CAROLINE AND DORCHESTER CO., Md. – For years, drivers on Maryland's Eastern Shore have passed the road signs marking the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Scenic Byway. This week, a group of teens from Texas experienced it differently — from the seat of a bicycle.
Black Outside Inc., a Texas-based nonprofit that works to reconnect Black and African American youth with the outdoors, spent the week biking 53 miles along the byway, retracing portions of the route Tubman used to lead enslaved people to freedom.
For many of the participants, the ride was their first time biking more than five or 10 miles. On the first day alone, the group covered 20 miles. Along the way, they stopped at historical sites including Linchester Mill in Preston, where free Black people once helped enslaved people navigate toward freedom.
Sydney Batiste, of Austin, Texas, said retracing Tubman's steps gave her a deeper connection to the history than she expected.
"I feel like seeing everything and actually getting to touch it and walk on her footsteps, that has been the most impactful part, because you really feel the trees, you feel the different inscribes that she had to do and you feel the different things that she had to walk on," Batiste said.
Tubman was born into slavery outside Cambridge and later became known as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, guiding dozens of people to freedom through the region.
Black Outside Inc. founder Alex Bailey said the trip was designed to help youth build confidence through a physical and historical connection to the land.
"When youth connect to their roots and understand their history they feel more confident in themselves,” Bailey said. “They feel more creative in themselves. They feel more connected to their most authentic selves. One young person on our trip said, 'It's like, this is the first time I really understood how much Harriet Tubman connected to me.'”
Alex Purdy, of Beaumont, Texas, said the ride taught him more than a classroom setting could.
"I feel like I've learned more history out here by just connecting and feeling what was happening out here," Purdy said.
Participants with Black Outside Inc. got to capture parts of their journey themselves using small cameras while they rode along parts of the byway.
Black Outside Inc. partnered on the trip with Soul Trak, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that works to connect communities of color to the outdoors while building an alliance of diverse outdoor leaders.
Riley Rasberry, of Washington, D.C., who participated in the trip with Soul Trak, said learning about Tubman's skill as a conductor has pushed her to think about expanding her own abilities.
"I've learned that it definitely wasn't easy,” Rasberry said. “And as a conductor on the Underground Railroad, you should be equipped with a lot of skills. So it's made me want to go out and try new things and see what else I'm good at so I can multitask.”
The trip is part of National Geographic's Slingshot Challenge, a program in which young people study environmental issues in their communities and propose solutions. Bailey said the group's visit to the Eastern Shore also touched on how climate change is affecting the areas they toured.
Bailey said connecting today's youth to Tubman's confidence in nature is central to the program's mission.
“We think about the confidence in the outdoors that Harriet Tubman had to get north,” Bailey said. “And so for our youth, who may be a little bit nervous or have trepidation about getting outdoors, we really want to inspire them that so many people before them did the same things. Walking through the woods, looking at the stars at night. And they can do it too.”
The bike ride wrapped up this week, and the group is expected to return to Texas over the weekend.
