by Mary Spiller
December 16, 2025
What started as a storytelling platform has advanced right into a rising motion creating culturally protected outside areas—with plans to broaden past Texas in 2026.
BLK Beetles, a Houston-based collective centered on reconnecting folks of shade with nature and neighborhood, is coming into a brand new part of development after launching what leaders describe as its most formidable effort but: the BLK Beetles Collective.
The Houston-based group, which started as a podcast in 2021, has advanced into a company that hosts outside meetups, artistic workshops, and storytelling initiatives that emphasize belonging and cultural security. Since its founding, BLK Beetles has engaged greater than 1,400 members by means of working crews, guided hikes, birdwatching occasions, and its digital platform, BLK Beetles StoryHouse.
“Individuals weren’t simply keen to listen to tales of belonging; they had been wanting to stay them,” mentioned co-founder Samad Hinton advised Blavity. “That realization pushed us to widen our focus. Our communities wanted actual areas the place folks of shade may rediscover the enjoyment, chance, and therapeutic that comes from being linked to 1 one other.”
The enlargement comes as analysis continues to indicate disparities in entry to inexperienced area. Hinton famous that communities of shade are “practically thrice extra probably than white communities to stay in nature-deprived areas.” In order that they’re wanting to re-engage with nature, however typically arrive at outside occasions with issues about security and acceptance.
BLK Beetles addresses these issues by designing programming by means of what leaders name a “cultural security lens.” In a latest partnership with REI, the group hosted skill-building workshops to decrease boundaries to outside participation.
In accordance with Hinton, members shared how id and lived expertise affect the place—and with whom—they really feel comfy recreating. “This affirmed that the outside isn’t a impartial area,” he mentioned.
As reported by Blavity, co-lead Kelly Hubbell-Hinton mentioned the shift could be transformative as soon as folks discover a welcoming atmosphere. She described an early member who joined a working group looking for connection and later helped develop a women-of-color working collection centered on security. That participant finally skilled alongside others to finish her first 25K path race.
“Individuals arrive not sure, after which open up,” Hubbell-Hinton mentioned. “They start to see nature as a spot the place they will transfer freely and genuinely belong.”
In October 2025, BLK Beetles formally launched the BLK Beetles Collective, providing recurring outside gatherings and inventive programming for adults of shade. Leaders say the trouble was made attainable by means of assist from the adidas Neighborhood Lab, which supplied funding, mentorship, and strategic steerage.
“The Neighborhood Lab helped us see that culturally protected, welcoming outside areas can turn into the usual, not the exception,” Hinton mentioned.
With new infrastructure in place, BLK Beetles plans to broaden to Albuquerque in 2026. Because the group grows, its leaders say their mission stays rooted in combating isolation and loneliness.
“One in 5 adults within the U.S. feels lonely each day,” Hubbell-Hinton mentioned. “Our position is to remind folks they don’t have to maneuver by means of life alone.”
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