s intentions. Today, Bianca and I dive into just a few of the many questions we received themed around, “what can I do?” and “How can I decenter myself?” As well as building relationships with Black, Indigenious and People of Color.

This episode is raw, a truth telling experience from us as individuals on how we navigate the impact of white women’s intentions in both the angling space as well as the outdoor nonprofit space. This episode is for white women looking to continue their anti racist journey in hopes to shine light on an area that needs to change. If you’ve ever said or thought, “what can I do, I just want to learn and be better.” This episode is for you.

I get to speak with and catch up with my brother, a fellow Brown Folks Fishing Ambassador, fly guide, and founder of Taco Fly Co, Mario Guel. We discuss the fly fishing unwritten rule book, trolls behind meme accounts, a little geotagging, conspiracy theories, representation, and the real stoke behind Taco Fly Co.

A continuation with Amanda Jameson and her journey of finding employment in the outdoor industry. We talk about her leaving her recent position at Big City Mountaineers.

When it comes to justice, we need to talk about accountability.

In 2018, when Camber Outdoors announced a CEO Pledge that was the first of its kind. But there was already a pledge created by a Black woman, Teresa Baker.

I have the honor of speaking with Amanda Jameson, who is a woman of color that was also the Diversity and Inclusion Program Coordinator at Camber Outdoors when this happened in 2018. We get to hear about her story and she offers some incredible advice on how to recover when you do make a mistake.

Halfway through season one…

In fishing culture, there is a strong belief that social media and geotagging is “killing” fishing, there are oftentimes guides or other anglers will get bullied for geotagging. And part of fishing culture is to never ask or tell fishing spots. As fishing is growing in popularity, I noticed an increase in gatekeeping, and online bullying as well. 

I have observed guides and locals fix blame overcrowding on newbies, social media, geotagging, spot blowing, and we’ll get into geotagging on part two. Join me and Marco Kamimura, Fly Fishing Guide and Fly Tyer, that speaks to his experiences in Iowa. We discuss the difference between gatekeeping and protecting vulnerable fisheries while advocating for change and being an agent of change for your home waters so that one day we won’t have to keep fisheries on the “downlow.”

This week, I had the opportunity to speak with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion practitioner Patricia Chau Nguyễn to discuss her 15 years in this industry and how it's evolved. We also get to hear about her first experiences fly fishing in October 2020.

This week we discuss “Performative Activism” that has been observed within the fly fishing industry that began around June 2nd, also known as Blackout Tuesday and we’ll discuss the impact we see today in the angling community. This is a conversation between a Black woman and an Indigenous woman and we share our personal perspective and observations as avid anglers in this space.

On this episode, I had the pleasure of speaking and laughing a lot with Anna Le. We get to hear about her career as a fish biologist.

What better way to end this season than with Kayla fuckin* Lockhart. I know of no other way to introduce my boisterous guest. Kayla unapologetically advocates for human rights, mental health, and conservation. I appreciate how she authentically influences others by sharing her story and sharing how she lives with anxiety. I particularly admire the way she takes responsibility for the way she shows up; and the way she leads with compassion and empathy - both for her own mental health and for communities to have access to fly fishing as a gateway to conservation.

So this week, I am honored that my friend Corinne Doctor is my guest for today’s episode. She is the co-founder of Rep Your Water.

Today I am sitting down with Andi Green, host of Wine Down with Fly Gals on Instagram. She is also a scientist, a self proclaimed instigator, and an abolitionist.

We talk about her identity and how she is white passing and also Mexican; and her learnings from being complacent to becoming the abolitionist she now proclaims.

We also discuss cultural appropriation.

I met the founder of United Women on the Fly, Heather Hodson Neufeld, in 2019 at a fly fishing trade show. While it may have been a bit of a bumpy start, today, I now consider Heather an ally and activist within the JEDI space in fly fishing. I find Heather’s anti-racist journey as bold. She is, what I consider a “classic model” of what diversity and inclusion work looks like: emotional, hard, complex, depressing, joyful and bold.

Instagram has been a great resource for me to connect with other anglers and it’s exactly how I met Emerald LaFortune. I found alignment in her posts and content when it comes to topics of LGBTQ+, racial and social justice, as well as being a female in male dominated spaces such as whitewater boating and fly fishing. Emerald is a writer, guide, and angler based in Idaho.

In 2017, The Orvis Company launched 50/50 on the Water, an initiative to introduce more women to the sport and to promote those already making a mark in the fly fishing world.

I, as an Indigenous, woman know the gender binary is not inclusive - while focusing on women is important, how are we going to move forward to include gender fluidity, non binary, and trans communities?