In this year’s Black History Month, it is my pleasure to write about Melody Starya Mobley, a Black woman who made history, working in an arena she loved since she was a young girl. Her mother passed away when she was only 15, yet she remembers how her mother shaped her future. During her younger years, her mother found solace in the forest. She would take young Melody on walks, enjoying the wildflowers and trees. The small girl was being molded and she didn’t even realize this.
In the quiet of the woods, away from the noise of the world, she found the handiwork of the Creator. For Melody, the forest was more than just a workplace — it was her sanctuary. As the first Black female forester in the U.S. Forest Service, her life echoed Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
She shared her hazing story with me, of how her coworkers, all white men, took her to a lake in Florida where alligators lived in the water and threw her in. She said she didn’t even know how to swim. This was her initiation. I asked her, “How do you know there were alligators in the water?” She said their eyes glowed in the dark. She saw them all around her, but she was able to escape.
Melody began her career in 1977, traveling the world to care for God’s creation. As we talked during our interview, she later realized that the forest was like home to her, starting with those regular walks with her mother. We all seek a place where our souls can find peace. For Melody Starya Mobley, that place has always been the forest. Her journey is a powerful reminder of Galatians 6:9: “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
She went on to climb 200-foot old-growth trees to collect seeds and manage wildlife in the Florida sun. “All the years of my career in the forest,” she said, “I felt like that was my church.” She continued, “I always feel so close to my God.” Yet, even in her sanctuary, she faced the “thick mud” of this world — racism, sexism and physical assaults that would have caused many to quit.
Melody’s career was one of historic “firsts” and high-level leadership. From managing 32 million board feet of timber in Florida to serving as a branch chief in Washington, D.C., she handled massive budgets and even mended relationships with the Hopi Tribe. Her work took her as far as Tanzania and Chile, proving that God’s mission for us often knows no borders.
Yet, even as she rose to the rank of GS-15 and received awards for excellence, Melody’s path was rocky. She endured systemic racism and physical trials that tested her spirit. Like the “progeny tests” she once conducted on young trees to ensure their strength, Melody’s faith was tested by fire. She emerged not with bitterness, but with a heart for service.
Despite the pain of a hostile work environment and an early retirement, Melody did not “grow weary.” Instead, she chose to fail forward and use her story to heal others. Now retired, she spends her days mentoring young people, teaching them that they, too, belong in the outdoors. She is a living example that when you are doing what the Heavenly Father sent you to do, your joy comes from giving that service.
Today, at 68, she attends Christ the King Lutheran Church in Great Falls, Virginia. She chairs numerous committees for diversity and inclusion. Whether volunteering with seniors at the Walter Reed Recreation Center or mentoring youth in the NAACP, Melody remains a “tree planted by the rivers of water.” She continues to invite the next generation into the woods, helping them find the same peace and divine presence she discovered decades ago.
Leading the way into a brighter future, she also said, “I’m so passionate about supporting young people, getting them outside and interested in careers in natural resource conservation. They need to see people who look like them to know that they can do it. Until my dying breath, I will be taking youth out in the woods, or out in the desert to see the vegetation there, or whatever it might be, and just to grow that love of nature within them.”
Despite the pain and turmoil of her time at the U.S. Forest Service, Melody is a shining light in the environmental movement, speaking up for young people and BIPOC. She provides mentorship for many people in the environmental field and consistently volunteers with youth to share the joys of nature with them.
There is a movie of her life story being shown during this year’s Black History Month. Here’s the link for tickets to the premiere of the short film “The Dark White Forest” and to make a donation to help cover premiere and other expenses. She is asking you to please plan to come out. (https://thedarkwhiteforest.eventbrite.com/)
Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, go to her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on X @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.