With help from a People for Parks Fund grant, kayaker Devin Brown is committed to getting more paddlers of color into the current.

Devin Brown was visiting Minneapolis during the Aquatennial festival more than a decade ago when she fell hard for one of the region’s natural wonders. “That’s when I first met the Mississippi River and I was just taken aback,” she says. “There was something different about the way she vibrated.”

Captivated by the river, and by parks that make it easy to access, Brown pulled up roots in her native New Jersey and transplanted herself to Minnesota, where she’s become one of the Mississippi River’s most fervent champions. “I am like a completely different person when you get me on the river. Or I guess you could say, I’m in my element,’’ she says. “But when I’m out there, I’m often the only one. And when I do encounter other paddlers, I’m the only Black person, and only one of a handful of women. That’s a problem.”

It’s a problem that Brown is working to fix now as the community program manager of the Mississippi Park Connection, the nonprofit behind the  Mississippi National River and Recreation Area. With help from a Minneapolis Parks Foundation People for Parks Fund grant in 2023, the group  hosted three different kayak clinics that helped connect about 75 new or first-time  paddlers to the river. With a focus on reaching women and people of color, and an emphasis on staying safe in the water, Brown says that one of the first lessons she has to teach beginners is that they deserve to be on the water.  

“I had a woman tell me ‘I am too fat and I am too Black to get in that boat,’ but kayaking is for everyone,” she says, especially with the stable and accessible equipment available now. “The truth is, boating is probably one of the Blackest things ever, right, like the Moors built ships to come over to Europe. Being  connected to water is inherently Black. “

Brown is setting out to prove that this spring, as she attempts to become the first Black woman on record to solo the 2,300 mile “source-to-sea” route from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico. But she says you don’t need to commit to an epic trip to be transformed by a closer connection to the Mississippi River. 

“The Mississippi River is where we get our drinking water. It’s the water that nourishes the crops that feed us. And it’s also a river that heals us,” she says. 

“When you get into the water and really experience that connection, you’ll think differently about the choices you make, you’ll salt your sidewalks differently, you’ll chase down every bag of trash you see just to keep it from going into the river. We’re so blessed to have this river that runs right through us, and she deserves to be honored.”

Images 1 and 2) Paddle day supported by Paddle Bridge llc, celebrating AFRODISKKAYAK branded coffee launch.
Image 3) Twin Lake by Courage Kenny, supported by Paddle Bridge and in partnership with inTentions and Cycle sisters.
Image 4) Courtesy of Azhae’la Hanson, NorthNews.
Featured Image) Courtesy of Sarah Whiting, MN Women’s Press.

Encouraging people from every community to see themselves through our parks is the mission of our People for Parks Fund grants. We look forward to announcing our 2024 grant recipients in May.