This is Zenarra.
Zenarra is from the suburban Detroit area and came to California to pursue acting and modeling. Acting comes with learning different cultures and accents which is one of her passions.
“I just love people and find culture very fascinating, a goal of mine is to learn as much as I can about different places and people to play a representation of black women around the world.”
Zenarra’s childhood was filled with nature. Her grandparents would take the grandkids camping and hiking. She had a friend who lived on a lake where she would swim and hike around it.
“Michigan has a lot of those little trails and forest areas that take you from one place to another even in small city areas like the one I grew up in. It was nothing to see deer in your yard or rabbits. “
Since the outdoors has played a dominating part in Zenarra’s life, she’s very passionate about it.
“The outdoors means LIFE to me. Only humans find the need to be indoors. Every part of life and every being has its place in the outdoors and I think that is so cool.
Out is the start and end of life. From birth you go out of the womb and breath your first breath as YOU; and in death, I believe your souls goes out of the body as you take your last.
What happens after that no one knows but it still completes the process of life.”
Zenarra has had mostly positive, or at least, “normal” social interactions in the outdoors, but she feels far from welcomed.
“I don’t feel included at all in outdoor culture, I actually find myself being stared at when I go to such places, even camping, when I was young, it was extremely rare to see other black families when we would go... There is no representation in places like ski-resorts or even water sports because of the history of black people and water or even things such as the wealth gap, that keep many black people from participating in such activities.”
Something I loved about having Zenarra be a part of this project, was her advocacy for diversity in size in the outdoors.
“It’s as if the world can’t believe I enjoy hiking because I’m a plus sized person. But I love hiking. I don’t go fast and sometimes I fall, but I still enjoy the challenge of pushing my body to get in, up and around a mountain at whatever pace is right for me. Also, I love the water, always have, but the beach is a place of discomfort for many people of larger size because the only representation of beach goers are thin white people unless they want to poke fun then they will make a b-roll of fat people in unflattering swimwear and/or positions.”
Even though Zenarra doesn’t always feel welcomed outdoors, she doesn’t let it discourage her adventures.
One of her favorite experiences was watching the stars with her friends in Michigan.
“It was my first time seeing multiple shooting stars. There were 3 in one night. I cried.”
While taking her photo for this project, she told me that she picked out her most unflattering leggings so we could see everything.
We both agreed that confidence is everything, and one of the ways to change and diversify the outdoor culture is by owning who you are. We need more fearless and courageous BIPOC’s occupying the outdoors.
“The greatest lesson I’ve learned [in nature] is that we, as humans, are the keepers of the world and when we do right by nature, nature does well by us. It’s crazy how a few months of a global quarantine, brought so many ecosystems back to life and allowed nature to revitalize... I think we should find a way to regulate eco breaks throughout the world to keep our planet in balance and optimize our natural flow of energy, the same way fasting can help the body and brain.”
