A note from the Atlas Obscura trips team on where we belong in the conversation about racial injustice, and where we go from here.

Our trips blog is where we usually share stories about our global community’s incredible travel experiences. At this moment, however, when racial injustice has been brought to the fore by the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others, we’re pausing to reflect on our role in this essential conversation, and on how we can do better. 

Black lives matter. The racist systems that have oppressed and endangered Black communities for centuries are unjustifiable. These words, though real, require little effort for us to say. That many companies with no history of working toward racial equity have used them is a small measure of progress, yet a reflection of the fact that it’s easy to state while still being part of the problem. 

Over the past two weeks, we have asked ourselves some hard questions on the Atlas Obscura trips team. We took a critical look at where we’re coming from in this conversation. What emerged—and the reason we decided to publish this note—is that we’re part of the problem. 

When designing our trips, we think about how they can serve as conduits for connection and cross-cultural exchange—knowing that responsible travel, if done right, can thoughtfully spotlight the diversity of lived experiences around the world and within our communities. But we’ve fallen short on including a wide variety of Black experiences, voices, and communities in our trips, including the trip leaders we partner with and the programming we offer.

With this in mind, we’re looking inward and ahead. We’re laying the groundwork to truly live up to our commitment to traveling responsibly, diversifying the Atlas Obscura trips community, and especially incorporating more Black voices in our programming. We’ve started by committing to building new trips centered on Black narratives and histories. We’re reaching out to current trip leaders to discuss how we can represent Black voices and communities in our existing programming better. And we’re actively learning what else we need to do, and we’ll keep you updated as we move forward. Because we’re coming to this conversation far too late, it’s going to take longer than we’d like—but we’re committed to the process. 

We recognize we haven’t done enough by merely stating our solidarity. Now we’ve got to get to work.

Read more about how Atlas Obscura is working to effect change and use our platform to be a positive force in the world.