Anthony Taylor is a catalyst for community in Minnesota. As the founder of Melanin in Motion, he work is a combination of passion and drive to introduce and welcome BIPOC folks to the outdoors, creating and strengthening community in the process.

Burton just released a video profile of Taylor and the work he is doing in the Midwest.

"We want to lose the ability to predict the race, gender, ethnicity, income, educational level of the next snowboarder that comes down that hill," Taylor says. "That's our goal. And that's a simple measure of what we do."

So what does Taylor do on a foundational level of Melanin in Motion, and his overarching philosophy? "Now we ask, 'who's not on the hill?'" he says. And MIM focuses on welcoming women, girls, people of color, lower income families, and others who have had less representation in the mountains and welcoming them to the benefits, Taylor explains, of being outdoors, being active, and being in community.

"We have to make those benefits available to everybody," he emphasizes.

Taylor has been working in the MSP community for decades and the change he has catalyzed and continues to foster though growing the ranks of those alongside him, is visible in the outdoor playgrounds all around the Twin Cities.

On Fridays during the winter, Melanin in Motion offers lessons for all abilities and community riding at Trollhaugen. Burton works with the organization to provide gear for the riders. A large swath of participants have come up through the lessons offered by the program and have advanced to riding on their own with friends. New snowboarders building their agency in the mountains is a testament to the groundswell of participation and community being built. 

Taylor is changing the predominant way of thinking from "athletes are born" to "snowboarders are made," he says--and this is paramount to breaking down a massive barrier to even just stepping on a snowboard for the first time, an often intimidating concept for a new rider.

While Anthony's community leadership is the catalyst behind a rising tide of outdoor participation, his goal is to foster not only the passion for snowboarding and spending time being active outside, but to ingrain the idea that continuing to build community through enabling others to be leaders, too. This is integral to his efforts: creating a continuing tide of growth through agency and enjoyment.

Melanin in Motion offers a variety of activities for individuals and families to get outside, especially in winter. For more information on the organization's programming, go to www.melanininmotion.org.

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