Tufas’ is Committed to Our Continued Work to Address Systemic Racism and Inequity 

Inclusivity has been part of Tufas’ mission from the start, but during this catalytic moment of increased awareness across the world, we recognize the need for us to step up our work to uproot white supremacy in our community. Let us be clear, Black Lives Matter, have always mattered and will continue to matter. Tufas condemns white supremacy and systemic oppression of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color). We are committed to the work of continual self-reflection, listening, and co-creating lasting change with BIPOC leaders.

We recognize that “inclusivity” efforts often simply invite marginalized identities into a predominantly white climbing gym culture and thus fall short, tokenizing those individuals. We instead work towards co-creation rather than inclusivity. While Tufas has historically partnered with organizations like POCCC and Phlash Climbing — groups that amplify and empower marginalized voices — Tufas management recommits to prioritizing these partners’ input in order to co-create a more authentic climbing community that strives to reflect the many kinds of diversity* in Philadelphia. We are committed to supporting this change in not only our gym but in our surrounding community (following the voices of our local BIPOC leadership) and we strive to raise the standard for engaging with this work throughout the greater national and international climbing community.

*(Diversity includes, but is not limited to, the following and their intersections: cultural, racial, socio-economic, religious, age, gender spectrum, sexual orientation, physically disabled).