Walking Together: Honoring Our History, Healing Through Nature, Reimagining What’s Possible

June 16th, 2025 by Tenisha Malcolm-Wint

Tenisha Malcolm-Wint, Founder & Executive Director, Outdoors On Purpose and Trustee, New Jersey Future

As we approach this year’s Juneteenth, many of us will gather to commemorate a day of delayed freedom—an emancipation long overdue, and one still too often compromised. We will remember the ongoing struggle for Black liberation. But we must also reflect on where that liberation happens: in places where we can breathe freely, move freely, and simply be.

That is why Outdoors On Purpose is proud to launch a statewide Juneteenth initiative rooted in healing, reflection, and community—through hiking, canoeing, birdwatching, archery, and more. We invite individuals and families to connect with the land and with one another, creating space to honor Juneteenth’s legacy with integrity.

Because for Black and Brown communities, outdoor space has never been neutral. It has too often been a site of exclusion, dispossession, and surveillance. Yet it is also a site of resistance and renewal—a place to reclaim our right to rest, joy, and belonging.

On June 17, 2025, we will gather in Trenton for a special visioning walk along the Delaware River, co-hosted with Reconnecting Trenton’s Riverfront. We will start at Old Mill Hill Park and walk together toward the future Capital Park grounds near the Statehouse—imagining what it means to reconnect with a waterfront that was once a vital artery of Trenton life, and could be again.

This is about more than a walk. It is a call to action.

Trenton was once deeply connected to the river, with vibrant parks, civic spaces, and thriving neighborhoods. That connection was severed when Route 29 was built—prioritizing cars over people, displacing families, and erasing beloved community spaces. Today, the effort to restore access to the riverfront is an act of justice, equity, and repair.

Transforming Route 29 into a boulevard and advancing Capital Park would:

Make Trenton safer to walk, bike, and gather
Reconnect neighborhoods long divided
Create a vibrant public space that honors Trenton’s history and serves its future
Drive local economic growth and community vitality

Capital Park has already secured $8 million in state funding—but momentum has stalled. We cannot allow this vision to languish. The community is ready. The opportunity is now.

In launching this Juneteenth initiative, Outdoors On Purpose is making a simple ask: let us see the fight for freedom, especially for Black and Brown communities, and the fight for equitable public spaces as one and the same. Liberation is not just about rights—it’s about access. It’s about place. It’s about being able to breathe, gather, reflect, and heal in the land that is ours too.

Yet like many community-rooted organizations doing this work, we need support too—human capital, financial investment, and reciprocal partnerships. The work of reclaiming outdoor spaces for communities cannot be sustained on passion alone. If you believe in this mission, we invite you to stand with us—not just in word, but in action.