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“It seemed like turning the camera on me provided something different to people… it just kind of blossomed into something I never saw coming,” said Holland.
COLORADO, USA — A decade spent living in Colorado, and still, Nelson Holland won’t miss an opportunity to watch the sunset over the Rockies.
“I thought I was only going to be here for six months to a year, but when I saw the Rocky Mountains I just, actually fell in love with literally just looking at the view,” he said.
Having grown up in New York City, Holland discovered a new passion for nature and hiking.
“Everybody wondered why I would go to a place so cold with maybe a lack of diversity and I just wanted to show them like, yeah for me it’s the bison, and the elk, and the moose and these beautiful mountains and hot springs and things that I know they’ve never experienced before,” said Holland.
As a self-proclaimed introvert, he started posting to TikTok, just to share the views with his family on the east coast.
He never thought he’d go viral for it and it was never his intent.
“As a New Yorker that hopes to be a Coloradan for the rest of his life, being approached by Colorado Tourism was literally something that I could have never fathomed,” he said. “I guess when you live your passion, things like this can happen.”
He caught the eye of the Colorado Tourism Office and became a spokesperson for the state.
“People kept saying, have you heard of @FatBlackAndGettinIt? Have you heard of Nelson? You should really connect with him and I was like who is this person?” said Parker McMullen Bushman.
McMullen Bushman, also known as @KweenWerk, is an outdoor activist and influencer who’s dedicated their career to environmental education, recreation, and representation.
“He was just like, ‘I’m just myself, I’m going outdoors, I weigh this much, I’m a tall guy, a big guy and I’m not letting it stop me,'” she said.
“I don’t know what to say what my page is about but to a lot of people it’s become about a plus-size, black male going out in nature and not only exploring hikes but just trying any new outdoor activity,” said Holland.
McMullen Bushman said recreating outdoors wasn’t always welcoming to people of color.
“I realized both of my parents grew up in the south, and they grew up during the time of segregation and Jim Crow laws and there were a lot of natural spaces that were not open and available to them,” she said.
She found her own way into nature and wants to hold the door open for others.
“I love being able to provide that representation for people,” said McMullen Bushman.
While this work isn’t what Holland originally set out to do on social media, his platform has become a part of his passion for nature.
“I get a lot of encouraging comments like we talked about, but I get some negative ones too you know about my size or who should be doing these types of things,” he said. “My message to those people that might be hearing stuff like that is like not only is the outdoors for you, you can create your own connection with it and it may end up like it did for me, changing your entire life.”
You can follow Nelson Holland on TikTok and Instagram by searching the handle @fatblackandgettinit. Parker McMullen Bushman also has channels on TikTok and Instagram (@kweenwerk).
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