You could be forgiven for Googling the phrase: “Are there black climbers?”
That’s exactly what Mikhail Martin, the co-founder of an organization called Brothers of Climbing, once did. As he was becoming interested in rock climbing, Martin noticed the unfortunate reality most minority climbers confront at the gyms, crags and in the mags: a dearth of black climbers.
Martin did eventually find other black climbers at his home gym, Brooklyn Boulders, in Brooklyn, New York. And after establishing the group, he found others out there, and loads of people who want to support their inclusion.
In their own words, the Brothers of Climbers’ goal “is to create more opportunities for people to share their stories. We believe this will inspire new faces to try climbing,” their website says.
“The saying goes ‘seeing is believing.’ There are too many people out there telling themselves ‘I don’t belong out there’ because they do not see anyone with whom they can relate.”
This video, made by Brooklyn Boulders in conjunction with REI, let’s BOC tell the story of their founding and, in a greater sense, what it’s like to be a brother in the climbing world.
Hopefully, if other climbers are curious about the same thing Martin once was, stories like this one, and the group’s website and social media platforms, will help answer their questions.
If you want to join the group, they have a schedule of meet-ups in New York City.
And in case you still weren’t sure, here are a couple badass snaps from the BOC Instagram page: