The Black Men Northwoods Retreat

Hey everybody. Happy New Year! I know things seem to be getting off to a rocky start. How’s that for an understatement. But I sincerely believe that by working together we can get past our differences and move forward toward a brighter future. We just need to come up with creative solutions to our many extremely complicated problems.

For example, in the spring of 2020 I was asked by the National Forest Foundation to create a storytelling project.  They asked me to create a series of photographs and interviews about the Black community and its relationship with the outdoors. Cause you know…that’s kind of my thing. But smack in the middle of the global Covid-19 Pandemic this already complicated project had the added challenges of travel restrictions, social distancing, and the potential of spreading the virus among a group of participants already at the highest risk of contracting this deadly disease.

But rather than trying to come up with a solution all on my own, I reached out to a dude who knows more about these issues than anyone I know.

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]


Aaron Perry:
You know, probably the biggest challenge that I'm seeing is we're dealing with three epidemics, you got, you know, obviously covid-19, you have, you know, the health disparities and then you have racial tension.
My friend Aaron Perry is the founder and executive director of the Rebalanced Life Wellness Center based right here in Madison Wisconsin. He works at helping to overcome the healthcare challenges that Black men face not only southern Wisconsin, but across the country.
Aaron Perry:
What I try to do is always be a part of the solution, period, point blank. I'm constantly looking at how can we be creative? How can we get our men to take part or participate in things that that's really kind of out of the box thinking.
As it happens, the rise of the Coronavirus put into sharp relief many of the institutional disparities that place the Black community in jeopardy. High rates of unemployment, limited access to affordable healthcare, and the prospects of being subjected to racially motivated violence already make this population more susceptible to chronic illness, injury or even death. Black men and women are more likely as well to suffer from ailments such as obesity, high blood pressure, hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, conditions that can be reversed or remedied with physical exercise and better access to more nutritious foods. At a time when all the people of the world are being asked to stay indoors and prohibit their contact with others outside of their immediate families, the Pandemic has taken an even higher toll on those most vulnerable to infection. Ironically, however, the best place for this community to find healing and solace from the trauma of this crisis is in the outdoors.
For the last few years, I’ve watched and even participated in a few of the outdoor events that Aaron has organized for Black men. Every week, in a bit of out of the box thinking, he offers a group running, walking or bicycling opportunity in the Madison area. A lot of his work focuses on getting Black men to eat right, exercise and get regular checkups at the doctor. And Aaron believes that being healthy also means getting outside in public and unapologetically being part of the wider world.
Aaron Perry:
But I started looking at these other activities because I've always said to the guys, I said, please remember, this is our community. This is our country, too, and everything under the sun we're entitled to as well.
So, with Aaron’s help we recruited a small group of Black men and their sons to experience the outdoors in a meaningful way. We wanted to take them hiking on public land in a natural setting. Everyone got a negative Covid-19 test and we created what I like call, an escape pod, a tight cohort of like-minded folks who can safely venture out together for a common experience. While wearing masks, still maintaining our social distances to further minimize the risk of exposure to the virus, we traveled to northern Wisconsin to walk along a section of the Ice Age National Scenic Hiking Trail through the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. There, in supportive environment among friend, we planned to introduce this group to the natural wonders and restorative powers of the great outdoors.
Aaron Perry:
And I know that if we can continue to expose these men, particularly black men, if we can continue to expose them, we're taking them outside of their element, but we're exposing them to something that they can do literally the rest of their life with their family.
Ready for an adventure our group embarked upon the Black Men Northwoods Retreat. I’m James Edward Mills. And you’re listening to The Joy Trip Project.





Aaron PerryJust to give you a little more background. Aaron Perry has dedicated life to promoting the health and well-being of Black Men. But he’s not a medical professional or even a social worker. He used to be a cop.
Aaron Perry:
When I was a police officer, I've always had this concept that if I arrest someone, I'm literally taking away their freedom. If I take away their freedom, I want to be a part of helping them get their freedom back. That was a role that I wanted to play, you know, we have a job to do, but also, I kept in mind that we don't know what, what people's struggles and their challenges in life and what leads them to maybe cross in that line of, OK, now you have to be placed in custody.
Aaron has very holistic view both law enforcement and public health. He recognized as a police officer that he had much bigger part to play in serving his community then just locking people up. He wanted to figure out how he could be part of the solution.
Aaron Perry:
And doing that work, I realized that for men that I was coming in contact with, they appeared to have sleep deprivation. They appeared to have multiple issues with their health. And I thought if we can improve their health, can we improve their outlook on life? Can we get them to a point where they want to, you know, work hard and find a job? And so that became my focus. And so, you know, when black men are healthy, the community is healthier. We've seen that. And so I decided, well, I'm going to create this organization where I focus completely and solely on improving the health of black men and boys.
Aaron took a hard look at the health statistics for Black men in his community. He collaborated with the Dane County Public Health Department to commission a report called the “Social and Health Conditions of Black Men.”
Aaron Perry:
In Dane County there are sixteen thousand five hundred black men. We account for six percent of the male population, but in that we are at the bottom of everyone's list.
Black men in Dane County are falling ill and suffering from a wide variety of different ailments with much lower rates of recovery than their white counterparts. Many these diseases are preventable with better lifestyle options that improve nutrition, provide physical activity and reduce emotional stress.
Aaron Perry:
And so that became my focus to take apart each of those specific areas and try to improve the health of these black men.
But part of the problem is that the Black community has an inherent distrust of the medical establishment. Mistreatment at the hands doctors and healthcare professionals that goes back more than two centuries in the United States has made Black men leery, even suspicious of recommendations coming from even the most reliable hospitals or clinics.
Aaron Perry:
And so that's how I ended up opening up my men's health center in a barber shop, because that's where men go. That's where they trust. They respect. That just made sense. And really, since opening the doors, we just surpassed serving five thousand one hundred black men. That's almost 30 percent of the male population in Dane County.
The Rebalanced Life Wellness Center operates out of JP Hair Design, the largest Black-owned barbershop in Madison. Here Black men and boys can get a haircut along with a check of their blood-pressure and detailed information on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. And in the midst of a Global pandemic Aaron believes that maybe he can help to mitigate at least a few of the risk factors that make Black men more susceptible to contracting the Coronavirus
Aaron Perry:
What we do know is that if we can get ourselves healthy and give ourselves a fighting chance to fight off this infection if we should get it. And so that’s first and foremost just helping us understand that a lot of what we are dying early from is preventable. And that is what I’ve been preaching. Let’s control what we can control.
I think in many ways Aaron convinced me that the best way to get a group of Black men from the urban cities of Madison and Milwaukee into the Northwoods of Wisconsin was to meet them where they are. Because the men in his program already had his trust and respected his guidance, connecting Aaron’s message of health and wellness through physical exercise to an outdoor activity like hiking through a national forest wasn’t that big of a stretch. We just had to blaze a trail from barbershop to the backcountry.
So what would it take to talk a Black man from the city into going on a hiking trip.

Norman Davis:
For one, Aaron, because Erin asked me a lot of respect for Erin in the work that he does, you know, he's a person that if he says he's going to do it, he's going to do it.
Norman Davis is the Civil Rights Director for the city of Madison. He works to prevent racial discrimination in the workplace at government agencies as well as private companies who do business with the city. He understands the importance making sure everyone has equal access to public facilities and resources that promote a good quality of life. And for Norman that includes being able to get outside for exercise.

Ver todos los episodios