#WontTakeShiftAnymore

#WontTakeSHIFTAnymore

Dear Terra Community,

We have been made aware of some incredibly horrendous news. Many of our siblings in the outdoor industry are experiencing and surviving violence at the hands of Christian Beckwith the Executive Director of SHIFT.

Don’t know what SHIFT is? Here’s a description we pulled from their “About” section on their website:

“SHIFT (Shaping How we Invest For Tomorrow), an annual festival, held each autumn in Jackson Hole, that explores issues at the intersection of outdoor recreation, conservation, public health and cultural relevancy; and The Emerging Leaders Program, which trains a culturally diverse group of young outdoor recreationists to help lead our work at SHIFT and in America.”

A RACIALLY HOSTILE CLIMATE

If you look at their website it is covered in Black and Brown faces, but what goes on behind the computer screen is heinous racism, misogyny, and transphobia, to name only a few atrocities of what can be certain to be more considering the experiences that have been brought to light. Read about those experiences here.

Things have been moving quickly and if you don’t know what SHIFT is, and still have no idea what is going on, no problem. We’ll give you more details below because WE NEED YOUR HELP to act in solidarity with our siblings to fight against Christian Beckwith, demand his resignation, and hold SHIFT’s board of directors accountable so that no one else is harmed in the future.

This Medium Page Details The Violence Experienced at SHIFT

A TRAUMATIC CYCLE

SHIFT hasn’t been around long as an organization and conference, so all of these traumatic experiences have happened in just the last couple of years. 17 individuals (there are more, but these are the ones who have chosen to come forward) who experienced the violence first-hand have formed a coalition to speak out by sparking the social media campaign #WontTakeSHIFTAnymore. This public demand for accountability has come after a year in attempts to change the dangerous culture at SHIFT.

"DEI TRAINING" IS NOT GOING TO "FIX" THIS.

This social media blast is a result of the failure of the SHIFT board to hold Christian Beckwith accountable for his violent behavior. Last November, members of the coalition pleaded one more time to the SHIFT board of directors by writing a formal letter describing how Beckwith needed to be removed because he has been instrumental in creating a racially hostile environment. Instead of listening and believing the survivors of Beckwith’s and Shift’s violence, and instead of confronting Beckwith, the board of directors promised to put Beckwith through some DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training) -- aka they did absolutely nothing.

Fast forward to April of this year, and after months of preparation and emotional, psychological, and physical unpaid labor and exhaustion, the coalition decided it was going to be firm in their fight and call on their community to back them up. Last week, here at Terra Incognita Media, we received an email from our beloved siblings about all of this and were immediately on board to do whatever we can to support.

Here’s where you, dear family, come into play…

Screenshot and share our Instagram stories, and the stories of those impacted: @SarahEmilia @mynameisbam @flying_tortuga @vasu_sojitra @blaakroots @lapachamamita @olivialomasi @indigenouswomenhike to bring awareness and accountability to SHIFT
Tag the SHIFT Instagram account (@shift_jh) in your #WontTakeSHIFT anymore IG posts
Share similar experiences that you’ve had with SHIFT or other outdoor organizations
Read the letters the coalition wrote to the SHIFT Board of Directors here. You can also include the link to the letters in your Instagram bio, for folks to learn more about what happened
Tag @refugeoutdoorfestival @pgmonesummit and @colorthecrag @WildDiversity is putting on a Resilience Conference -- on day 3 of the campaign to uplift POC-led events

THIS BLAST IS TAKING PLACE RIGHT NOW!

Donate: Consider sending a $5 or $10 (or whatever you can afford) donation to the survivors who formed this coalition: Jasmine Kums Venmo: @BlaakRoots (ig handle: BlaakRoots) Ana Hinaranjo Venmo: @AnaHinaranjo (ig handle: @lapachamamita) Sarah Emilia Venmo: @SarahEmilia (ig handle: @SarahEmilia) Bam Mendiola Venmo: @MyNameisBam (ig handle: @MyNameisBam) Nadia Mercado Venmo: @Nadia-Mercado-1 (ig handle: flying_tortuga)

Join us in sharing the #WontTakeSHIFTanymore Instagram campaign for the next three days! Here is the link to the set of stories corresponding to each day of the campaign. You can also just screenshot off of our Terra Instagram stories and share, or any of the coalition members' stories. Screenshot and share the stories anytime of day. Create a post as well for your feed! Please, please share and spread the word!

Use these hashtags:

#WontTakeSHIFTanymore

#ChristianBeckwithResign

We need this to go VIRAL Monday April 15-Wednesday April 17!!

Questions? Press inquiries? Email the coalition: wonttakeshift@gmail.com

As an able-bodied, neurotypical, upper-middle class, cis white woman, I know this is the LEAST I can do to act in solidarity with my BIPOC, LGBTQIA+ siblings who have been harmed and are now facing health risks, death threats, and career consequences. Now is the time to act and posting on social media is EASY.

You can also reach out to any of the members of the coalition, thank them for their tireless unpaid labor, and send them a donation for fighting for a safer environment in the outdoor industry for ALL of us.

I hope you’ll join us in #WontTakeSHIFTAnymore!!

With you in care and solidarity,

Erin Monahan,

Co-conspirator, Terra Incognita Media

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