Synopsis: When Jahmicah Dawes founded Slim Pickens Outfitters, he didn’t know it would be the first Black-owned outdoor shop in the country. “We might be the first,” he says, “but we won’t be the last.” Made in partnership with Claima Stories and Sperry, “Reclaim Your Water” is a three-part short documentary series that poignantly highlights how communities of color can reclaim water as a healing and enjoyable experience for all through the lens of each subject.

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The ‘Reclaim Your Water’ project celebrates the hard won resilience of individuals who, in spite of longstanding systemic obstacles, choose to make a life and seek joy around water.

I think that too often the resilience of communities of color is taken for granted. We aren’t just born into this world as resilient people. It isn’t just in us. Rendering our resilience that way doesn’t acknowledge the hard work we have to do. We have to dig deep over and over again because of ongoing inequity, just to be able to live safe, healthy lives.

The way that we continuously defy expectations is hard won.
And I am in awe that we keep doing it. And keep seeking joy in spite of it all.
That is a testament to our undimmable light and unbreakable spirits.

All of this is so evident when it comes to our relationships with water.
In this series I hope to bring out the elements of the water that are also present in our subjects: strength, calm, fluidity, power.
In planning, I wanted to tap into the meditative sounds of water and also explore how each individual subject is motivated to both seek and spread joy through community.

We hope that this docuseries inspires and invites others to follow a similar path.
We’re proud to amplify the work these communities are doing to rewrite the narrative of Black people in a space historically weaponized against us.

It is a delight to share these stories.

Faith E. Briggs is a documentary director, creative producer and podcast host passionate about sharing contemporary stories that widen the spectrum of representation and help us all see our own possibilities. Her favorite feelings are a tie between sun on skin and warm mud oozing between bare toes. She is grateful for the life changing knowledge of literary grandmothers such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, Toni Cade Bambara and many more. Her previous work includes Brotherhood of Skiing (REI, 2018), This Land (Merrell, 2019), Camp Yoshi (REI, 2021), Ascend: Reframing Disability in the Outdoors (The North Face, 2021) and the 4-part series Who Is A Runner (Brooks, 2021.) She is the co-host of The Trail Ahead podcast, a 2021 Grist 50! Fixer, a Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow, a Western Conservation Hub William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Grant Recipient, and an If/Then Shorts x Redford Center Nature Access Pitch Awardee. She is a frequent collaborator with Camp4 Collective and recently founded her own production company, Tight Knit. Faith is a member of the Governing Council of The Wilderness Society and the REDI advisory council at REI.

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