Obama, Peterman Focus Public’s Attention on National Parks

From left, Theresa Pierno; Robert Stanton; Audrey Peterman; Jack Gladstone, Alan Spears.

By Audrey Peterman

        Americans of African descent are blazing new trails and opening new possibilities in the arena of National Parks and public lands that have been mostly “off limits” to us for years. On April 13, former President Barack Obama launched his new Netflix series, “Our Great National Parks.” On April 6 the National Parks Conservation Association honoured three “advocates for inclusion in parks,” two of whom were Black, alongside a member of the Blackfeet nation. Suddenly it seems like Blacks and Parks are the rage.

For one of the honorees, the Westside Gazette’s own Audrey Peterman, it has been a long time coming. Since 1995 Peterman and her husband Frank have been promoting the national parks as places where Americans can be inspired by the beauty of nature and the power of the history that took place there. Just weeks before accepting the award as National Parks Centennial Leader at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC, Mrs. Peterman was in the Everglades National Park in South Florida speaking about “The Everglades as Connector” as part of the park’s Artists In Residence In Everglades (AIRIE) program.

       “For many years some people looked askance at us for ‘wasting our time’ with parks,” says Mrs. Peterman.  “But when you see a President – who can focus on anything he chooses – train his attention on parks, you have to know it’s something important.”

In the Everglades Mrs. Peterman shared the stage with the artist and AIRIE fellow Arsimmer McCoy, granddaughter of environmental justice advocate Leola McCoy, and music educator Portia Dunkley. At the Salute to the Parks in Washington, DC, she appeared alongside honorees the 15^th Director of the National Park Service, Robert “Bob” Stanton and Jack Gladstone, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, interpreter, and musician. The awards were presented by the President and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association, Theresa Pierno at the Salute to the Parks.

Historian Alan Spears, a member of NPCA’s legislative staff who is currently working with Emmett Till’s cousin, the Rev. Wheeler Parker Jr.  to establish the Emmett Till National Park, moderated a discussion between the honorees focused on their vision for the parks in the future.  Mrs. Peterman called unequivocally for a public information campaign that will let everyone in America know that the National Park System contains the most beautiful places in America as well as the places where history was made.

“Americans need to know that these special places show us where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. They are meant to inspire and enlighten us, so I’m looking forward to the day when everyone knows and loves the national parks. Then we won’t need to ‘protect’ them because everyone will cherish them.”

The most gut-wrenching part of the celebration was the opportunity to meet Rev. Parker who was the last person to see Emmett Till alive. He saw the men take Emmett and fully expected them to come back and get him. To find this gentleman and his lovely wife, Dr. Parker, not broken and bitter but ebullient and optimistic at the prospect of a national park honouring the legacy of their family member exemplifies everything National Parks stand for.