“What could freedom look like if we moved like [birds], without all the barriers?”
This is the question the Black AF in STEM Collective is asking this year during Black Birders Week, the national effort to promote Black people’s engagement with the outdoors. The week of events kicked off May 24 and will run through the 30th.
Black AF in STEM, an organization of STEM professionals and students who aim to introduce more Black people to the outdoors and to share stories of conservationists from the African diaspora, is hosting events in the Bay Area this week, as are other groups around the region. Proudly displayed on their website is the mission that Black Birders Week “envisions a future where all individuals, regardless of age, ability, gender, or socioeconomic factors, have equal access to and feel welcome in outdoor spaces” so that any one could join in the activities.
About 20 people from all over the Bay turned out for Black AF in STEM’s event in Alameda on Monday to scratch their birding itch and be among community. People with backgrounds in civil engineering and teaching school, as well as parents, were among the attendees. Binoculars were also supplied to create a truly inclusive experience.
Black Birding Events This Week
Virtual. Black AF in STEM: May 26-29
East Bay, various locations. East Bay Parks Black Birders series: May 24–30
Oakland. Black Birders Week MLK Walk: May 31.
San Francisco. Creek to Peak Community Walk: May 30.
Leading the group was Black AF in STEM member Ayanna Browne, born and raised in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and a wildlife biologist with a B.S. in animal science and an M.S. in integrative biology. She joined the org in 2022 and hosts birding events on the west coast. She can also be found through Phoreign in Nature, a platform she created that’s dedicated to helping people reconnect with the outdoors in a welcoming, freeing, and restorative environment.
This year’s Black Birders Week walk started around 9 a.m. in Towata Park in Alameda, then went through the Elsie Roemer Bird Sanctuary along the Bay. The 0.7-mile marshland stretch is a bird sanctuary named after the late Elsie Roemer, a conservation advocate and Alameda resident.
For some, it was their first time birding. The walk included education about the birds we saw and provided space and an opportunity for people to feel safe in environments with experts and beginners alike. This year’s theme, “Flyways & Freedom: Advocacy, Action, and the Future” is an invitation to explore the possibilities found while engaging with the natural world through birdwatching.
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Browne says that seeing Black people in nature is “still a shock” to her when exploring the outdoors. And it shouldn’t be.
Started in New York City, Black Birders Week was born out of the response to a white woman, Amy Cooper, who falsely reported to police that a Black male birdwatcher, Christian Cooper, was threatening her after he asked her to leash her dog in Central Park. The incident sparked one of the many and ongoing conversations about freedom of movement and barriers to greenspaces.
Along the way, we saw snowy egrets, house finches, black skimmers, blue herons, and California gulls. One can also expect to see pelicans and sandpipers in the area, but perhaps on a sunnier afternoon.
Near the end of the walk along the shore, a Black woman approached our group. She asked if we were birders, noting many of us were holding binoculars. “I’m actually looking for a birding group”, she said, and asked for information about the group and future events.
“And this is why we need to be outside,” said Browne.
