#BlackBirdersWeek

#BlackBirdersWeek

Written by Andy McCormick

On Memorial Day, a video shot by birder Christian Cooper when he countered a white woman in Central Park, New York went viral. In the video, the woman responded to Cooper’s request of her to leash her dog, following the rules of the park, by calling the police and saying that “an African American man was attacking her”. On the phone, she is seen almost choking her dog in a panic while Cooper stands by recording the scene. Cooper’s experience was validated by other Black birders who have had racist encounters while out birding. 

In response, and in an effort to promote solidarity, a group of Black birders and naturalists from Black AF in STEM, organized #BlackBirdersWeek, the Twitter handle for a series of events celebrating Black birders and drawing attention to the unique issues that arise when Black individuals go birding. The program ran from May 31 to June 4 and was reviewed on June 18, 2020 on the American Birding Podcast, a program of the American Birding Association. 

On the podcast, Host Nate Swick conversed with Corina Newsome, an ornithology graduate student at Georgia Southern University, and Tykee James, the government affairs coordinator for National Audubon and host of the podcast On Word for Wildlife, two of the organizers of #BlackBirdersWeek. The #BlackBirdersWeek organizers developed social media platforms for the events and these will stay in place to provide a forum of resources for young people of color who have an interest in careers in the STEM fields. 

Cover image from Canva Images