Many people were shocked and disgusted as they watched a video taken in Central Park in late May. A white woman threatened a black man who was bird watching in the park when he tried to get the woman to leash her dog.
But the incident has sparked a new social media event called Black Birders Weeks.
We at Indiana Audubon work to bring diversity to our organization. Our focus is to create and foster a birding community that represents our whole state, from north to south, across gender and ability, and, of course one that reflects this state’s diverse racial and cultural demographic. We feel an urgency to accomplish this in a meaningful, respectful and impactful way.
We are ready to lean into the discomfort of understanding our role in how some people in our state feel disenfranchised and excluded and we pledge to work to change that. IAS must be an organization where everyone feels accepted, welcomed and valued.
