The cover story of Portland’s Winter 2020 issue, “Home and Free,” is an exquisite essay by Northwest writer Rosette Royale, a former editor of Real Change, a newspaper sold by vendors experiencing homelessness. In this feature, Royale details his friendship with Bryant Carlin, who was homeless and a vendor for Real Change, and who was also a nature photographer and backcountry hiking expert. Carlin invited Royale to explore the Olympic National Park with him. For years, Royale tried to avoid the trip. (“Me, a Black queer man with zero experience in the backcountry, hike miles into the wilderness? I told him I wouldn’t last three hours.”)
He also had friends voicing caution. (“Was it safe, heading into the wilderness with a straight, white homeless man I barely knew? It was a valid question. Growing up, relatives and childhood friends had cautioned me the woods weren’t safe for Black people. The wilderness belonged to white folks, and any Black person who ventured into their domain might not come back. If someone hurt me—or worse—while I was out there, I’d have only myself to blame. Those were high stakes. And while I understood the troubled American history that fueled those beliefs, I didn’t want to be constrained by racist ideas of what Black people could or couldn’t do. Besides, Bryant didn’t scare me. Bears did.”)
Royale joined Carlin on a trip, and his essay details not only his observations of nature and his fears, but also his insights into human nature.
