Racism in Recreation - with Dr. Daniel Theriault - The CampHacker Podcast

A conversation around how to make the camp and recreation industries a more welcoming place for a wider range of people.

In this special summer bonus episode, Travis is joined by Dr. Daniel Theriault to discuss racism, power and privilege in the recreation industry. Dr. Theriault and Travis dig into some of the work that’s needed to subvert these unhealthy systems within the rec and camp industry.

It’s a great interview and we’re so grateful to Dr. Theriault for joining us.

Some notes from this interview:

Dr. Theriault proposes three things that all recreation professionals, camp professionals, and white people can do to start to

  1. Work to see power and privilege - the power systems that shape the way the world works (racism, classism, etc.).

  2. Take responsibility for our role in those systems.

  3. Take anti-racist actions.

Drilling down into some specifics:

  • Normalize the lack of comfort that will surely follow when we start to confront our involvement in systems power and privilege

  • Read what is painful - read and absorb information on the BIPOC history and experience so we are better equipped to serve our campers through that lens of understanding.

  • Think about the media that we absorb and how BIPOC communities are represented in those shows and movies.

Daniel and Travis come to some for the Summer Camp Industry as a whole:

  • Be careful about the language we use and the messages it sense. For example, how might “Color War” be perceived in light of the racial conflict that has existed in communities over the last 200+ years.

  • Look at policy - Who do we value? Who do we hire? Why do we hire them?

  • Educate ourselves and others on the history of the land our camp is on and who occupied the land not just before the camp, but before settlement.

  • Increasing representation of diverse staff at your camp. This can help your camp start to truly look like a camp where BIPOC campers can see themselves.

    • First steps here include ensuring our pre-camp training includes topics of power, privilege and the contexts of racism.

    • Building relationships of trust with community organizations, HBCUs and other places where you may look to hire BIPOC folks.

Remember, these are bullet-points, not check-boxes. Undoing the systems of racism, power and privilege is going to be lifelong work.

Thank you to those Camp Pros who are committed to continuing to do this continued work.

Links from this episode

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PREVIEW: Beyond Camp: Exploring the Intersection of Camp and Our Lives

A Camp Podcast, in the Summer!?

Coming July 9th, 2020: Beyond Camp: Exploring the Intersection of Camp and Our Lives
As much as people like to talk about camp and ‘the real world’ as two separate entities, camp professionals know that this simply isn’t true. Beyond Camp dives into how different aspects of our lives affect our camp experience, effectively bursting the camp bubble and welcoming all parts of our lives into the conversation.

For the summer, stay tuned to the CampHacker Podcast feed. We're releasing a new show every week!

We hope you enjoy this preview! Episode one drops July 9th at 6 am.

If you have any feedback or ideas for future topics please get in touch! - matt@gocamp.pro.

Go well and safely friends, see you next week.

What Will Camp Look Like in 2025? - CampHacker #129

We need to be in this for the long-run. Think ahead with the CampHacker Podcast.

Things are hard now. It’s no doubt.

However, through hard things, comes the opportunity for big and beautiful changes.

It’s is the idea of weathering the storm and watching the flowers thrive.

Give yourself a break from the doom and gloom to think about what your camping program will look like in 5 years. 5 summers from now, what do you want to be proud of? How will we show the world the importance of camp after the possibility of a summer without it?

When it comes to thinking big, there’s no other crew you want in your corner. The whole gang is here, so sit back, relax for a second and dream alongside Gabz, Dan, Joe and Travis.

In what ways do you think camp will look different in 2025? Let us know in the comments!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis: Voice messaging Slack extension - https://talk-talk.me/

Dan: Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand PRO -  https://amzn.to/35Xpo0V

Joe: Lee Valley Best-Ever Picture Screw - https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/shop/hardware/picture-hanging-and-framing/anchors-and-screws/76382-lee-valley-best-ever-picture-screw

Gabz: TeamGantt Project Management Framework - https://www.teamgantt.com/google-sheets-gantt-chart-template

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Thanks to our sponsor!

Radtagz - Be and Be Known

Real Talk: How We're Taking Our Minds Off COVID-19 - CampHacker #128

Real Talk. Dealing with COVID and camp is hard and we can’t keep going at this 24/7. What are Travis, Dan and Joe doing to avoid thinking about COVID-19?

You may be a work-horse. You have been the camp counsellor who stayed up until 3 am to finish that extra special surprise for your campers. You may have been the Program Director who spent hours upon hours trying to quash staff drama. You may have even spent the night pouring over accreditation standards and thinking about every little detail you needed to fix before your standards visit the next day.

You may have been able to do that, but COVID-19 and camp is not that.

When we are dealing with something this ominous, we more than ever need to set mental boundaries. We’re not talking about taking a 15-minute mindfulness break, or trying to re-frame this all as an opportunity, or simply trying to just keep working to deal with this.

You need a mental pause, and to take a second to take off the mask of security and strong leadership that you put on for your staff, families and alumni.

And if you think that this is the mindset of amateurs in the industry, it most certainly is not.

We wanted to get real with you on this episode of the CampHacker Podcast. This is Travis, Dan and Joe talking about what they, as people with a combined almost 100 years in the industry are doing to protect their sanity during this unprecedented time in the camping world.

Tune in to hear our 3 hosts share their favourite Podcasts, Books, Music, TV Shows and Hobbies that they use to switch their brains from the mentally, physically and emotionally taxing jobs of keeping their programs, and the industry as a whole, alive.

Editors Note: I’m extremely grateful to Joe, Dan and Travis for their radical openness and vulnerability in this episode.

What are you doing to intentionally foster community and empathy with your team? Let us know in the comments!

Tool of the Week – Make Yourself a Better Camp Director

Travis: Custom Zoom Signs - Vote, SMRT, and “You’re Muted”

Dan: Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

Joe: Yo-Yo Tricks - https://yoyotricks.com/

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Thanks to our sponsor!

Radtagz - Be and Be Known