New York — There’s nothing that could stop Christian Cooper from enjoying his “happy place,” the bird-friendly rambles of Central Park — not even his tense, viral video encounter three years ago, in which a woman took her dog to his shelter I was taking
Cooper is a lifelong birder, and Black is a relative rarity for the pastime. The dog’s owner is Amy Cooper, who is white and is not related. Her video of her pleading with a 911 operator to “send the police” because she falsely claimed an African American man was endangering her life has been viewed over 45 million times on social media.
A lot has happened to each Cooper since then.
She was fired by an investment firm and a judge dropped her lawsuit challenging the dismissal. Later, a misdemeanor charge against him was dropped after he completed a program on racial prejudice.
He penned a memoir this week, and has his own series on Nat Geo Wild, traveling the US doing what he loves most: birding. “Fantastic Birds with Christian Cooper” premieres Saturday.
Something else happened the day the two Coopers clashed. Just hours later, George Floyd died under a white police officer’s knee in Minneapolis, more than 1,000 miles away. He had no way of knowing, but Christian Cooper told The Associated Press in a recent interview that he had another black man, Philando Castile, on his mind when he flipped his phone camera on to record.
Castile was fatally shot in 2016 in the Minneapolis area by an officer who mistakenly thought the 32-year-old was reaching for a gun during a traffic stop. Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, had the presence of mind to record on her phone, and her livestream on Facebook touched off protests across the country. (The officer who shot Castile was acquitted by the jury.)
Christian Cooper’s decision to record was personal but routine for birders trying to persuade park officials to do something about the dogs, where signs clearly told it to protect plantings in the Ramble and keep the birds undisturbed. Was banned from leaving. He was polite but firm as he spoke off-camera while Amy Cooper fumed.
“I thought to myself, You know what? No matter what we do, they’ll shoot us. And if that’s the case, I’m going out with my dignity.’
For a second, he said, “I was like, oh yeah, when a white woman accuses a black man, I know what that means. I know what trouble my life could mean.” . Maybe I should stop recording and maybe it’s all over in a matter of seconds. Then I thought, No, I’m not going to participate in my own dehumanization.”
Amy Cooper never directly apologized to him, although she did express regret. And since then, Christian Cooper has done some soul-searching about what it must be like, at least sometimes, for women to feel unsafe in public outdoor spaces.
“I would hate to think that I would go through a situation like that and not learn anything myself. And so now I try to keep in mind that, yes, I am totally comfortable in The Ramble. It’s my happy place.” But that’s not necessarily true for everyone,” he said.
Amy Cooper demanded he stop recording, becoming upset when he offered her cocker spaniel, Henry, a dog treat. This is a strategy controversial among birders frustrated by the open dogs in The Ramble. “It’s a very face-to-face move. You know, there’s no bone about that. I haven’t done it since,” he said.
He refused to cooperate with prosecutors in the criminal case against Amy Cooper. It was an election cycle, he said, so it felt demonstrative. But at the same time, he felt, he had been punished fairly through public humiliation.
“I decided that I had to err on the side of mercy, especially weighed with a sense of proportionality as I was not harmed. I was not thrown to the ground by the police or, God forbid, worse. Didn’t even have to talk to the police. I am sure if I had I would have had a different opinion,” he said.
Now, Cooper is about to spread the bird-bird gospel once again. His book, “Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World,” begins with a Central Park encounter, and then launches into his life:
How birding helped him connect with the world as a closeted gay kid in his predominantly white Long Island hometown. How Star Trek, Science Fiction and Marvel Comics have kept him afloat at the age of 60.
“The cure for my external state was to go outside, outside myself, outside my own head, outside into nature. Because without focusing on what you are doing and without focusing on the natural world around you, looking for birds Can’t go,” he said.
“And when you do that, you can’t be preoccupied with ‘Oh my God, I feel terrible’ anymore.”
As a longtime board member of the New York City Audubon Society, Cooper has seen the ranks of black birders rise, and he has participated in a movement among chapters of the National Audubon Society to remove the name of John James Audubon. . The 19th-century artist and naturalist, best known for his paintings of North American bird species, was an anti-abolitionist who owned, bought and sold slaves.
Cooper’s chapter of the society is in the process of coming up with a new name, although the parent organization declined to do so.
With his book, Cooper said, “I hope to reach a whole group of people who have never really thought about birds or maybe haven’t connected with nature on that level. If, for example, I can tell about some of my passion for birds, and get them to open their awareness a little more to these creatures all around us, because they are magnificent, then the book has achieved its goal. Will happen.
On Nat Geo (the series hits Disney+ June 21), Cooper serves as host and was a consulting producer. He’s a kid in a wonderful, winged candy shop.
In six episodes he tagged peregrine falcon chicks by climbing the Manhattan Bridge, navigating volcanic terrain in Hawaii in search of the elusive honeycreepers, and trekking rainforests in Puerto Rico to investigate reproductive issues among parrots. He shot in Palm Springs, California and Washington, D.C. as well as in Selma, Alabama, where members of his father’s family once lived.
Cooper has spent time in public schools teaching children about birds. He wants to reach even higher with the fame that he has earned the hard way.
“I hope that a lot of young black kids will see maybe one of the first big birding shows on TV, with a black host leading the show and think, ‘Oh, maybe that’s something I can do too.’ that would be awesome.”
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