Introducing Diverse Voices in the Outdoors: An Anthology
Through honest essays, personal reflections, and heartfelt poetry, Diverse Voices explores personal relationships with Canada’s outdoor spaces. The project asks writers to reflect on joy and inspiration, to share what barriers exist and why exclusion persists, and provides a creative outlet for voices so often unheard.
The Diverse Voices anthology is a collection of human stories with contributions from a diverse range of communities. Our main focus with this work was to ensure contributors share their stories in ways that were authentic and honest to them, and we accepted all interpretations of ‘outdoors’ so as to not to impose our own views.
By highlighting the ideas and experiences of individuals not traditionally heard from within the outdoor sector, it is our goal to encourage internal reflection, support and promote sector change and prompt rich discussion to broaden perspectives.
Click here to download your FREE copy of Diverse Voices in the Outdoors Volume 2, and while you’re here with us, please enjoy this sample piece written by Carlos Newton.
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Outsider in the Outdoors
By Carlos Newton
I was born in Anguilla, which (for those of you who don’t know) is a British overseas territory, and a teeny, tiny, Caribbean Island that no one had heard of in the 1980’s before I came to Canada at the age of 8. I was lucky to have grown up in a diverse community in northwest Toronto, but that didn’t stop the teachers at my elementary school from holding me back a school year because they couldn’t understand my accent. As an 8-year-old, I didn’t have the words to express how deeply that hurt me. Being a year older than my classmates made me feel even more like an outsider than my accent did.
The rest of my life in a nutshell? Owning the “outsider” moniker.
People who know me well will often hear me say “they’ll never see me coming”. I don’t make a point of it, but I have routinely found myself existing as the only Black person in the room. In 1993, the year I got hired as a lifeguard for the City of North York, there were exactly three Black lifeguards on the entire staff. The city management decided to place all three of us at the same pool for the whole summer. What about my outdoorsy adventure life? I had to borrow gear the first time I went snowboarding. Coming from an immigrant- experience meant leisure time was viewed mostly as “a waste of time.” We forget that escaping urban life is such a privilege – to have the time and resources to spend hours away in the outdoors; birding, rafting, cooking on an open fire. In those days, cost was prohibitive. Mine was a “why- would-I-pay-money-to-live-without-electricity?” household.
But that was then. Now I am a comfortable middle-class person who owns a business and has a fancy championship belt in storage. Just before the pandemic, I rented a camper van and took a trip out to Tofino with a friend. When we rolled into campsites with the van, we both had a general feeling like we weren’t doing it right (like we needed to be “less conspicuous”), but she didn’t want to ask anyone for help in case it made us look like we didn’t know what we were doing (umm… we didn’t!).
“NO ONE HAD TO CALL ME A WEIRDO AND TELL ME I WASN’T WELCOME – MY LIVED EXPERIENCE HAD ALREADY DONE THAT. THE SUBTLE WAYS THAT RACIALIZED PEOPLE ARE SOCIALIZED TO STICK TO CERTAIN SPACES AND KEEP CERTAIN COMPANY IS THE RESULT OF UNCONSCIOUS BIASES THAT SHUTS DOWN OPPORTUNITIES FOR DIVERSE VOICES TO BE HEARD.”
All the Black lifeguards at one pool? Can’t decipher my British English? No helmet wide enough to cover my hair? What other barriers are out there? As a person of colour, the cost of having to blaze trails and modify everything because your norm isn’t THE norm simply outweighs the benefit of doing the thing in the first place. That is probably the number one reason why people like me aren’t enjoying the outdoors as much as they should.
In 2021, I bought an old motorhome and started using it on weekends. I just loved the freedom to be everywhere I wanted to “be” and to be able to stop at any time to take a nap – because I am also a middle-aged man. I started imagining this as a lifestyle, not only for myself, but for others who, like me, haven’t always felt welcome or invited in outdoor spaces. I thought about how much easier it would have been to prepare for fights if I had had a camper van in which to cook and sleep between training sessions. You don’t actually know what you are missing until you get out there.
My campervan company was born out of these related ideas: freedom, accessibility, and naps. My hope is that when people who identify with people like me see me making it look easy, the fire will catch. They won’t see us coming.
Carlos Newton is a renowned figure in mixed martial arts (MMA) history. Known for his diverse skills and 
strategic acumen, he began his career in the late 1990s and quickly rose to prominence in the sport. In 2001, Newton became the UFC Welterweight champion – he was the first Canadian ever to hold a UFC title. Beyond his UFC career, he competed in various MMA organizations worldwide, leaving a lasting impact on the sport’s evolution. He continues to mentor young fighters and advocate for fair competition and compensation for fighters. After retiring from professional sport, Newton founded a design and construction business; one of his first projects was a home for seniors in Newmarket, Ontario. For his newest venture, Carlos will turn his eye for design on campervan conversions. He hopes to make van life accessible, inclusive and fun for everyone.