Hey All -

Wanted to share some thoughts about going to look for the South Seattle
magpie. While I don't know where it is currently hanging out, the area that
it's been reported in most is the the New Holly public housing community in
South Beacon Hill.

I don't live in this community but I have worked in it for 15+ years, and
have gotten to know it well. It is a wonderful neighborhood that is largely
made up of Black and Brown folks. If you are White, like I am, and are not
already well connected to this neighborhood's residents, I'd like to
encourage you to think carefully first about whether it makes sense to show
up and wander around with binoculars right now. To be clear, I'm not
worried about a visiting white person's safety here, I'm worried about the
safety of the Black and Brown people living there. Because, as we saw with
the Central Park incident, and as we've seen over and over in
other situations, our internalized fears as White people are a very
dangerous thing for people of color.

I certainly believe that our ability to connect with people of different
races over our love of birds is a real and valuable thing. But, in the
current political climate with increasingly public police brutality and
surveillance of people of color communities, remember that our presence as
White people is not neutral.

If you are planning on looking for this bird today, I'd like to invite you
to also attend the Black Lives Matter march that youth in the community
have organized. It starts at Othello Park at 2pm and ends at the Rainier
Beach Safeway. I'll be there, and I'd be happy to march with you and chat
more if you'd like to talk any of this through. Feel free to email me
directly to coordinate. We all have a lot to figure out, and we'll be
better at it if we do it together.

In summary:
- for White birders : our presence isn't neutral and could be frightening
to people who live there - if you're going to go please be very mindful of
how you show up and behave in this community
- if there's any chance you'd call the cops if you got scared while there,
don't go - it's not safe for the residents
- join me at the march in support of Black Lives and this neighborhood's
residents!

Good birding,

Sam Terry
Seattle

On Sat, Jun 6, 2020 at 6:31 PM Aaron Martin <aamartin at gmail.com> wrote:


> I am on a FB group and someone reported a Magpie with a photo in the

> Beacon Hill neighborhood. Based of the county checklists they are

> considered rare for King County, however there have been sightings off and

> on for the last several years. If anyone is interested in going after it

> let me know and I can inquire about more specific details.

>

> Aaron Martin

> Seattle, WA

> _______________________________________________

> Tweeters mailing list

> Tweeters at u.washington.edu

> http://mailman11.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/tweeters

>

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