By Gary Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 3, 2006
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Before buying plane tickets, booking hotels or checking
out guidebooks, many African Americans are turning to
a source close to home to inspire their travel planning:
each other.
More precisely, they are seeking out travel clubs run
by and for blacks. After a post-9/11 falloff, organizations
and gatherings promoting travel opportunities for blacks
are reporting increased interest.
When the Black Boaters Summit, a gathering of black
sailing fans, first convened in 1998 in the British
Virgin Islands, it drew all of eight attendees in one
boat. For the eighth summit, which returned to the BVI
in August, 115 participants in 14 yachts attended. When
Los Angeles-based 4 Seasons West, a ski club with more
than 1,000 African American members, planned its winter
carnival in January, officials hoped for 400 travelers;
800 skiers showed up for the Lake Tahoe event. The National
Association of Black Scuba Divers, started 15 years
ago by District scuba aficionado Jose Jones, has mushroomed
to include 50 clubs across the country.
Jones, a seventy-something retired professor of marine
science at the University of the District of Columbia,
explained the clubs' appeal. "When you are black
and venture somewhere exotic, there is always a deeper
feeling of accomplishment," he said. "And
the experience is all the richer when you share it with
folks that come from a similar background. You can't
help but have an incredible feeling of euphoria for
how far you had to come to get to that point."
Like their white-run counterparts, the mission of black
travel groups is to provide travel counsel, assistance
and camaraderie for their members. For a modest fee,
they typically organize social mixers, orientation sessions,
sports and adventure training, in addition to featuring
two to six trips a year.
The excursions the clubs offer are far more affordable
than those organized by individual travelers. For its
annual ski summit scheduled for February 2007 in Steamboat
Springs, Colo., the National Brotherhood of Skiers is
offering its members rooms for $199 a night, discounted
from $375. Lift tickets are $45 a day, reduced from
the $75 a day for a five-day pass that individual travelers
would pay.
For a 12-day diving trip to Malaysia and Borneo earlier
this summer, members of the National Association of
Black Scuba divers paid the bargain rate of $2,600 for
round-trip airfare, lodging, meals, excursions and dives.
"Because we are well-established and have been
doing this for a long time, we are usually able to offer
rates of a third or more less than what other travelers
would pay," said Jones.
Although bound by the spirit of racial solidarity and
wanderlust, the groups' focuses vary widely. Some are
for the general interest traveler, those seeking to
explore destinations rather than indulge hobbies. But
most specialize in a sport or activity: sailing, motorcycling,
tennis or other avocations.
In size, social makeup and structure, the clubs also
run the gamut. Sankofa Odyssey, a District-based club
that has organized sailing trips to such exotic destinations
as the Greek Islands and the Grenadines, is at the haute
end of the spectrum. The Denver-based James P. Beckwourth
Mountain Club, at the more earthy end, takes small groups
hiking or backpacking through the Rockies and other
points west. (For more examples and contact information,
see sidebar.)
Unsurprisingly, many of the clubs grew out of segregation
or incidents of discrimination. Many black club organizers
reported being shunned when they approached predominantly
white travel groups and so opted to create their own
organizations. The story of sailing enthusiast Robert
Jordan is typical. After taking boating lessons in North
Carolina, he tried to join a couple of mostly white
boating clubs there. "They didn't exactly greet
me warmly," he recalls. Five years ago, the 41-year-old
Maryland business entrepreneur and some friends started
Sankofa Odyssey. Its 28 members are all people of color.
"It's true that many of our clubs were started
because we were not welcomed on many ski slopes,"
said Rose Thomas Pickrum, president of the National
Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), an umbrella group of 77
black ski clubs across the country. "But now most
of those slopes actively court us because we spend money."
Washington and its suburbs, home to one of the most
affluent concentrations of blacks in the country by
the U.S. Census Bureau's account, are a stronghold for
black travel groups. D.C.-based Black Ski Inc., with
more than 1,500 members, bills itself as the largest
gathering of skiers of color in the United States. Besides
skiing, the group also sponsors outings to local and
out-of-town cultural events. Underwater Adventure Seekers,
the scuba club also started by Jones in D.C. in 1959,
has grown from a handful of friends to more than 100
members. It has become a model for other black dive
groups around the country. More than a dozen black motorbike
associations are based in the Washington area.
Every participant in a black club outing seems to return
with a Black Travel Moment, a tale from a sojourn infused
with ethnic pride.
For Pickrum, the moment came during NBS's 30th-anniversary
summit, held in Canada's Whistler-Blackcomb range in
2003. "When I looked across the mountain and saw
black skiers everywhere, I couldn't help but remember
when it was tough for us to get on major slopes,"
said the 52-year-old Cincinnati banker. "Now they
welcome us. The transformation has been moving to watch."
Jones, a veteran of 6,000 dives, remembers a plunge
he took a few years ago off the coast of Fiji. Deep
into the waters off the island of Taveuni, sharks circled
within a few yards, the coral was stunningly pristine
and boldly colored sea life darted everywhere. As much
as the underwater spectacle thrilled him, what sent
shivers down his spine was the boatload of African American
divers who greeted him above. "The camaraderie
sealed that experience for me," he said.
Even though more options for blacks to join predominantly
white groups have opened up, many still prefer black-run
clubs. "When people have time for a getaway, they
don't want to be careful about what they say or how
they act or to have second thoughts about what someone
else might say," explained Eileen Crawford, a District
psychoanalyst and scuba fan who travels frequently with
Deep Dreams Youth Program, a local dive group that introduces
teens and young adults to scuba. "These kind of
travel clubs allow them the freedom to feel like they
are at home even when they are in a far-off place."
Another appeal of the clubs is the social activities
they offer. Most of the local chapters hold cookouts,
dances and other gatherings. The annual NBS summit,
the premier event for black skiers, always includes
a schedule of cocktail hours, live music and other entertainment.
Most of the attendees at the Black Boaters Summit don't
come for the sailing, according to Paul Mixon, the California
travel agent who organizes the event, but for the music
and dance. "Not many of us know how to sail,"
he said. "But we all know how to do the electric
slide."
Many of the clubs also offer their members training,
classes and a non-threatening environment to learn or
develop their skills in an avocation or sport. Carlyn
Cole is a good example. An African American who lives
in the District, Cole didn't learn to swim or dive until
she was in her forties. Now the 54-year-old is the president
of Underwater Adventure Seekers and takes three to four
diving trips a year, often to foreign destinations.
"I don't think I would have had the confidence
to learn those skills without the security of a group
of like-minded people," she said.
Pickrum concurs. "If you're new to skiing, it's
different learning it in a black group," she said.
"You get a lot more nurturing."
Besides ethnic camaraderie and training in a supportive
environment, the clubs make exploring different cultures
easier and more affordable. Over the years, Underwater
Adventure Seekers has taken excursions to an impressive
list of destinations, including Egypt, Morocco, Fiji
and Cuba. While independent travelers to such destinations
have to hassle with plane and hotel reservations, the
groups typically have organizers who work out the details.
Most black travel groups attract a more affluent sector
of black professionals. The James P. Beckwourth Mountain
Club, named after a 19th-century black trapper and mountain
man, is an exception. Located in Denver, the club offers
a wide range of outdoor adventures -- including day-long
trail hikes, overnight raft floats, mountain climbing
and camping excursions -- all at moderate prices. The
club has a mentoring program that offers urban youth
outings to national parks and wilderness areas free
of charge.
"We try to give people opportunities to see the
beauties of nature who otherwise might not have access
to it," said Winston Walker, a spokesman. "We
are aware that many folks can't pay much so we keep
the prices as low as possible."
Over time, the clubs have become a powerful bonding
experience for members from across the gamut of socioeconomic
backgrounds. Many of the ski groups have a story of
members who have met in a club gathering or excursion,
dated and eventually married. Some of the early black
scuba club organizers now have children -- and grandchildren
-- who are club members.
The experience is infectious, according to NBS president
Pickrum. "People find that once they get into the
spirit of what we do it becomes a central focus of their
lives."
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