How one viral video sparked a black birding movement online

Black birders took to Twitter this week in response to a viral video showing a white woman calling the police on a black man, Christian Cooper, who asked her to keep her dog on a leash in Central Park. The first Black Birders Week is taking place as a way to affirm black people’s right to be in nature without having to face racism and discrimination.

In the video of the Coopers’ interaction, the woman, Amy Cooper (no relation), can be seen approaching the soft-spoken bird-watcher and saying she will tell the police “there is an African American man threatening my life.” Once Christian Cooper posted the video to Facebook, Amy Cooper’s actions were swiftly condemned by the public (she was also fired). All too often, police responses to...

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