Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2020 - 40

Feature .03
I live in the heart of the Black Belt region of
Alabama-a place known for its rich, black
topsoil-on our 200-acre multigenerational
farm. I use my YouTube channel to share videos of the day-to-day activities on our farm,
as well as to help people learn more about the
wildlife conservation we do here. I create these
things in hopes that fellow people of color and
their children can see someone who looks like
them doing outdoor activities and farming the
land. I would like major companies to sponsor
some of the work I do and give us the coverage
that will help me accomplish my goal of expanding who is represented outside.

Myishia Haynes

Myishia Haynes (@glitterandgills)
LOCATION: Northern California
PRONOUNS: She/Her

I love deer hunting season on our property-
sitting in my deer stand in the dark, inhaling
the crisp morning air and the way my world
smells right before the sun rises. The sky starts
to turn a purple color, and the first signs of
light come into my space. My spot is located on
a creek with a ditch that intersects it. I'm surrounded by the sound of slow-moving water
and the staggered awakening of the woods
as birds start to chirp and owls go to hooting. Time seems to melt. The hours turn to
minutes and then slow to a drip and to a slow
tick. That's the best feeling I can get in the outdoors, and I refuse to give that up.

40 OUTDOOR RETAILER

/ Summer 2020

As a person of color, I don't see people that
look like me on major television networks
and in major outdoor magazines. Those absences-the willful disregard by mainstream
outlets-led me to start my own business,
Connecting With Birds And Nature Tours
LLC in October of 2018.
I see my role in this ecosystem as one of
conduction; I am a person who enjoys nature
and its benefits, and I help others reconnect
to those things. I love the unhindered sounds
that nature provides-from the birds to the
sound of water in the creek and even the moo
of cows in the pasture.

I absolutely love nature and, by extension,
water. As soon as I put on my backpack, grab
my rods, and begin my journey to its edges or
lower my body into my kayak, I instantly feel
a sense of peace and an abundance of positive energy. There's no negative noise, only the
sound of native birds, the cracklings of leaves
and the grass beneath my feet as the water
ripples outward. With everything that has
been going on in the world today-specifically
COVID-19 and the inequalities within the
Black community-being at the water's edge
or out on the water is a much-needed getaway
in order to maintain my mental health.
As a woman, I'm often looked at as an observer of fishing. At first glance, people think,
"maybe she's just hanging out with her husband while he fishes." Even more irritating is
when men decide to give me fishing tips as if I
don't know what I'm doing when, in fact, I'm
probably a better angler than they are. I've
been fishing my whole life, and my husband
fell in love with the undertaking because he
would accompany me and I went to the water
all the time. Just because I like to look cute
while fishing doesn't mean I'm not baiting my
own hooks, ripping large bass out the water,
or grabbing catfish by the gills with my bare
hands. I'm a bad girl with a mermaid attitude
on the water, and I love it.
My favorite moment to date happened when
I was fishing in Clearlake, California-my
favorite body of water to fish in so far. I was

From top: Courtesy of Myishia Haynes, Michael Estrada

"I'm a bad girl with a mermaid
attitude on the water, and I love it."
Outdoor Retailer - Summer 2020

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