You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.

Hey everybody, Ritu Chataji here.

Emily Kwang is heading out for vacation for a few weeks, so I'm back in the Shortwave

host chair with Maddie for a little bit.

Today we're heading into nature and a celebration of birds with black bird as weak.

The weak emerged last year from a groundswell of support for Christian Cooper, a black man

who was bird watching in Central Park when he encountered a white woman walking her dog

off leash.

When he requested she leash the dog and those were park rules, she called the police saying

he was threatening her.

Now, year two of black bird as weak had a different tone.

It was a celebration of black joy and that goal is especially close to the heart of

deja perkins, one of the organizers.

Her love of nature evolved slowly.

I actually have a really interesting story, I guess, because I didn't have a strong

family connection to the outdoors.

Her mom did bring her to zoos, aquariums and museums and she watched birds in her grand

mother's backyard.

Then, her curiosity about nature led her further.

To be an open ecologist and a birder.

I know you have three favorite birds, so straight away I want to ask you about them, but

tell me about just one of those three birds.

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