Portrait of ornithologist and science communicator Corina Newsome with Tony, a Hyacinth Macaw

Black Birders Week is a week-long series of online events to highlight Black nature enthusiasts and to increase the visibility of Black

birders Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device like binoculars or a telescope, by ...

, who face unique challenges and dangers when engaging in outdoor activities. The event was created as a response to the Central Park birdwatching incident and police brutality against Black Americans. The inaugural event ran from May 31 to June 5, 2020. The week of events was organized by a group of STEM professionals and students known as the BlackAFinSTEM collective.

Origin

Black Birders Week was announced on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

on May 29, 2020. The initiative was prompted in part by the Central Park birdwatching incident and the murders of African Americans such as

Ahmaud Arbery On February 23, 2020, Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old black man, was murdered during a racially motivated hate crime while jogging in Satilla Shores, a neighborhood near Brunswick in Glynn County, Georgia.

Breonna Taylor Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American woman, was fatally shot in her Louisville, Kentucky apartment on March 13, 2020, when at least seven police officers forced entry into the apartment as part of an investigation into drug dealing op ...

, and George Floyd. According to co-founder

Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman (born 1996) is a Ghanaian-born American activist and writer. She is a co-founder and former CEO of the Sadie Collective, as well as a co-founder and co-organizer of Black Birders Week. Early life and education Opoku-A ...

, the goal of the initiative is "normalizing the fact that Black people exist in the birding and natural sciences community". Black people have historically been excluded from academic and professional spaces and lack visibility and representation in the natural sciences community and among birders in particular. . The week-long event was conceived and organized by members of a group of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) professionals and students known as BlackAFinSTEM collective. In addition to Opoku-Agyeman, other co-founders include Jason Ward, Sheridan Alford, Danielle Belleny, Chelsea Connor, Joseph Saunders, and Tykee James.

2020 series

The event series ran from May 31 to June 5 using the #BlackBirdersWeek hashtag on Twitter and Instagram. Through these events and others, the series highlighted research carried out by Black birders, the happiness they find in nature, the racism experienced, and the importance of inclusivity in the outdoors. Furthermore, the series drew attention to several Black birders and naturalists, including ''

Birds of North America The lists of birds in the light blue box below are divided by biological family. The lists are based on ''The AOS Check-list of North American Birds'' of the American Ornithological Society and '' The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World'' s ...

host Jason Ward, wildlife biologist J. Drew Lanham, wildlife conservationist

Corina Newsome Corina Newsome is an American ornithologist, birder, science communicator, and graduate student at Georgia Southern University. In response to the racism faced by Black birder Christian Cooper in Central Park, Newsome co-organized Black Birders ...

, National Audubon Society's government affairs coordinator Tykee James, and herpetologist Earyn McGee.

Response

In response to the 2020 series, the National Wildlife Federation planned to dedicate part of their Conservation Fellowship and Intern Programs to young biologists of color. The organisers intend to continue the series in future years. The event also inspired other similar week-long events celebrating Black people in various STEM fields, ''#BlackInAstro week, #BlackBotanistsWeek,'' ''#BlackInNeuro,'' and '' #BlackInChem''.

Media coverage

The series was endorsed and promoted by advocacy groups, conservation organizations, and government agencies including: the National Audubon Society, the

American Birding Association The American Birding Association (ABA) is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, dedicated to recreational birding in Canada and the United States. It has been called "the standard-bearer for serious birding in North America." Originally con ...

, the

American Bird Conservancy American Bird Conservancy (ABC) is a non-profit membership organization with the mission of conserving wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. Its focus is on threats to birds in the Western Hemisphere – threats which include ov ...

, the

North American Association for Environmental Education The North American Association for Environmental Education (NAAEE) is a US-based nonprofit organization. The organization was founded in 1971 in the U.S. as the National Association for Environmental Education but now includes members from over ...

, the National Wildlife Refuge System, the US

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propert ...

, the California Coastal Commission, Outdoor Afro, '' Orion'' magazine, and the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

. The 2020 series was also highlighted by several science and popular media and news outlets including: ''

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

'', ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

'', ''

Scientific American ''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many famous scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it. In print since 1845, it ...

'', '' National Geographic'', ''Smithsonian'' magazine, ''Audubon'' magazine, ''Bird Watching'' magazine, Sierra Club, ''Backpacker'' magazine, and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

References

External links

Birding While Black: A Candid Conversation - Session 1
an
Session 2
organized as part of the 2020 Black Birders Week {{Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter Birdwatching May 2020 events in the United States Anti-racism in the United States Environmental organizations based in the United States Awareness weeks Black in STEM weeks