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This month, the nation celebrates civil rights hero the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., a Southern Baptist minister and activist who fought peacefully for justice and equality. He was assassinated nearly 51 years ago as he supported a sanitation workers strike in Memphis.

When local climber Emily Taylor was a child, she wrote a poem about King for a school contest.

“I remember I came in first place with that poem and how proud my father was with that,” says Taylor, 45.

“This presence of Martin Luther King has always been woven in my life living in the South, living with my parents, with my dad traveling,” she says. “Now though, we have this constant conversation of where are our leaders today. King’s message was so clear about the bridge: the bridge between the white and the black, and the bridge between the races, and the bridge between the poor and the rich.”

More than two years ago, Taylor, the owner of coaching firm Taylored Fit Solutions, wanted to build a bridge like King did. The mother, professional climbing coach, consultant and educator created Brown Girls Climbing to introduce girls of color to a new form of recreation.

“Brown Girls Climbing came about with my daughter at first. She wanted to invite a lot of friends to come climbing, and she had a lot of brown girlfriends, and we had taken notice in the climbing gym that when we were here, we were the only ones,” Taylor says. “I still felt there was a calling and a need in some way to diversify this sport, and I couldn’t figure out necessarily what my role was. As I started to bring more girls into the climbing gym, I started to see the need was to bring more girls of color into climbing.”

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As Taylor exposes the girls to the sport, she wants them to understand their bodies and movements.

“When we talk about climbing, it’s one thing to talk about technique and how to move, but it’s another thing to talk about where is that movement generating from. I approach climbing from four aspects: emotional, mental, social and spiritual,” she says.

“It’s all those aspects of climbing that I like to bring into the education of climbing and not just the experience of getting up the wall,” Taylor says. “It’s not just about getting to the top. It’s about your journey on the way there.”

On a recent morning, Taylor leads a group of six girls in winter minicamp for climbers at the Great Western Power Co. in Oakland. As Taylor sits in front of a mural of a dragon with flames surrounding it, she and her students perform yoga exercises. In addition to climbing, the lesson of the day is to exude confidence, work on eye contact and become aware of their bodies.

“We as brown women need to be OK, more than OK, with using our voices and speaking up for what we need and being confident with what we need,” Taylor tells her students. “We do that with matching our voice to our bodies.”

She directs the girls to lock eyes with another climber.

“So sitting up again, find your person that you’re gonna connect eyes with. Connect those eyes and say, ‘On belay,’” she says, using the command for securing the rope.

The girls vocalize the command, but Taylor isn’t satisfied and tells her students to repeat those two words. Louder than the previous time, the climbers voice, “On belay,” producing a sound that echoes across the room.

“Oh, we have eyes that are dropping. I need eyes connected,” Taylor instructs. “If you can look at each other, look at each other. You’re saying, ‘I’m ready. Are you ready?’ That’s what “On belay” means. I’m all strapped in. I’m ready to go. I’ve checked you. You’ve checked me. So, that’s your first line of command. Try it again. Nice and loud.”

The girls yell, “On belay!”

Taylor now appears content.

Yoga concludes, and the squad runs a few laps and heads downstairs to grab harnesses for the climbing lesson.

Taylor immediately begins working with Adia Smith, 6, and Jeanine Bowling-Dyer, 10, a pair of girls who’ve partnered together. They go over a check system that includes inspecting safety knots and ensuring harness buckles are on properly. After a few minutes, Adia is ready to climb the wall as Jeanine prepares to belay her partner.

“Use your command with your big, beautiful eyes, please,” Taylor tells Adia with a chuckle.

“On command,” Adia says softly.

“On belay,” Taylor reminds Adia.

“On belay,” Adia says as she tugs her rope.

Taylor looks at Jeanine, who gives the command, “Belay on.”

“Climb,” Adia says.

“Climb on,” Jeanine responds.

Adia turns to the wall and places her tiny hands and feet on handholds and footholds.

Taylor tells Jeanine to make sure she’s keeping up with Adia as she belays her. Jeanine pulls the rope up and keeps her eyes trained on Adia.

“Good, good,” Taylor says. “Nice.”

“That brake hand is on when she is not moving,” Taylor tells Jeanine. Then she eyes Adia. “Keep those legs moving, girlfriend.”

Adia quickly reaches the top of the wall.

“So, do one more stroke, even if you think you’ve got all the rope there — do it again,” Taylor instructs Jeanine. “Jack it up. Can’t do anymore? Sit back on it. Let her feel your weight and tell her to have a seat.”

“Take a seat,” Jeanine tells Adia, who immediately sits in her harness.

Taylor proudly looks at Jeanine and says, “You’ve got it!”

“All right, there are more climbers to belay,” Taylor announces. “You are doing wonderful and great.”

As Adia finishes her climb, Taylor tells Jeanine to provide her partner with extra slack so she can pull the rope all the way down. With Adia’s feet planted on the ground, Taylor tells her to say ‘Thank you’ to Jeanine for belaying her. Then, Taylor walks toward another set of climbers to help.

“Nice,” Taylor says. “Who’s next?”

Taylor’s outlook on her future remains optimistic as she builds worthy bridges while continuing to find her voice.

“I feel hopeful very much in the individual level,” Taylor says. “Oakland has this incredible rich experience of social justice and impacting powerful, motivating people. Living here has motivated me. (It) has brought me to this place of being able to want to heal, find my voice, and that voice is in this space craving space for our girls.”

The Regulars is a photo and video column that offers a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people in the Bay Area, caught in routine activities of modern urban life.