We create and cultivate an international network of Black cyclists.
When I started A Quick Brown Fox in 2015, my tagline was “adding colors and numbers to cycling”, which felt true at the time. Along the way I learned that adding more Black folks to cycling was an admirable goal, but that didn’t do enough for the Black folks that were already there. That’s how I found my laser focus on representation.
A little bit of History
From what we know about Kittie Knox, The Buffalo Soldiers, Major Taylor, and more, WE HAVE BEEN HERE. We’ve been doing this for years. If your Auntie told you a Black man invented the bicycle frame, she wouldn’t be stretching the truth as far as you think. Matthew A. Cherry (not the football player turned filmmaker) invented and patented the tricycle, and Isaac Johnson invented and patented a bicycle frame that could be “folded or taken apart for easy storage.”
All of that is important, but it also furthers the idea that in order to count, you need to be extraordinary. Even amongst my own circle of friends, we are constantly being confused for each other. Although we share similarities, Sam Scipio and I are not interchangeable. We are two very different people. There was also an event where William and Rahsaan Bahati were being confused despite their only similarities being bikes and Blackness. This is not okay.
So how do we dismantle the concept that you only count if you’re special? How do we establish that we are all individuals even if we share a few characteristics in common? How do we acknowledge that in addition to the heroes and history makers, there are a whole lot of regular Black folks enjoying bikes all over the globe?
We connect. We build a network.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention there are actually quite a few in existence already. Facebook groups, local clubs, and enthusiast organizations not limited to, but including, Black Girls Do Bike and Major Taylor clubs all over the place.
We want to connect them all. We will connect them all.
FUBU
While we understand that some of these groups allow for non-Black folks to participate within their network, The Black Foxes exist because of and for Black people. In the words of Solange “this shit is for us”. We don’t get to decide who is or who isn’t Black, but we do ask you to respect the space if you honestly don’t identify as such.
That being said, there will be plenty of opportunities for our non-Black friends and followers to share in our joy for cycling and the outdoors.
Who all is invited?
We want our network to include Black folks in cycling and the outdoors however they exist. On road bikes, MTB, BMX, gravel, or whatever you ride. We want folks who fix bikes, build bikes, photograph bikes, design bikes, sell bikes, know about bikes, rode a bike when they were five, and/or ride a bike now.
Tangentially, if you’re a Black outdoors person (whether you ride a bike or not), we want to know you too. We want to exchange our joy at the intersections, learn new things, and be able to point in your direction when it makes sense (if you’re into that).
We want to know who is out there so we can elevate you, celebrate you, and connect you to your people.
Blackness has never been and will never be a monolith. We want to bring together a network that helps us all feel connected in a space where isolation has been the name of the game for far too long.
We’re still working on building this space and making sure it’s accessible to every single Black person who wants to be in it. Naturally, that will include a technology element, but we will be mindful of everyone from the zoomers to the boomers and beyond.