Quakers, Birds, and Justice

In this episode of Quakers Today, we ask, What does bird watching have to do with Quakers?

You will find a complete transcript of this episode at www.quakerstoday.org

Lessons from Birds about Nature, Community, and Racial Justice

Birdwatching may seem like a serene, perhaps even solitary activity, but in the latest episode of the Quakers Today Podcast, we discover it's a window into much larger conversations about community, justice, and spirituality. Rebecca Heider, a white birder from Philadelphia, shares her Quaker guide to birdwatching, revealing the profound lessons she has learned from birding. Her concept of a 'spark bird' – the one that ignites a birder's passion is a beautiful anecdote and a metaphor for those transformative moments in life that guide our paths.

Rebecca Heider discusses her article, "A Quaker Guide to Birdwatching: Eight Lessons for Friends and Seekers." This discussion also highlights the importance of respecting nature and the profound joy that can be found in everyday moments of observation. Miche McCall crafted the sound design.

#BlackBirdersWeek

Tykee James, a Black birder also originally from Philadelphia, opens up about the joys and dangers of birding while Black. In May 2020, a video from Central Park's "The Ramble" went viral, showing a white woman, Amy Cooper, calling the police on a black birdwatcher, Christian Cooper (no relation) after he asked her to leash her dog as required by park rules. 

Despite his calm approach, Amy escalated the situation by threatening to report an African American man was threatening her life. The incident, captured on video and viewed over 40 million times, sparked widespread discussions about racial bias and the history of false accusations against black individuals.  

This incident led Tykee and other Black birdwatchers to create Black Birders Week, an event that celebrates diversity in birdwatching and challenges the stereotypes and racial injustices that still exist in outdoor activities. Tykee views the week as a celebration of joy, resilience, and diverse experiences within the Black community.

Tykee shares how his experiences with urban birding as a teen exposed him to community connections and the stark realities of racial and environmental injustices. These observations led him to co-found Amplify for the Future and become the president of the DC chapter of the Audubon Society. Tykee is currently part of a campaign to rename the Audubon Society to better reflect its values, acknowledging its historical context. The theme for the 2024 Black Birders Week is "Wings of Justice: Soaring for Change," and it is hosted by Black AF in Stem.

You can hear a longer version of Tykee’s interview on Episode 59 of Citizens Climate Radio. 

Reviews and Recommendations

In this segment of the Quakers Today podcast, Miche McCall and Peterson Toscano delve into recent book reviews from Friends Journal. Peterson shares his enthusiasm for Ruth Todd’s new book Exploring Isaac Penington: Seventeenth-Century Quaker Mystic, Teacher and Activist. He highlights Penington's influential role in early Quakerism and his spiritually led writings, noting Todd's unique approach, inclu

Episode Transcript

Peterson Toscano (00:00):
In this episode of Quakers Today we ask
What does birdwatching have todo with Quakers?

Miche McCall (00:05):
And what can birds teach us about inequality,
justice and liberation?

Peterson Toscano (00:09):
Rebecca Heider, a white birder in
Philadelphia shares with us aQuaker Guide to Birdwatching.
She's been learning lessonswhile birding.

Miche McCall (00:18):
Tykee James, a Black birder from Philadelphia,
shares the pleasures and perilsof birding while Black. One
racist incident in a city parkled to a creative national
response.

Peterson Toscano (00:29):
And we have recommendations for you. I'm
Peterson Toscano

Miche McCall (00:33):
and I'm Miche McCall. This is Season 3,
Episode 2 of the Quakers, Todaypodcast, a project of Friends
Publishing Corporation. Thisseason of Quakers, Today is
sponsored by the AmericanFriends Service Committee.

Peterson Toscano (00:48):
I recently sat down with Rebecca Hyder to talk
about birds. The April 2024issue of Friends Journal
includes Rebecca's article, aQuaker Guide to Birdwatching,
which offers eight lessons forfriends and seekers. She agreed
to tell us about her experienceswith birding and the concept of

(01:08):
a spark bird. I confess toRebecca though, that when I
imagined people birdwatching, Ioften envision a spry elderly
white couple out in the woodswith binoculars.

Rebecca Heider (01:22):
Well, I think I shared that stereotype with you.
And then as I got more involved,I was kind of blown away by how
many different kinds of birdersthere are. There's really no one
way to describe them in terms oftheir age or race or rural or
urban. A lot of serious birdinghappens within cities.

(01:46):
Philadelphia turns out to be agreat place to do birding, even
though it's a big urban area.
A spark bird is the species ofbird or the bird encounter that
sparks someone's interest inbirding. Everyone I've talked to
can pinpoint a bird or a birdingexperience that really lit their

(02:08):
passion. A lot of beautifulstories come out of those spark
bird moments. I'm moreinterested in nature and birding
is one way into that. And I dolike to learn the names and
learn about the birds becauseI'm interested. But if I go with

(02:28):
a group of birders, I'm oftenthe one who's crawling under
some bush looking for a bugthat's interesting, rather than
looking at the birds. I wasoften surrounded by people who
weren't paying attention the wayI was paying attention to the
birds. Sometimes that was fine.They were going about their day.

(02:49):
But sometimes it was distressingto the birds, like they're
walking their dog scaring thebirds away. I feel like I'm a
guest in the birds space. I wantto treat their space and their
quiet with respect.
The transformative moment in myrelationship with birds came in

(03:12):
August at an Audubon event.Sitting in a large circle. We
spoke out of the silence aboutthe bird that first sparked our
interest in birding. It was apowerful experience of sharing
our deep emotional connectionswith nature and with each other,
and it had the spirit of aQuaker Meeting for Worship. My
own spark bird was a NorthernFlicker. I saw this bird with

(03:34):
its beautifully patternedplumage in my yard and I had no
idea what it was. Breathlesswith excitement, I ran from room
to room peering out my windowsto get a better view. That night
I eagerly reported the encounterto my family. In the following
days, I reflected on the inmenseand unlooked for joy that bird
brought me the Northern Flickerhad likely been visiting my yard

(03:56):
regularly. But I hadn't beenpaying attention before. It was
an important lesson to realizethe joy I felt that day had been
available to me all the time.All I had to do was look for it.
I was so moved by thatexperience of hearing other
people's spark bird moments. Iwould love for everyone to have

(04:18):
a chance to share those kinds ofmoments and hear from other
people in their community aboutany of these moments that really
inspire passion and us becausewe don't have enough of those
conversations.

Peterson Toscano (04:33):
That was Rebecca Heider. She wrote the
article a Quaker Guide tobBirdwatching: Eight Lessons for
Friends and Seekers. It appearsin the April 2024 issue of
Friends Journal. You can alsoread it at Friendsjournal.org
The excellent sound design, theincredible sound design. The

(04:54):
wonderful sound design wasproduced by Miche McCall. Miche,
really excellent work. Thankyou.

Miche McCall (05:00):
You are too kind Peterson. I really felt
connected to Rebecca's versionof birding. She got excited
about the Goldfinch, instead ofthat rare bird that people were
looking for, and she gets on theground and looks for bugs
instead of the birds in thetrees, even if she is with other
people. I love that she talksabout how simple creatures are

(05:23):
just as special and miraculousas the ones that are rarer.
Peterson, you spoke to someoneelse about birds and lessons
from bird watching.

Peterson Toscano (05:33):
Yeah, Tykee James, like Rebecca Heider,
Tykee grew up in Philadelphiaand he became interested in
urban birding as a teen onesummer working for a city park.

Tykee James (05:45):
This job was connecting me to my community,
it was connecting me to nature,it was connecting me to the
history of injustice as to whyin my travels of watching birds
in the city of Philadelphia, Isee that some parks have park
benches, street lights and trashcans, more accessible, more

(06:07):
maintained. And then other parksdon't have those three elements,
those fundamental buildingblocks of what makes a safe and
welcoming Park. It's easy to seethose things and ask yourself
why. When you ask yourself, whyand you look into the history of
decisions that were made thatmade some people some zip-codes
sacred, and some people and someother zip-codes sacrificial, it

(06:30):
becomes very clear that thedetermining factor is race and
poverty, where environmentalblight, environmental hazards,
and environmental burden aredisproportionately placed. And I
was able to see that justthrough birdwatching. There's a
lot of ways that people can cometo this. For me, it was just my
job as a birder, and as someonewho is trying to connect people

(06:50):
to the park.

Peterson Toscano (06:52):
Tykee has gone on to co-found Amplify for the
Future, a group that promotesequality in education,
conservation careers, andoutdoor enjoyment. He currently
lives in Washington DC, where heis the president of the DC
chapter of the Audubon Society.Tykee was also one of the
original organizers of blackbirders week in 2020. Black

(07:15):
birders created the event inresponse to a racist incident in
Central Park.

Tykee James (07:20):
The national conversation, when it was about
the Black experience, it wasparticularly around the passing
of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,and Ahmaud Arbery. Ahmaud
Arbery, who was jogging inGeorgia, before he was taken
from us. Sometimes, I think thathe could have been watching

(07:41):
birds, right? Within thattimeline, Christian Cooper was
doing his thing in Central Park,birding, this is a story that
you can look up as wellencourage folks to see it. And
having a viral experience ofracial harassment during that
time, particularly in the lensof the Birding community, you

(08:03):
know, there was a group chatwhere we were like, well, let's
think about what this means.Let's think about what it would
mean to rise to the moment,because we did not pick our
moment. Like, right? Like thisis not at all anything that we
planned very far ahead of timeit was in the group chat that I
tagged out #BlackBirdersWeek?And it seemed like a good pitch.

(08:24):
From then on, so many folks hada hand and help building this
and I mean, it was somethingnice to wake up to if people
were just like, you know, BirdTwitter was just being Bird
Twitter. It was something niceand new to wake up to and it was
put together in a matter ofhours before it started
basically. It was like riding abike as we were building it, and

(08:45):
the bike was going downhill. Itwas just very, very engaging and
it had such an impact globally,in a way that I don't think
anyone really expected.
I mean, we were gonna have funwith it, the organizers of Black
Birders Week, we knew that if wewere just the audience, we were
going to be just fine. Being anaudience to so many people in a
way that inspired them reallymeans a lot. When the Black

(09:12):
experience has been part of thenational conversation, what we
see is trauma so much. The Blackexperience goes beyond trauma.
The black experience encompassesjoy, pride, resilience,
strength, and style. BlackBirders Week was all about that.
It's nice that I can have aspace, create a space, and build

(09:35):
a space with people where we canbe our authentic selves. Knowing
that we live in a country thatis majority white and whiteness
has had a head start in definingso many things. So it's nice
that my Blackness and myBird-ness can create some joy.

Peterson Toscano (09:54):
The 2024 Black Birders Week will take place May
26th to June 1st. The theme thisyear is Wings of Justice:
Soaring for Change. It's hostedby black AF in STEM, get more
info at BlackAFinstem.com

Miche McCall (10:13):
And learn more about Tykee James at his work at
the Washington DC chapter at theAudubon Society. One of their
current efforts is to rename thesociety. John James Audubon
enslaved Africans. Chapters inSeattle and Portland have led
the movement to change the name.Learn about this and more by
visiting Tykee's Linktree page,just do a search for Tykee James

(10:36):
and you'll find that Tykee isspelled T-K-Y-E-E.

Peterson Toscano (10:40):
The conversation I had with Tykee
James comes from CitizensClimate Radio Podcast. You can
hear the full conversation byvisiting CCLusa.org/radio. Look
for episode 59. That websiteagain is CCLusa.org/radio.

Miche McCall (11:07):
Every month Friends Journal publishes
reviews of books that appeal toQuakers and those curious about
Quakers. These appear both inthe print edition and online.
Peterson, which one of the booksreviewed sparked your interest?

Peterson Toscano (11:21):
Anytime I see anything about Isaac Penington,
my interest is sparked. So I'mexcited about Ruth Todd's new
book exploring Isaac Penington,17th-Century Quaker Mystic,
Teacher, and Activist. If youdon't know who Isaac Penington
was, he was a key figure inearly Quakerism. He really
helped the movement grow amidthe political chaos of the 1600s

(11:44):
in England. This was the timewhen they executed King Charles
I. Chaos. And his writings,they're just really spirit led.
I love that he and his wifecollaborated and she contributes
a lot too, to his work. Boththeir contributions are
significant. In Ruth Todd'sbook, she is exploring

(12:06):
Peningtons teachings but alsouses metaphors from nature to
illustrate some of his spiritualinsights. She offers readers
these experiential exercises todeeply understand the concepts.
And I think this is going to belike one of those like, daily
devotional kind of books that Imight get into. What about you,
Miche?

Miche McCall (12:25):
I was looking through the reviews and this
book Altar to an Erupting Sun byChuck Collins, stood out to me,
I haven't spent a whole lot oftime thinking that fiction could
help me in my spiritual practiceor my religious life. But Ruah
Swennerfelt's review of thatbook really made me rethink

(12:47):
that. Rae, the main characterdoes something really drastic in
the very first page of the book.She kills an oil company exec
along with herself.

Peterson Toscano (12:59):
Aye. Wow.

Miche McCall (13:01):
As the effect of this ripples throughout her
community, the reader has tocontend with our own idea of
what violence might bejustified. I'm excited to read
this book and think about howQuakers pacifism versus peace
and, and what it means to make abetter world. That book again,
is Altar to an Erupting Sun, byChuck Collins.

Peterson Toscano (13:21):
Wow. It's such a important timely conversation
to have as we're trying to thinkabout how to move forward. So
I'm thinking about otherrecommendations that don't
appear in Friends Journal, I amnot a game person, but I'm
trying to become one. So I'mexcited about a cooperative
board game called Daybreak. It'sabout pursuing climate change

(13:46):
solutions together and there'sno like one winner or loser. You
have to work together. That'swhat I'm told a cooperative game
does it make sense?
And in the game, it shows us afuture where we can invent
amazing tech and strongcommunities that protect the
Earth. This game was made byMatt Leacock, who also created

(14:06):
the famous game Pandemic. TheDaybreak game box is packed with
eco friendly pieces, and it hashundreds of unique drawings by
artists from all over the globe.So I'm gonna get this game for
sure. You can learn more aboutit at DaybreakGame.org.

Miche McCall (14:23):
Yeah, I love cooperative games. I am one of
those people who doesn't reallycare if I win or lose, as long
as everyone's having fun, which,maybe is not everyone's cup of
tea when they're playing games.But I also think a cooperative
game makes the most sense with atopic like this.
Yeah.
For my recommendation, PetersonI was thinking all month about

(14:44):
what I wanted to recommend toyou. It hit me as I was falling
asleep the other night. Thething I was doing right there
was the thing I wanted torecommend. I listened to
Headspace, the app, to fallasleep. I keep subscribing
because there are these threeStar Wars themed Sleepcasts, and
my favorite one is describingthe avian species that live on

(15:09):
the islands of Ahch-To. Itdescribes the Porgs. and also
the Lenai, which are birds thatwear clothes. The Sleepcast is
describing this beautiful StarWars planet in a lulling tone
that I often don't even get pastthe first two minutes. Honestly,
these sleepcasts have changed mylife. I've never fallen asleep

(15:32):
faster, and the app is calledHeadspace.

Peterson Toscano (15:35):
I'll check this out and for you listening,
we're not being paid for makingthese recommendations. These are
just things that we like.

Miche McCall (15:41):
Absolutely.

Peterson Toscano (15:43):
Well, Miche thank you so much for being part
of the show and helping to shapeit and just joining in the fun
and the important conversationsthat we're having. And thank you
for joining us for this episodeof Quakers Today. If you like
what you heard, and you listenon Apple podcasts, please do us
a favor, rate and review ourshow.

Miche McCall (16:05):
And thank you so much for everyone who's been
sharing Quakers Today with theirfriends and all of your many
followers on social media.

Peterson Toscano (16:15):
Quakers, Today is written and produced by me
Peterson Toscano and

Miche McCall (16:19):
by me, Miche McCall. Music and sound effects
on today's show comes fromEpidemic Sound, and the Macaulay
library. Season Three ofQuakers, Today is sponsored by
American Friends ServiceCommittee.

Peterson Toscano (16:34):
Do you want to challenge unjust systems and
promote lasting peace? TheAmerican Friends Service
Committee or AFSC works withcommunities worldwide to drive
social change. Their websitefeatures meaningful steps you
can take to make a difference.Through their Friends Liaison
program, you can connect yourmeeting or church with AFSC and

(16:56):
their justice campaigns. Findout how you can become part of
AFSC's global community ofchangemakers visit AFSC.org.
That's AFSC.org.

Miche McCall (17:11):
Visit Quakers today.org To see our show notes
and a full transcript of thisepisode. And if you stick around
after closing, you'll hearlisteners responses to our
question - What recommendationdo you have for us and why?
Thank you, friend.

Peterson Toscano (17:26):
We look forward to spending more time
with you soon.
In a moment, you will hearlisteners voicemails about
recommendations they have forus. But first we have a new

question for you. Here it is: When you walk into a new space. (17:39):
undefined
What do you see, hear, orexperience that makes you feel
welcome? And what might bepresent that leads you to
conclude you may not be welcome?

Miche McCall (17:55):
The space you're thinking of might be a place of
worship, but it also might besomeone's home or a library. It
might be a whole town, or abusiness, or a school. When you
walk into a new space, what doyou see, hear, or experience
that makes you feel welcome? Andwhat might be present that leads
you to conclude that you mightnot be welcome?

Peterson Toscano (18:17):
Leave a voicemail with your name and the
town where you live. The numberto call is 317-Quakers. That's
317-782-5377. 317-Quakers. +1 ifyou're calling from outside the
USA.

Miche McCall (18:33):
If you feel shy about leaving a voicemail, you
can also send us an email![e-mail] We
have these contact details inour show notes over at
Quakerstoday.org.

Peterson Toscano (18:45):
Now we hear your answers to the question,
what recommendation do you havefor us, and why?