(bright music) - Welcome to "Crosscut Now."

In today's episode, the latest season of "Out & Back" with Alison Mariella Desir strives to reclaim space in the outdoors for Black, Indigenous and People of color.

Coming up, we'll learn why certain recreational activities have been out of reach for generations.

We'll also look at the legal efforts to redraw a Latino-Majority District in Central Washington and dive into the political divide.

And the new Seattle City Council is more conservative than the last one.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Today's top story, the host of "Out & Back" with Alison Mariella Desir journeys outdoors to make opportunities for BIPOC communities.

We'll explain how America's ills past and present have negatively shaped the world of outdoor recreation for certain people, and how this series is focused on making a positive impact.

Soon Alison Mariella Desir will return with Season Two of "Out & Back," the Crosscut KCTS 9 original series.

This new season will showcase Desir experiencing new territories from along a trail with a BIPOC running group to the slopes of Stevens Pass, where it's not as common to see Black faces to horseback riding with Seattle's Buffalo soldiers.

In "Out & Back" Season Two, Desir explores the Great Northwest with guests whom she calls change makers to reclaim space in the outdoors and create opportunities for Black, Indigenous, and People of color to find joy and healing.

The series aims to provide representation and diverse perspectives that producers say have long been missing from imagery, conversations concerning the outdoors due to historical and present-day racism and discrimination.

This series strives to illuminate the reasons why outdoor activities have been out of reach for marginalized communities due to fiercely guarded membership fees, expensive equipment, land restrictions, and discriminatory rules and regulations.

I caught up with the host of "Out & Back" Alison Mariella Desir, to learn how she's on a mission to bring representation and diverse perspectives to the outdoors for communities that have been often pushed to the margins due to racism and discrimination.

Welcome, Allison.

Thank you for joining us on the show today.

- Thank you so much for having me.

- I previewed two new unreleased episodes for season two, and one thing that struck me about those episodes is seeing someone that looked like me, Black woman, and she was on skis and she had braids.

And as I sit here with a level of privilege to host this show and have quite a few opportunities, it almost was an emotional experience for me when I watched that episode because I had never seen that before.

Why is it important to tell Annette's story?

- Annette is an amazing human being.

And what I love about the work that she's doing is she is bringing Black women, women of color into snow sports allowing them to show up as their authentic selves, right?

And we may be underrepresented in snow sports.

I mean, in fact, only less than 2% of us are at ski slopes annually, but we are there, right?

There's actually a history of Black and brown people skiing and snowboarding despite all of the obstacles.

So finding Annette and having the opportunity to tell, not just her own story, but the powerful work that she's doing to change the face of skiing and snowboarding was just such an important piece for me this season.

- From a historical standpoint, why have activities like skiing and others been out of reach for Black folks and indigenous communities?

- The history of this country is one rooted in genocide and racism and structural racism, right?

So up until 1964, the Civil Rights Act, facilities were segregated.

So for example, in skiing, there'd be a Black facility and a white facility, and the Black facility would be subpar.

The sport like skiing is so expensive and it requires a sense of comfort and safety.

And if you're showing up into spaces even after segregation, after integration, if you don't feel like you're welcomed or you belong, you're not gonna visit those spaces.

So what I'm finding is in all of these sports or activities, it's not that Black, Indigenous, People of color have not wanted to participate, right?

It's not for lack of want, or desire, or interest, it's these structural reasons that have prevented us.

But the good news is that once we discover that we can get access, I mean, we're all over it, right?

And that's the joy that comes out in these stories, that we may be underrepresented, but we are here, and we belong in all spaces.

- One of the themes that seem to be a through line through last season and in this season as well, is that idea of liberation.

Not just liberation for people that are maybe of our generation, but opening the imagination for the next generation.

Tell me a little bit more and why that's so important.

- I mean, if you don't see it, you can't be it, right?

That's just bottom line.

Seeing people who look like you, who have a shared lived experience allows you to see yourself in that space, right?

And while representation is essential, I mean, that is why I'm doing the work that I'm doing.

It also comes with these structural changes, right?

Like, we need to be in those spaces, and then we need to be the people making the decisions in those spaces.

And that is what's so exciting for me about this show because yes, I'm storytelling and I'm sharing the lives of people and representation, but also, you know, the underlying theme there is that we need access to these spaces.

We really wanna shift the narrative and the systems that historically have not provided space for us.

This show is rooted in joy, right?

Yes, we talk about history and there's trauma, but it's really rooted in joy and play in the outdoors.

And how Black and brown people are reclaiming that space.

What I hope is that for viewers who are like me, for viewers who are younger, older, that they realize it's never too late to try something, and that each of us belongs in all spaces.

Yes, there have been laws and restrictions that have prevented us in the past, but I hope this people see this and they see, "You know, I can do that," right?

And that they dig in and get their feet wet.

- Right?

(Alison laughs) And one thing, in addition to hosting this show, you wear many hats.

- Yes.

- And you consider yourself also an activist.

What do you hope people take away from not only watching this show, but as you are amplifying stories that often are not told or told in this magnitude?

- Yeah, I think in this world, it can be really daunting when you think about change, right?

It seems like there's so many systems that would prevent change from happening, and yet individuals can make a big impact, right?

I'm meeting with all these different people who are making an impact in their family, in their community, and I hope that that again sends this message that each of us has the possibility to change the world, right?

Like we might change it on the micro level, but all of that are little steps in the direction of progress.

And it's exciting for me because, you know, my son will literally see me on TV, right?

Like talk about representation.

He's gonna see his mother and sometimes himself on TV and just know how powerful he is.

- Your work is transformative for a lot of people who have not seen themselves in what you are participating in for the first time for yourself.

And so we thank you for sharing your story, sharing all of these stories, Alison.

Thanks for joining us.

- Thank you.

It is my absolute pleasure.

- If you are interested in watching the news season of "Out & Back" with Alison Mariella Desir, it's February 1st on KCTS, and you can catch it every Thursday night.

(bright music) A Central Washington legislative district has Latino voters up in arms from both sides of the aisle will explain why the re jarring of a political map is still a work in progress in the State.

The fight over what the 15th legislative district in the Yakima Valley area should look like continues even as we draw near to the 2024 elections.

New district boundaries were drawn in 2021 as they are every 10 years after the census.

But Latino voters sued in January of 2022 saying the map disenfranchised minority voters.

A judge agreed in August of 2023 that the boundaries violated the Federal Voting Rights Act and the maps needed to be redrawn.

Now, a group of conservative Latino voters are pursuing appeals in hopes of reversing the judge's ruling, which they contend is an attempt by Democrats to get their candidates elected in a conservative region.

The court aims to adopt a new redistricting map and transmit it to the Secretary of State's office by March 25th.

So the new map can be used for the 2024 elections.

The conservative group says it's also planning to file an appeal based on the new map.

Changes to the map will also likely affect voters in other surrounding districts who may be moved to different districts under the new boundaries.

(bright music) All seats are now occupied for Washington's largest city council.

We'll explain how we got here and what's at stake for the leadership body.

All seats of the Seattle City Council are now filled after weeks of speculation about who will fill one of its vacancies, solidifying the body as more conservative than previous councils.

On January 23rd, five city council members voted to appoint Chinatown-International District Activists and hotel owner, Tanya Woo, to the Citywide District Eight position.

That became open after Teresa Mosqueda was elected to the King County Council.

Labor Union backed Seattle Public School's Board member, Vivian Song, who was elected to the position in 2021, was another of the finalists.

Woo will hold the District Eight seat through November when voters will be asked to elect someone for the remainder of Mosqueda's term through the end of 2025.

In November, Woo ran and lost the race for Seattle's District Two seat against incumbent Tammy Morales on similar platforms as her newly elected colleagues, public safety, police hiring, and fiscal conservatism.

The new Seattle City Council is facing a projected budget shortfall in 2025.

That could be as large as 251 million.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching "Crosscut Now."

Your destination for nonprofit Northwest News.

Go to crosscut.com for more.

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